Top Saudi religious cleric in DC condemns Hamas invasion on Oct 7, calls for immediate release of Israeli hostages

In interview with ALL ARAB NEWS, Sheikh criticizes IDF conduct, calls for 2-state solution

Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa. (Photo credit: Muslim World League staff.)

WASHINGTON, DC — As the most senior and influential Sunni Muslim cleric in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and certainly one of the most prominent influential in the world, addressed Evangelical, Jewish, and Muslim leaders in the American capital Tuesday evening, he sharply and unequivocally condemned the invasion of Israel and the brutal slaughter of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023 by Hamas.

Calling Hamas a terrorist group, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa — a former Saudi Justice Minister who now serves as Secretary General of the Muslim World League (MWL), the largest non-governmental Islamic organization in the world — also urged Hamas leaders to immediately release all of the hostages they are holding in the Gaza Strip for more than 420 days.

“October 7th was a crime,” the Sheikh said directly, speaking to an audience of nearly 150 religious leaders and Mideast policy experts at a gala dinner held at the National Postal Museum on Capitol Hill.

“We condemn October 7th,” he added, saying the savagery of Hamas “cannot be accepted by Muslims at all”

SHEIKH URGES HAMAS TO RELEASE OF THE HOSTAGES

“We cannot justify the holding of hostages and call for the immediate release of all the hostages,” he said.

“We want the war in Gaza to end and all the hostages to be freed”

Since August 2020, the Sheikh — who is widely seen and praised in the region as a moderate, as someone committed to de-radicalizing mosques and building bridges to leaders of other faiths — has served on the advisory board of ALL ARAB NEWS.

Indeed, I have come to consider him a friend over the past six years since we first met in Riyadh.

Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa and Joel C. Rosenberg. (Photo credit: Muslim World League staff.)

While we don’t agree on all issues, he and his team have been enormously helpful to my team and me in providing their insights to our non-profit news service as we have covered a wide range of news events in the rapidly changing Arab/Muslim world, from the signing of the Abraham Accords in the Fall of 2020 to the horrific and painful war that erupted in the region on October 7th and continues to this day.

The first major interviews we published when ALL ARAB NEWS was launched was with the Sheikh and his personal story is quite fascinating. (see below)

I was grateful both to be invited to attend the event, as well as to be seated at the head table during dinner with the Sheikh.

Also sitting around the table were:

Delano Roosevelt, grandson of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the first American leader to sign a treaty with the Saudi Kingdom;
Rabbi David Saperstein, the current U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
Rob Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy;
Jonathan Kessler, a Jewish former senior executive at AIPAC, and the founder/CEO of a non-profit that trains young Israeli, Palestinian, and American leaders to be future change makers
Chris Halverson, one of the leaders of the National Prayer Breakfast, and former Senate Chaplain from 1992 to 1995
Phyllis Halverson, the former president and CEO of a ministry called “Lead Like Jesus,” and Chris’ wife

SHEIKH CRITICIZES IDF CONDUCT IN THE WAR

In addition to condemning Hamas, the Sheikh argued that the attack on Israel by the terror group “does not represent the Palestinian people.”

Not surprisingly, he was sharply critical of Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza, decrying the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians and the vast destruction and human misery the war has caused.

Notably, however, the Sheikh did not describe Israel’s actions as “genocide” as have many Muslim and Arab leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“The kingdom renews its call for a categorical rejection of the genocide committed by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people,” the Saudi crown prince said in Riyadh last month, using some of the most critical language he has personally employed since the start of the Gaza War.

Speaking at a joint summit of the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), MBS said the Saudi Kingdom “affirms its support for the brothers in Palestine and Lebanon to overcome the disastrous humanitarian consequences of the ongoing Israeli aggression.”

Though not using the word genocide, the Sheikh’s language certainly echoed many of the sentiments of the Saudi crown prince as he expressed the pain he feels in seeing so many Muslims in Gaza suffering.

Joel C. Rosenberg interviews Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa. (Photo credit: Muslim World League staff.)

HOW CAN PEACE BE ACHIEVED AFTER THIS TERRIBLE YEAR OF WAR AND TERROR?

The only way forward to forging lasting peace and security in the region, the Sheikh insisted, is establishing “a two-state solution” in which Palestinian rights are respected and where their capital is located in East Jerusalem.

“Even the allies of Israel in the West are discussing the importance of establishing a two state solution,” he said.

Yesterday, I sat down with the Sheikh at the Four Seasons Hotel not far from the White House to conduct an exclusive interview with him for ALL ARAB NEWS and THE ROSENBERG REPORT, my weekly, prime time, news and analysis program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).

It was a fascinating conversation in which we went deeper on these critical issues, including his criticisms of IDF conduct and his thoughts on whether Saudi Arabia might still be interested in a peace and normalization deal with Israel after all that has happened in Gaza and Lebanon.

For that, stay tuned — I’ll have much more on that in the coming days.

More about Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa: