Shun Land Dealers, Muslim Cleric Says

Stepping up his campaign against land dealers, the chief Muslim cleric in Jerusalem urged Palestinians to treat those who sell land to Jews as social outcasts. “You should not speak to them, allow them to marry into your family or mix with them in any way,” Sheik Ekrema Sabri said in a sermon at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque. Last month, Sabri revived an old religious ruling that Arabs who sell land to nonbelievers must not be allowed burial in a Muslim cemetery. His ruling came after the Palestinian justice minister, Freih abu Medeen, said that any Palestinian caught selling land to Jews should face the death penalty. Since then, three people suspected of selling land to Jews have been killed.