Visit by Egyptian Cleric to Gaza Divides Palestinian Leaders
The visit to Gaza of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, won praise from Hamas, but received strong criticism from Fatah, which accused the cleric of undermining Palestinian unity.
Senior Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi has wrapped up his three-day Gaza Strip visit, which has drawn mixed reactions from Palestinian circles. It was the first visit by the head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars to the Hamas-run coastal enclave.
Qaradawi, 86, is Egyptian-born with Qatari citizenship and has become a highly controversial figure in the region since the Arab Spring swept the Middle East in 2011, when he backed protesters against their regimes and even legitimized Western interference.
The visit was one of many recent diplomatic visits to the Gaza Strip and its Islamist government, away from the West Bank and its secular Fatah-run government, that is seen as reinforcing the Palestinian national division.
The cleric made it to Gaza through the Egyptian-Palestinian border's crossing at Rafah with a 50-member delegation from 14 different countries. The delegation was received formally by senior Hamas leaders headed by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who described Qardawi as the “Arab Spring sheikh” during his speech at Rafah. For his part, Qaradawi insisted on “liberating all of Palestine.”
