Arabs Uniting Again Against Israel

April 6, 2012 By 18 Comments

Last month the present writer reported briefly on the Qatar Conference that took place in Doha, capital of Qatar, at the end of February, discussing one aspect of the conference as an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish hate-fest.  In light of the March 30th “Global March to Jerusalem,” it is time to re-visit the Qatar Conference and examine its probable long-term impact.

The participants and agenda of the “International Conference for the Defense of occupied Jerusalem” displayed an unprecedented broad spectrum of the Arab and Muslim nations and organizations, uniting in Qatar for the sole purpose of strategizing new ways to destroy Israel. Unusual, but not surprising, was the official presence of representatives from the UN and Iran, the American and UK Muslim Brotherhood organizations, an Israeli Hamas leader, and Neturei Karta rabbis, who, despite their much ballyhooed sympathies for the Palestinian cause, were brutally beaten by Arab marchers. Unofficial attendees included EU leaders and U.S. and European academics.

One of Israel’s greatest advantages in its fight for survival against the 64-year long Arab war to destroy the Jewish state has been Arab disunity.  For that reason alone, the Doha Conference deserves special notice by virtue of the event’s successfully hosting Sunni and Shi’ite, Arab and Iranian, participants for whom the old Arab proverb, “my enemy’s enemy is my friend,” took on new meaning.

The conference featured four themes: the legal status of Jerusalem and its holy places under “Israeli occupation,” the Arab identity of the city, Israeli crimes against the Muslim world by its efforts to “judaize” Jerusalem and how to combat these efforts, and appropriate measures to engage civil society in the struggle to maintain the Arab character of the city.  In addition to vilification of Zionism and demonization of Israel, most of the conference focused on strategies to “rescue Jerusalem” from Israel. This new “rescue Jerusalem” theme may be the result of recent statements by some Hamas leaders and Abu-Youssef el-Qaradawi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, in which Israel’s “tampering with el-Aqsa” becomes a new casus belli for the Muslim world.

Over the past six years, the Muslim Brotherhood has sponsored a series of such conferences to develop strategies to delegitimize and vilify Israel, many of them in Turkey and with the cooperation of the Turkish government: apparently part of the new Turkish government’s interest in becoming a new nexus for the Muslim world, a nexus whose first priority is the destruction of Israel.

According to its website, the concept of a “Global March to Jerusalem” (GM2J) has been discussed for decades; but the eventof Friday, March 30, was born a year earlier in discussions among the organizers of the Asian Caravan to Gaza, which will useTurkey as its port of departure for its as yet unrealized blockade-busting voyage to Gaza.

The Asian Caravan to Gaza has close connections with the Muslim Brotherhood, as do the Global March organizers[i]; and the Muslim Brotherhood leaders were key players in the Qatar conference.  It is probably no coincidence, therefore, that a year after the Asian Caravan folks began discussing it, and only a month after the Qatar conference focused on “rescuing Jerusalem,” we witnessed close to 20,000 people massing on Israel’s borders on Friday, March 30, to rescue Jerusalem from Israel’s “judaization” of the future capitol of “Palestine.”

There was ample news coverage and analysis in the weeks leading up to the march,[ii] with speculation about how Israel would handle this massive civilian, yet hostile, breach of its borders.  There was somewhat more limited coverage of the event itself in mainstream media, perhaps because it drew nowhere near the two million participants of which organizers boasted in the days leading up to the event.  There was some violence and one fatality, but the Israeli security forces effectively used non-lethal riot-control techniques and hi-tech interference to dampen mob enthusiasm; and Jordanian, Lebanese and Egyptian forces prevented marchers’ access to the Israeli borders.

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About

David Meir-Levi writes and lectures on Middle East topics, until recently in the History Department of San Jose State University.

  • Larry

    The only time Jerusalem takes any significance in the muslim mind is when somebody else has it. It didn't become the site of the "furthest mosque" until the First Crusade captured it, after it was taken back it was ignored.
    It was ignored by the Ottoman Empire to the extent that they didn't even really try to defend it in 1917. Imagine the reaction if the British had landed an expeditionary force on the coast of the Red Sea that threatened Mecca and Medina – every muslim in the Indian Army and the French Army would have mutinied the moment they got the news.
    It was ignored by Jordan between 1948 and 1967.

    The hyperventilating about Jerusalem as a capital of the non-existent "palestinian" people is just another example.

  • UCSPanther

    And just when they ally, it all falls apart, be it Gamal Nasser's UAR alliance in 1967, or rift that appeared between Turkey and Iran over the Syrian rebellion.

