Youssef Qaradawi, leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood, has issued what appears to be a partial disapproval of suicide bombings while at the same time wildly distorting his record on the issue. According to a Gulf newspaper report, Qaradawi said:
Ultimately we have to do all we can to help the people of Palestine in their just cause. “However, to assert one’s cause and commitment to a political agenda one should not resort to suicidal attacks on crowded areas that result in the death of many innocent lives, irrespective of which camp or party the dead belong to. Such incidents have occurred frequently in Palestine and Algeria. I have on each occasion deplored such acts and emphasised that they do more harm than any good to our cause.
There does not appear to be any public record of an occasion upon which Sheikh Qaradawi has condemned suicide attacks in Israel (Palestine). On the contrary, Qaradawi is known to be one of the foremost Islamic religious authorities who have issued ruling supporting such attacks on the grounds that Israeli civilians are part of a military structure. He has also authorized “martyrdom operations” in Iraq. It would appear from the above statement that he has bowed a bit toward the increasingly unpopular tactic by opining that it might be better to refrain from its use in “crowded areas.” The news report also stated that Qaradawi is convalescing at his residence in Doha after undergoing treatment for a fracture in his spinal cord. The 81 year old Islamic leader has had several bouts of ill-health of late.