Top Muslim cleric slams Israel report of Peres handshake

Muslim men just can't shake a Jews hand (or a woman's hand for that matter). Something about their vast superiority over all other humans. It's amusing to watch Sunni Muslim cleric Mohammed Tantawi twist and turn trying to deny he shook hands with a Jew.

FROM AFRICASIA.COM:

07/12/2008 11:38 CAIRO, Dec 7 (AFP)

Top Muslim cleric slams Israel report of Peres handshake

Leading Sunni Muslim cleric Mohammed Tantawi has branded the editors of an Israeli newspaper "liars" for their reporting of what he insists was an inadvertent handshake with Israeli President Shimon Peres, a report said on Sunday.

Tantawi, who heads Cairo's Al-Azhar University -- Sunni Islam's leading religious authority -- had said last week that he did not recognise the octogenarian Peres when he "passingly" shook his hand at a UN-sponsored religious dialogue last month.
But the Israeli newspaper Maariv then ran details of the encounter, reporting that Tantawi had approached the Israeli Nobel Peace laureate and conversed with him.
Tantawi responded furiously to the report, telling an Egyptian television anchor that the Maariv editors were "liars and sons of 60...", an abbreviation of an Arabic insult which often ends by calling a parent a dog or a prostitute, according to a transcript obtained by Egyptian newspaper Al-Masri Al-Yom.

A senior journalist at Maariv told AFP that the report, by veteran correspondent Jackie Hugi, was carefully sourced.
"The newspaper stands by the report, and I stand by what Jackie published because of his history," he said, requesting anonymity.
Another Israeli daily, Haaretz, had also published a report last week saying Tantawi was the one who approached Peres, and that he clasped Peres's hand for several minutes while talking to him.
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