    • MethanP

      The difference is that through the cold war, the western democracies were largely pro Israel. Now, in April 2012, with Obama as president, they can't even count on the USA. Or do any of you take BHO at his word that he's got Israels back.

  • SHmuel HaLevi

    The Arabs are far worse off today than ever. They may cause some damage but again and this time finally, they will be smashed.

    • MethanP

      Always, in a conventional war. But when, not if, Iran goes nuclear?

  • Bert

    Much too soon to write off this new attempt to unite against Israel. The main problem is not the efforts of our enemies but rather the moral rot within the mainline Jewish leadership in both the U.S. and Israel. The Torah has clearly promised, in Deuteronomy Chapter 28, that if Jews follow the Law then G-d with fight for the Jews and we will be victorious and secure. The same chapter also warns that our failure to follow the Law will bring severe punishment at the hands of our enemies. The shame is that our corrupt, secular, self debased, leadership fears man and not G-d. They strive to create another illegal, hostile, Arab state inside the Jewish heartland, in violation of the Torah, and then wonder why we cannot gain peace and security.

  • Dispozadaburka

    If the Muslims really wanted "peace"
    all they had/ have to do it put their petrodollars into building a beautiul city
    like "Dubai" for the Palestinians, maybe someplace close to Mecca.
    Then they could live peacefully in their blissful Sharia State.
    The reason why they hate Jews is because they are "G-ds chosen people/"
    The "Lord G-d of Israel" is also who Christians worship
    .(Remember Jesus was a very orthodox Jew and Master Kabbalist in Healing)
    They worship "Allah" who is actually the God, Ba al.
    In the end Ba al will never win.

  • Schlomotion

    Nice link. Israeli sonic weapons going off in the video show that Israel is the ultimate Yuppie Car Alarm going off in the Middle East while the world is trying to sleep after work.

    • Western Canadian

      Trust you to add a stupid, jew-baiting and hating comment.

    • Choi

      What can't be said enough is that YOU,S-Motion,are a JEW-HATING POS!

  • MethanP

    Since 1967 the Middle East, centered on Israel, was thought of as the Balkins of the world. Through 1991 that ment the USA might face the USSR over a M.E> confrontation. Now in 2012, Russia is largely out of the picture.
    Iran has taken their place as the big bad. The Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists talk a good game. Yet even the Saudis seem to be covertly backing Israel. The big shift has been in Turkey. Allie to Enemy almost over night. It was expected that an Israeli attack on Iran would use Turkish airspace at the least, and have refuelling/emergency landing rights. Now they would face a hostile response from a well equiped and well trained force. It was also believed that the US controlled Iraqi airspace would be neutral. Now, while they couldn't put up a fight, they could, and likely would warn Iran. As for Iran getting the bomb and behaving themselves: They've been naughty for 33 years without it. Why would they behave with it. And numerous polls have shown that no matter how much the average Iranian hates the regime and the mulahs, they ALL want the bomb to restore the glories of ancient Persia, and they want to use it against Israel!

  • Larry

    Next year in Jerusalem.

    And I say that as an Australian of Irish Catholic descent.

  • ObamaYoMoma

    The participants and agenda of the “International Conference for the Defense of occupied Jerusalem” displayed an unprecedented broad spectrum of the Arab and Muslim nations and organizations, uniting in Qatar for the sole purpose of strategizing new ways to destroy Israel.

    Were representatives of Druze Arabs, Yazidi Arabs, Coptic Arabs, Maronite Arabs , Greek Orthodox Arabs, Greek Catholic Arabs, Syriac Orthodox Arabs, Chaldean Arabs, and Baha'is Arabs in attendance at that “International Conference for the Defense of occupied Jerusalem” too? No, not really. Hence, how can you falsely classify what is happening in Israel as an Israeli – Arab Conflict, and at the same time help to deflect attention off of the true culprits? Meanwhile, Israel's biggest nemesis today are the Iranians, and Iran is a predominately Persian country and not an Arab country. Do Muslims in Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. etc., etc. also not want to see Israel destroyed?

    What is happening in Israel has exactly zero to do with being Arab and everything to do with being Muslim and Islam, which is waging a permanent and perpetual jihad of conquest not only against the Jewish unbelievers in Israel, but also against all non-Muslim unbelievers around the world, via primarily violent jihad in primitive regions of the world and covert and deceptive non-violent jihad, i.e., mass Muslim immigration to the West for the purpose of mass Muslim infiltration and stealth demographic conquest, in advanced parts of the world, as violent jihad against the West could potentially backfire and result in the annihilation of Islam.

    One of Israel’s greatest advantages in its fight for survival against the 64-year long Arab war to destroy the Jewish state has been Arab disunity. 

