Following are excerpts from an interview with Dr. Muhammad 'Abd Al-Sattar, Syrian deputy minister of religious endowment, which aired on Syrian TV on July 21, 2006.

Muhammad 'Abd Al-Sattar: Jihad is now incumbent upon each and every Muslim, Arab, and Christian. The time has come for the duty of Jihad.

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Who occupied the Al-Aqsa Mosque? Who attacked the prophets? Who killed the prophets? Even the Koran depicts the people of Israel in a very sinister and dark way. Allah did not curse any people, not even the polytheists, not even the idol worshippers. The Koran did not curse any of these. The only ones who were cursed are those murderous criminals.

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The Koran used terms that are closer to animals than to humans only with regard to those people. Look at the bestiality they demonstrate in the destruction of the Arab, Lebanese, and Palestinian people. This is why the people who were given the Torah were likened to a donkey carrying books. They were also likened to apes and pigs, and they are, indeed, the descendents of apes and pigs, as the Koran teaches us.