This isn’t going to help:
On Tuesday, top Shiite clerics pledged allegiance to the Palestinians after Israel’s assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Later, angry Muslims took to the streets.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq, urged Muslims to unite against Israel and restore what he said belongs to the Palestinians.
Moqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric with a powerful base in a poor Baghdad neighborhood, said Iraqi Muslims support the Palestinians.
“We as Muslims stand hand in hand with our brethren in Palestine,” he said. “And we say to them that we are ready to extend all forms of assistance, be it moral or physical.”
Juan Cole fills in the troubling details.