A Gaza cleric excoriated Arab leaders for sending messages of sympathy to France after the fire at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, as seen in a video of the speech translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
In his speech, cleric Mahmoud Al-Hasanat asserted that "From that very Cathedral, they declared a Crusade against Islam.
"The heads of Muslims were chopped off, and people were killed in the streets," he continued, "after war [against Islam] had been declared in this cathedral."
Al-Hasanat asserted that Arab leaders who "whine" about the destruction of the cathedral ignore catastrophes visited upon Muslims, like the massacre at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, regarding which he said "not a single Arab ruler attended [the victims'] funerals."
"Gaza was burned down in three consecutive wars," he continued. "Did they shed tears over it? No, by Allah, they did not."
By contrast, he said that Arab rulers shed "crocodile tears" over the burning of Notre Dame.