In the ongoing race to see who can be the most hateful and unhinged in the Middle East, Yunis al-Astal has put in his bid. Al-Astal is a Muslim cleric and Palestinian parliament member from Hamas and predicts the take over of Rome under an Islamic conquest. Notably, the same day the Pope left Rome for an extended visit to the United States. Coincidence or conquest flight?

Al-Astal told his followers that “the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital” would serve as “an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread though Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, even Eastern Europe.” First, this shows the first sane aspect to this tirade. If I were to start a world conquest, I would choose Italy as a base as well. Heck, I would choose Italy as a base even if I didn’t start a world conquest.

The rest of al-Astal rant is even less charming. He speaks of the military conquest of the entire world and that “Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our prophet Muhammad.” He also called Jews “the brothers of apes and pigs” who should “taste the bitterness of death.”

His current fixation on Rome ties into this dark vision: “Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam.”

In the meantime, the Pope has left Rome, click here. This leaves only the Italian military and Swiss guards protecting the country. I do not want, however, to cause panic. The fact is that the Euro’s value is so high now that extremists could not afford the takeover of the country until the currency exchange improves.

For the full story, click here.

For a video of al-Astal, click here.