Left: Mohamed Hisham Khalifeh (محمد هشام خليفة), a Canadian of Lebanese descent, is the founder, CEO and Editor in Chief of Al Forqan Newspaper‎ (جريدة الفرقان) printed in Windsor, Ontario and distributed in Windsor, London and Detroit (Kalifeh’s Facebook photo)

Khalifeh is known of his open support of the Palestinian armed struggle against Israel. He published a poem spurring the Palestinians to launch armed attacks on Israelis, liberate Palestine and destroy the State of Israel. The Israelis, namely the Israeli Jews, are portrayed is Khalifeh’s poem as “infidels” and “morally corrupt people.”

Khalifeh recorded himself reading the poem and embedded the audio file in a video clip featuring armed operatives of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas firing rockets from Gaza aimed at Israel and training to launch attacks on Israeli targets.

In his editorial, Khalifeh hails the Palestinian youths who go armed with knives in a mission to stab Israeli Jews. Khalifeh explains that by carrying out the stabbing attacks the Palestinian youths fulfil the “sacred duty of jihad” and defend the “honour and dignity” of all Arabs, all Muslims and, in fact, all mankind.

The following is the transcript of Khalifeh’s poem “Gaza” (originally in Arabic), which appears on Khalifeh’s official YouTube channel:

Intifada stabbing attacks aimed at Jews are “sacred duty of jihad.”

Khalifeh’s editorial front page editorial in Al Forqan (Issue 33, October – November 2015, p. 1) was dedicated to the Palestinian al-Quds Intifada (violent struggle including terrorist attacks), also dubbed the Knife Intifada.

According to the Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the ongoing al-Quds/ Knife Intifada (September 13, 2015 – February 7, 2016, the number of people murdered in Palestinian terrorist attacks reached 31 and 304 people were injured (28 of them seriously). The Palestinian new wave of terrorism included 119 stabbings, 41 shootings and 23 car rammings in addition to firing rockets (from Gaza), detonating explosive charges, and many thousands incidents of firebombings and stone/rock throwing.

The Palestinian al-Quds Center for Research documented during October 2015 to January 2016) 90 stabbing attacks, 50 thwarted stabbing attacks, 91 shooting attacks, 24 car ramming attacks, 1,100 firebombing attacks and 3,321 stone/ rock throwing attacks

The following is Khalifeh’s editorial (Translated from Arabic by Jonathan D. Halevi):

“The Duty of Jihad

“Everyone carries out the jihad in his/ her way, that what said to me one of the pilgrims [in Mecca] and this summarizes the course of events in our Arab and Islamic countries, armies and parties, weapons and munitions, rockets and [fighter] jets… and the Palestinian teenager is [standing] alone wielding a knife in his hand, defending the honour and dignity of every Arab and every Muslim, and moreover every person. He [the Palestinian teenager] does not accept the injustice in the face of the Zionist usurper.

“The Knife Intifada, initiated by the sons of al-Quds [Jerusalem] who sacrificed their souls, exposed the falsity of the allegations made by those who espouse the duty of jihad and fight in Syria and Iraq and everywhere but not in Beit al-Maqdis [Jerusalem]. The executions of Jerusalemites (children, women and elders) did not move the manhood in the heads of the leaders of the Arab and Islamic nation! The violations against the holy site in al-Quds [Jerusalem] have not affected those who protect the holy shrines![Note: the killing of the Palestinian terrorists during attack by Israeli forces is portrayed by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas as “executions”]

“The Knife Intifada was born orphan from the womb of a bereaved mother, but the sons of this sacred place with the determination of the heroes will be mentioned in the history of this nation that in the midst of the current events there was a group which recognized the right of the sacred duty of jihad!

“Unlike the one who claims everyday that he is defending al-Quds [Jerusalem] and draws on a map the way towards it. You would see them in all countries but Palestine, such as Hezbollah [in Lebanon],

ISIS [in Iraq and Syria], the fundamentalist jihadists [in the Muslims countries], the Houthis [in Yemen], Boko Haram [in Nigeria], Popular Mobilization Forces [in Iraq], etc., all of them want to liberate al-Quds [Jerusalem], but they lost the compass!!!

May Allah forgive those who truthfully knew the way to al-Quds [Jerusalem]. May Allah forgive the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab [who conquered Jerusalem in 635] and the leader Salahuddin Al Ayyub [who conquered Jerusalem in 1187]. I’m asking Allah to give victory to the youths of Palestine and every freeman who does not accept injustice and shame.”

* This article has been posted on cijNews by Jonathan D. Halevi, on February 12, 2016.