MAKKAH — The Muslim World League (MWL) on Tuesday denounced an attack on Jewish boys committed by Muslim students in Australia, calling it "appalling and barbaric." Last week Australian media aired images showing a Jewish student pressured to kneel and kiss the shoes of his Muslim classmate. According to local reports, the Jewish student who was in the video kissing the shoes of the Muslim boy was a 12-year-old from Melbourne. In a separate incident, a five-year-old boy was allegedly called a "Jewish cockroach" and was repeatedly bullied, local daily The Sydney Morning Herald reported. "This appalling and barbaric act is contrary to the doctrine of Islam," Muhammad Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, the secretary general of MWL said in a statement. "Any person who does this is a disrespectful individual who wrongs Islam," he said. Dr. Al-Issa is also chairman of the International Organization of Muslim Scholars. The MWL, which is a non-governmental Islamic organization based in Makkah, holds that such treatment clearly violates Islam's call for the respect of human dignity and the example of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him" of honoring followers of other religions. In Islam, Judaism is considered a divine religion and Allah called the Jews and Christians "the People of the Book," Al-Issa explained. Al-Issa reiterated the MWL's condemnation of any abusive behavior toward anyone based on their religion, culture, ethnicity or color. This includes abuse of Islam by extremists, even if the attacks are from within the Islamic community, he added. The MWL statement was issued from Makkah on "behalf of all Muslims and countries affiliated with the organization's secretariat, branch bodies and global councils," it read. Dr. Al-Issa noted that the Charter of Medina, drawn up on behalf of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), firmly establishes the respect for human dignity in the principles of Islam.
