Shiite cleric calls for severing relations with Israel

NAJAF / IraqiNews.com: Senior Shiite cleric Kadhem al-Ha’eri urged Muslim countries to sever relations with Israel, terming incidents in Gaza as “war crimes and aggression by Zionists against the persecuted Palestinian people”. “All Muslims are required to refrain from any form of relations with the Israeli enemy, including the economic ties in which Israeli goods are sold and bought,” read a statement by Ha’eri as received by IraqiNews.com news agency. “All governments of Muslim nations that have political and diplomatic relations with the Israeli entity to sever all ties with it and expel its ambassadors,” according the cleric’s statement, which was distributed by his office in the holy Iraqi Shiite province of Najaf. He also called for stretching a helping hand for the wronged Palestinian people by providing them with all self-defense requirements including the necessary weapons. “The Egyptian government has to open its Rafah checkpoint and allow all humanitarian aid to flow to the Gazans who are fighting death,” he added. Ha’eri resides in the Iranian city of Qom since the 1970s. AmR (P) 1