Jerusalem as seen by radical Islamist groups

The 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel was on May 14. This occasion came this year amid rapid developments that do not only cast a shadow of uncertainty on the future of Jerusalem as a city, but also on the future of some of the countries of the Arab region.

Jerusalem is an issue that many in the Arab and Islamic worlds were keen to keep unresolved. For decades after the occupation of Palestine, some Arab regimes used the issue of Jerusalem in ways that served their own interests only and earned them political legitimacy and popularity. These regimes used to claim that they were there to stand up for the Palestinians, thus gaining popularity among their own citizens. Nonetheless, the same regimes did nothing to solve Jerusalem as a problem.

The Baathist regime of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, for example, used Jerusalem to gain popularity among Iraqis. The same regime took no real action to defend the city. During the Second Gulf War, Hussein tried to mix things up by linking the withdrawal of his army from Kuwait, which it occupied weeks earlier, to solving the Palestinian issue. Hussein ordered his army to fire ballistic missiles on Tel Aviv in a desperate bid to win public sympathy and put the brakes on Operation Desert Storm (1). However, his plan proved a failure (2).

Come the 1970s to an end, some Islamist groups turned into effective factors in the evolution of regional and international relations. Jerusalem became a focal point in the literature of these groups which considered the liberation of the city their ultimate goal. The same groups claimed that their desire to establish an Islamic state or caliphate aimed primarily at defending and liberating Jerusalem.

The current study will throw light on the position of Islamist groups on Jerusalem by focusing on the following points:

First, historical developments:

The Palestinian cause, including that of Jerusalem, date back to the end of the 19th century. This was when the First Zionist Congress was held in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897. The congress suggested the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, which came into effect almost half a century later (3).

On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the executive head of the World Zionist Organization, declared the founding of the State of Israel and the return of Jews to historical Palestine. This made a political earthquake in the region, turning the Palestinian cause into a primary issue in the policies of Arab states. This became the case all through the past seven decades (4).

Arab countries were quick to adopt hostile positions to Israeli existence. Nevertheless, the same positions turned out to be a mere tactic aiming at the pacification of ordinary people on Arab streets, who were angry at Israeli aggressions against the Arabs and the Muslims (5).

During the 1980s and 1990s, Islamist groups followed in the footsteps of some Arab governments by using Jerusalem to gain popularity. They did this also to justify some of the actions they claimed to have done only to defend Jerusalem, including the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden claimed that his organization had staged the attacks in order to defend Palestinian rights and Jerusalem.  

Interest by Islamist groups in Jerusalem as an issue did not start in the 1980s, but with the creation of the Hebrew state. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt paid special attention to the issue, raised funds for Palestine and participated in battles against Zionist gangs (6).

In the 1950s, 60s and 70s, there was feeble Islamist interest in Jerusalem for several reasons, including the emergence of Arab nationalism which vowed to liberate Palestine and fight Zionist expansion. A number of Arab leaders represented this trend, including Egyptian revolutionary leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. The showdown between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Abdel Nasser regime, at the same time, had much weakened the group and threatened to destroy it.

Second, Jerusalem's evolution as a political issue:

Jerusalem has been a main issue in the Zionist thinking since the time of Theodor Herzl (7). The World Zionist Organization (8) encouraged Jews from all parts of the world (Jews of the Diaspora) to immigrate to the holy city of Jerusalem (9) to establish the Jewish state and answer the call of God who promised to give the city to the Jews. The organization, which received support from major countries, such as Britain and France, at the time, succeeded in convincing a large number of Jews to travel to Jerusalem from eastern and western Europe since the First Jewish Congress. This effected major demographic change in the Palestinian territories (10).

In 1917, the British government promised British banker, Walter Rothschild, to establish a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine after the end of World War I. This came to be known as the Balfour Declaration.

The declaration did not, however, state that Jerusalem would be part of the national homeland promised the Jews. This was why the city continued to be controlled by the Arabs and the Jews until August 1929 when what came to be known as the Buraq Uprising erupted. The uprising encouraged British mandate authorities to refer the issue of Jerusalem to the League of Nations.

Jewish immigration to Palestine accelerated by 1947 because of World War II. This forced the fledgling United Nations then to intervene to find a solution to the problem. On November 29, 1947, the UN passed resolution no. 181 in which it divided Palestine into three main parts as follows (11):

·        An Arab state in Galilee; the city of Aka; the West Bank, and the area stretching from northern Ashdod to southern Rafah.

·        A Jewish state that starts in the city of Haifa to the southern part of Tel Aviv, and from the Sea of Galilee to the Negev Desert.

·        Jerusalem and Bethlehem were placed under international protection, given their holy and religious nature.

The Arabs and the Jews opposed this resolution, leading to the declaration of the state of Israel and the start of the 1948 war. The war opened the door for the split of Palestine into the three following parts:

1 – An Israeli state that included the Sea of Galilee, Galilee, Haifa and the coastal area from northern Gaza to the Negev Desert, in addition to Eilat.

2 – An area under Jordanian administration that included the West Bank of the Jordan River and Jerusalem.

3 – An area under Egyptian administration that included the Gaza Strip and Khan Yunis.

Jerusalem was part of Arab and Jordanian sovereignty then for 19 years until June 1967 when the Israeli army succeeded in entering East Jerusalem and the holy sites of the three monolithic religions. The torching down of al-Aqsa Mosque in August 1969 turned Jerusalem into a prime Islamic issue.

To better understand links between Jerusalem and Islamism, we need to separate Palestine as an issue from the issue of the holy city. The Palestinian issue is both more comprehensive and general than this of Jerusalem. It is about the land of Palestine, the borders of the Palestinian state, the issue of Palestinian refugees, the Palestinian army and the Palestinian capital. Jerusalem as an issue is only about the city which has an important status in all religions, especially in Islam. This means that Jerusalem is the Islamic face of the Palestinian issue. It was also Islamist groups' first and only gate into the Palestinian issue.

Third, Jerusalem's status in Zionist discourse:

Jerusalem is at the top of the Zionist discourse. Jews consider it the land where God promised to gather the Israelites. The World Zionist Organization used this concept to encourage Jews from all countries to travel and settle down in the city (12).

Zionist pioneers, such as Theodor Herzl (1860 – 1904), Leon Pinsker (1821 – 1891) and Moses Hess (1812 – 1875), played a big role in encouraging Jews to travel to Palestine. Herzl, for example, founded the World Zionist Organization which lobbied for the return of the Jews to Palestine. Herzl's book "Old News Land" especially highlighted the importance of invading Jerusalem and the settlement of Jews in it.

Moses Hess was the first Zionist thinker to call for Jewish settlement in Palestine (13). He gave Jerusalem different names that underscored its holy nature in Jewish thinking. These names included "City of David", "City of Zion", and "City of God". All these attempts convinced Jews the world over to travel to Jerusalem, occupy it and settle down in it (14).  

Fourth, Jerusalem as seen by radical Islamist groups:

Researchers divide radical Islamist interest in the Palestinian issue into two stages: the first being during the British mandate on Palestine and the early Jewish immigration. This was when the Muslim Brotherhood was the most outstanding Islamist organization demonstrating interest in the issue.

The second stage covered the 1980s and 1990s, but interest in this stage was championed by a cavalcade of radical Islamist groups that included the following:

a)     Jihadist groups inside Palestine, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad

b)    International radical Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and its subsidiaries in Tunisia and Sudan

c)     International terrorist groups, such as the International Front for Jihad against Jews and the Crusaders, and al-Qaeda which was founded by Osama bin Laden in 1998

d)    Islamist Shiite groups, such as the mullahs regime in Iran and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon

Palestine occupies an important position in Muslims' beliefs. It is the cradle of prophets, the location of the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the place Prophet Muhammad visited as part of his ascension to the sky. Palestine acquired great importance during the Crusades. It was the land where Saladin demonstrated exceptional heroism, which led to its liberation from the crusaders (15).

This was why Islamist discourse on Palestine was always charged with religious sentiments and talk about the holy war Muslims have to wage. Muslim Brotherhood founder, Hassan al-Banna, for example, sent a message to the British ambassador in Cairo in which he said the Brotherhood would do everything possible to keep every inch of Palestine under Islamic and Arab control until the end of time (16).

The Brotherhood was the first Islamist group in the Arab region to use Palestine as an issue. In campaigning for Palestine, the Brotherhood contended that the Islamic nation is one part and that an aggression against Muslims anywhere should be considered an aggression against all Muslims which made it necessary for all Muslims to resist this aggression (17).

Al-Banna's interest in Palestine since the emergence of his organization in 1928 was striking. He called for resisting the Zionist gangs in Palestine. Muslim Brotherhood units also participated in the 1948 war (18). This raises questions on whether the Brotherhood had realization about the importance of this issue that early on, or whether the group wanted to use this issue to achieve some goals.

Al-Banna's interest in Palestine was part of his talk about the need for Muslims to be masters of the world and establish the Islamic State. He expressed concern about all the issues of Muslims everywhere.

The fact that a historical enemy, namely the Jews, was involved in the Palestinian issue may explain why the Brotherhood showed this interest early on in this issue. Jews had always antagonized Prophet Muhammad. Al-Banna used this historical fact to rally people behind his group in this regard. Al-Banna could also have been complicit in international plans to create the necessary conditions for the Jews to leave the countries where they lived at the time and immigrate to Palestine.

This last view is backed by the following:

-          Numerous attacks were staged against Jewish people and businesses in Egypt. These attacks scarred Jews away from living in Egypt and forced them to leave to other countries, including Palestine (19). The Muslim Brotherhood was accused of staging most of these attacks.

-          There are strong historical ties between the Brotherhood and Britain. In his book "Secret Affairs: Britain's Collusion with Radical Islam", British author and journalist Mark Curtis highlighted strong relations between the Brotherhood and the British intelligence (20). There were also strong relations between Britain and the World Zionist Organization (21).

-          After the 1948 war, the Brotherhood's branches in Jordan and Palestine refused to form their own militias to fight Israel. The first Islamist militia, namely Islamic Jihad Movement, was formed in Palestine in 1981 by Fathi Shaqaqi (22).

-          The Brotherhood encouraged its members during the 1960s and 1970s to stage Jihad in Palestine. It also gave these members freedom to join in nationalist Palestinian organizations, such as Fatah whose most outstanding leaders, namely Khalil al-Wazir (aka Abu Jihad) and Salah Khalaf (aka Abu Ayad) were Brotherhood members (23).   

Change of course

Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, turned the liberation of Palestine, in general, and Jerusalem, in particular, into their main goal. Nonetheless, the actions of these groups showed that they only used this issue in order to serve their own interests. They took no real action to solve the problem and this can be showed as follows:

·        Al-Qaeda and the near and far enemies theory

Bin Laden formed the International Front for Jihad against the Jews and the Crusaders in 1998. The name of the front shows that it was founded with the aim of fighting Jews and defending Jerusalem and Muslims in Palestine. Bin Laden said his organization staged the 9/11 attacks to defend the Palestinians (24). The theory on the "near and far enemies" was one of the most important intellectual contributions of bin Laden's organization (25). The leaders of Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda, used this theory to justify their lack of action against Israel. They, at the same time, struck everywhere in the world.

Bin Laden's son, Hamza, made an audio in 2017 in which he asked al-Qaeda's followers to focus on Syria, which, according to him, would be the gateway to jihad against Israel. This means that Hamza considered jihad in Syria to be prior to jihad in Palestine. There is a very small number of Palestinians within al-Qaeda (26).

·        Abdullah Azzam and the new course

Abdullah Azzan is a clear example of the extreme deviation of radical Islamist groups as far as Palestine is concerned. Azzam was born and raised in Palestine. Instead of leading jihad against Israeli presence in Palestine, he led the jihad against Soviet presence in Afghanistan.

·        Hamas and leaving the resistance behind 

The Palestinian uprising of 1987 opened the door for the emergence of the Islamist current in the occupied territories. Hamas and Islamic Jihad were the most outstanding representatives of this current. Hamas used resistance against Israel as an alternative tactic to negotiations with the self-proclaimed Jewish state, mainly followed by the Palestine Liberation organization, all through the 1990s.

In 2005, Hamas decided to field candidates in the Palestinian legislative elections, one of the results of the Oslo Accords of 1993 that were rejected by the Islamist movement. The movement used Jerusalem as a pressure card against other countries, including Egypt. In 2008, Hamas allowed thousands of residents of the Gaza Strip to storm into Sinai by destroying the security fence on the border with the Egyptian territory (27).  

·        Jerusalem, a forgotten issue for Daesh

Daesh has never mentioned Jerusalem or the Palestinian issue. The radical group has never staged any attached against Israel (28).

·        Artificial interest in Jerusalem

The Palestinian issue served as a good mobilization tool for the Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamist movement saw its popularity growing with the new millennium. It gained popularity during the Palestinian uprising of 2000. In 2005, the Brotherhood won tens of seats in the Egyptian parliamentary elections. In Palestine, Hamas did the same in the same year.

The Brotherhood used Jerusalem and the Palestinian issue to rally up support to it. The latest decision by US President Donald Trump to relocate the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem revived Brotherhood presence. The movement used the issue to put pressure on Arab governments (29).

·        Palestinian uprising and Islamist political rise in Syria

The Palestinian uprising gave the chance for the Islamist current in Syria to make its presence felt on the political stage in that Arab state. One of the leaders of this current, namely Mahmud Qul Aghasi, succeeded in forming radical cells in northern Syria (30).

Conclusion

Islamist groups used the Palestinian issue to gain international popularity. Jerusalem is an issue that can unite all Muslims all over the world, given its position in Islamic beliefs.

The same groups used the same issue to bring themselves under the media spotlight. They used demonstrations related to the situation in the Palestinian territories to send messages to the regimes in their countries that they had power. Surprisingly enough, they wanted to send these messages to Arab regimes to put pressure on them, not to Israel.

Islamist groups also used Jerusalem to raise money by claiming that they were collecting donations for the Palestinians. Nevertheless, most of the money collects went for the activities of these groups, which had nothing to do with defending Jerusalem or the Palestinian cause (31).

The Zionist fundamentalist discourse was the most successful at the international level. The World Zionist Organization succeeded in founding the State of Israel in 1948, only 50 years after the First Zionist Congress in Basel. It then succeeded in occupying Jerusalem in 1967.

Islamist fundamentalist thinking, on the other hand, did not demonstrate any seriousness in dealing with the issue of Jerusalem. Islamist groups used this issue to serve their own interests.

References

(1)  Operation Desert Storm which was launched by a US-led coalition in January 1991. The coalition contained some Arab countries. The operation aimed at the liberation of Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation of 1990.

(2)  Addiyar newspaper: (On a Day Like Today) Saddam Hussein fires missiles on Israel (https://www.addiyar.com/article/1116964-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%AB%D9%84-%D9%87%D8%B0%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%85-%D9%82%D8%B5%D9%81-%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AD%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%88%D9%87%D8%B0%D9%87-%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%84%D8%B6%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%87)

(3)  Site of the Israeli Foreign Ministry: The First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897 (http://mfa.gov.il/MFAAR/InformationaboutIsrael/Jubilee-years/Pages/The-First-Zionist-Congress.aspx)

(4)  Israeli Knesset: Proclamation of Independence (https://www.knesset.gov.il/docs/eng/megilat_eng.htm)

(5)  Some Arab regimes used Palestinian organizations to show that they backed the Palestinian revolution. The reality was, however, that these regimes used these organizations in order to advance their own interests. Abdel Nasser used Palestinian organizations to strengthen Egyptian presence in Yemen.

(6)  In March 1935, the group organized a fund-raising campaign for the Palestinian cause. In 1939, another campaign was organized (http://www.ikhwanwiki.com/index.php?title=%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B6%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9)

(7)  Theodor Herzl is the founder of the World Zionist Organization. He called for the creation of the State of Israel in the Promised Land. For more information about him, please read Abdel Wahab al-Messeri encyclopedia by going to: http://shamela.ws/browse.php/book-2074/page-7025

(8)  Founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress in Basel to express the ideas of the Jews. For more information about the World Zionist Organization, please, go to: http://www.wzo.org.il/Mission-Statement

(9)  The name the Jews give the Arab city of al-Quds. Jerusalem is the city David took as a capital for his kingdom. For more information, please go to: http://mfa.gov.il/MFAAR/InformationaboutIsrael/Jerusalem/Pages/the%20capital%20of%20israel.aspx

(10)                     Some sources estimate the number of Jews in Palestine before 1882 at 5,000. This number doubled because of repeated waves of Jewish immigration. The number became more than 1.5 million now in 1948. For more information, please visit: https://www.palestinapedia.net/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86/

(11)                     For text of UN resolution no. 181, please, visit: http://www.lpdc.gov.lb/DocumentFiles/القرار%20181_تقسيم%20فلسطين_A-635996871780030538.pdf

(12)                     Jerusalem in the Talmud by Mohamed Aql Halsa (https://www.palinfo.com/news/2008/12/18/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%83%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A)

(13)                     Zionism: The Sacred West and Politics by Abdel Karim al-Hosni (Shams Institute for Publishing 2010)  

(14)                     Mohamed Aql Halsa – Previous reference

(15)                     Saladin (1138 – 1193): The founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty (Ein for Human and Social Studies and Research 2008)

(16)                      Imam Hassan al-Banna and the Palestinian Cause by Mohssen Mohamed Saleh (Zaitouna Center for Studies and Consultations – January 23, 2012)

(17)                     Previous reference

(18)                     Mohssen Mohamed Saleh

(19)                     Those who Hijacked Islam by Mohamed al-Malah

(20)                     Britain and the Brotherhood Syndrome by Gibril al-Ubaidi

(21)                     The Balfour Declaration of 1917 was a strong proof of this strong relation

(22)                     Islamist Movements in Palestine and their Role in the Conflict with Israel by Wael Ahriz (https://barq-rs.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%81%D9%8A/)

(23)                     For more information about the Brotherhood's participation in Palestinian struggle, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUqBrWYhQEI

(24)                     How the Terrorist Group uses the Issue of Jerusalem by Mohamed Mukhtar Qandil (http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/ar/fikraforum/view/how-terrorist-groups-use-jerusalem)

(25)                     The near enemy theory prioritizes the battle against internal enemies to the battle against external ones.

(26)                     Mohamed Mukhtar Qandil – Previous reference

(27)                     Breaking into Egypt: A possible and far-fetched scenario (Al-Bayan newspaper)

(28)                     Mohamed Mukhtar Qandil – Previous reference

(29)                     Statement by the Muslim Brotherhood on the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem (https://www.ansarportsaed.com/News-28181.html)

(30)                     Black Box program (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZv5n7mTNdM)

(31)         For more information, please read reports about the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood at al-Masry al-Youm newspaper (https://dbonfrdgauzmg.cloudfront.net/news/details/59558)