Defying Shiite mainstream, Lebanese cleric reaches out to Jews

Anti-Iranian scholar Muhammad Ali Al-Husseini seems undaunted by Hezbollah in his philo-Semitic statements


Israelis usually associate Shiite clerics in Lebanon with terror group Hezbollah, a powerful religious organization committed to the destruction of the Jewish state. But a Beirut-based cleric is surprising the public by spreading messages of peace and nonviolence in Hebrew on social media.
“We call on rabbis, priests and Muslim clerics — both Sunni and Shia — to underplay religious traditions and texts that call for violence, since they are more dangerous than nuclear weapons,” wrote Sayyed Muhammad Ali Husseini, secretary general of the Shiite group the Arabic Islamic Council, in Hebrew on his Facebook page Sunday.

Just days after Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned of a possible war with Israel following an attack by his organization that left two IDF soldiers dead on the border with Lebanon, Husseini said that religious texts must be historically contextualized rather than used to incite perpetual violence.
“Various religious texts calling for the use of violence and ruthlessness to achieve goals are extremely dangerous when used by groups we have warned against in the past,” he continued. “These texts religiously sanction acts of violence and murder. Obviously, these are texts that were implemented in specific, limited situations; they cannot necessarily be applied to our time, since every situation has its own unique circumstances.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/defying-shiite-mainstream-lebanese-cleric-reaches-out-to-jews/