Doha, Qatar, - Religious leaders from a number of Muslim countries issued a joint statement here on Thursday calling on Muslims to support the Palestinian people financially and morally, and declaring that no part of historic Palestine could be ceded or negotiated away.
The high-profile entry of the religious leaders fuels rising popular pressure on Arab governments to break the American and European boycott on the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority and seeks to turn a political issue into a pan-Islamic one.
In a closing statement after their two-day meeting, the scholars, who hold sway over a wide swath of the Muslim world, appear to have raised the stakes over the Palestinian Authority, issuing a surprisingly strong statement against negotiating land for peace in the future.
"This meeting has reverted the Palestinian issue to its rightful depth as an Arab and Islamic issue," said Izat Reshq, a member of Hamas's political wing. "We in Hamas always said this is not just an internal Palestinian issue, it is an Arab and Muslim one."
Prominent clerics like the Egyptian sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Saudi cleric Salman al-Odeh and Sheik Harith al-Dhari, head of the Sunni Muslim Scholars Association in Iraq, met with leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in closed-door sessions here over the past two days to discuss ways to break the embargo on the Hamas-led government.
In their closing remarks, the clerics noted that it was the duty of Muslims to support the Palestinians financially and in any other way they could. The clerics also reiterated a tough line against giving up any right to historic Palestine.
"The right to historical Palestine is an eternal right, and no soul can relinquish it, neither in an agreement, a document or a promise," the scholars said, stressing that no one could ban "jihad for the liberation of Palestine" or could "damn the jihadists."
There were no representatives from Fatah, the more secular Palestinian movement, which led the Palestinian Authority until it was ousted in January's elections.
"God instructed the men of religion to stand up for justice and keep the Muslim nation aware," said Prof. Ahmad Ali al-Iman, a Sudanese cleric. "Palestine is a religious issue, not just a political one, and affects all Muslims. So we want the Muslim nation to stand as one with the Palestinians."
The meeting occurred as Islamist and social movements throughout the Arab world began collecting millions in support of the Palestinians in recent days.
Governments, too, have pledged support. Last month, Iran pledged $50 million to the Palestinian Authority, and Qatar and Saudi Arabia soon followed suit, pledging $50 million and $90 million respectively.
It was not immediately clear, however, how donations would actually get to Palestinians, as American pressure continued on Arab banks not to transfer funds into Palestinian hands. The clerics called on banks to hand over all funds earmarked for Palestinians, warning banks of possible boycotts by Muslims.
Even if the pledges make their way into Palestinian coffers, they are not likely to have much effect on the nearly $1.5 billion in debt already incurred by the nearly bankrupt Palestinian government.
Representatives of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations agreed this week to a European plan to establish a temporary financial structure that would allow aid to go to Palestinians directly without passing through the Palestinian Authority.
Arab governments like Jordan and Egypt have shunned Hamas officials in recent weeks. Jordan broadcast Thursday tapes of confessions by men accused of being Hamas militants planning attacks there. Hamas officials at the meeting dismissed the confessions as fabrications.
The sharply worded closing remarks reflect growing outrage.
"There is anger in the Arab street," said Mostafa Bakry, a member of Egypt's Parliament and editor in chief of El Esboa, an Egyptian newspaper, speaking in Cairo. "People believe that the governments have not provided Hamas with the political and material support it needs. That's why other powers in society, like the religious establishment, have taken charge of the donations."
Muhammad Abu Hdeib, a member of Jordan's Parliament and chairman of its Arab and International Affairs committee, said the meeting here presented longer-term challenges as well.
"Having the religious men act will certainly help Hamas, but people will feel that it is ultimately the religious who helped them," Mr. Abu Hdeib said. "This will only make the public look up to religion in resolving political issues."
That may be at least part of what is driving the clerics.
The clerics "are meeting to defend a model of government, a religious government," said Emad Gad, an analyst with Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, a research center in Cairo. "Hamas is not viewed as a movement that would build a Palestinian state; it is viewed as a model that would enhance the cause of these religious movements. It is viewed by them as another pillar toward installing the kind of religious governments they want to see in Arab states."