    That is a completely false and utterly absurd misrepresentation of the truth. What is happening in Israel was manifesting for much longer before Israel ever became a state, and it most certainly is not an Arab war. Instead, what is happening in Israel is a jihad of conquest being waged perpetually by the Islamic world against the Jewish unbelievers in Israel primarily via their proxy – the so-called Palestinian people. Which were created out of whole cloth in Moscow in 1964 by the Soviet KGB as a disinformation campaign to dupe gullible useful idiots by camouflaging the Islamic world's permanent jihad of conquest being waged perpetually against the Jewish unbelievers in Israel under a cloak of false nationalism and specifically Palestinian nationalism in this case. Despite the fact that nationalism is un-Islamic and blasphemous in Islam because it is a Western manifestation, but at the same time it is nevertheless very convenient for duping gullible useful idiot Westerners, which can relate to nationalism but not to jihad.

    No wonder so many people side against Israel and side with so-called Palestinians. It's because writers like this writer virtually always mischaracterize what is going on in Israel as being a conflict or a war only between Israel and Palestinians instead of what it really is, which again is a permanent jihad of conquest being waged perpetually against the Jewish unbelievers in Israel by the Islamic world and in which is just one small part of the much greater stealth global jihad at large being waged via violent and non-violent means of jihad against all non-Muslim unbelievers in the world.

    If, on the other hand, people understood the true reality of the conflict in Israel, they would be far more hesitant about siding with the enemies of the Jewish unbelievers in Israel and indeed the enemies of all non-Muslim unbelievers in the world. Hence, I hate to say it, but I feel I must, this writer is part of the problem and not part of the solution.

    For that reason alone, the Doha Conference deserves special notice by virtue of the event’s successfully hosting Sunni and Shi’ite, Arab and Iranian, participants for whom the old Arab proverb, “my enemy’s enemy is my friend,” took on new meaning.

    Not really. In fact, the sixth and most important pillar of Islam makes it an obligatory duty for all Muslims on earth to fight jihad in the cause of Allah against non-Muslim unbelievers to make Islam supreme. Hence, since Shiites and Sunnis are both Muslims, then it means they are both obligated to wage jihad against non-Muslim unbelievers in the cause of Allah to make Islam supreme, and, of course, Jewish unbelievers are the most hated unbelievers in all the world.

    – continue below

    • ObamaYoMoma

      But there is another reason why this even was indeed a major victory for the Arab cause and a set-back for the Jewish state:

      Please stop harming the interest of Israel and at the same time the interest of all non-Muslim unbelievers around the world by mischaracterizing what is going on in Israel as an Israeli – Arab conflict instead of what it actually is, which is permanent jihad of conquest being waged perpetually against the Jewish unbelievers in Israel by the Islamic world and that is just one tiny part of the much greater stealth global jihad at large being waged perpetually against all non-Muslim unbelievers around the world via violent and non-violent means of jihad. That is primarily via violent means of jihad in primitive regions of the world and via covert and deceptive non-violent means of jihad, such as mass Muslim immigration to the West for the purpose of mass Muslim infiltration and stealth demographic conquest, in advanced regions of the world, as employing violent means of jihad in advanced regions of the world could potentially result in the annihilation of Islam.

      Just as the poorly attended but ground-breaking anti-Israel conference at Harvard created a new front in the campus warsagainst Israel, so too the GM2J and its backers and organizers, from the Asian Caravan and the Muslim Brotherhood to the Qatar Conference and Neturei Karta, can all rejoice in their new tactic: the mass mobilization of civilians in unarmed and non-violent hostile activity.

      In other words, covert and deceptive non-violent means of jihad.

      The wars have failed, the terrorism has failed, boycotts and divestments and sanctions have failed, American vetoes haveprevented Arab sponsored anti-Israel resolutions from succeeding in the UN Security Council, and most of the western public has begun to lose interest in the endless relentless rhetoric of Palestinian victimhood at the hands of their supposedly oppressive Israeli occupiers.

      I hate to keep raining on this writer's parade here, but terrorism in the Islamic world is a completely blasphemous and un-Islamic offense that is punishable under the penalty of death in Islam. Indeed, Muslims don't fight terrorism in the cause of Allah. Instead, they fight jihad, which is holy fighting in the cause of Allah against non-Muslim unbelievers to make Islam supreme and in which constitutes total warfare that employs both violent and non-violent means.

      Meanwhile, terrorism, which is a non-Islamic manifestation, always employs violence only in stark contrast to jihad, which employs both violent and non-violent means, such as boycotts, divestment campaigns, sanctions, anti-Israel resolutions, mass Muslim immigration, etc., etc., etc. As a matter of fact, covert and deceptive non-violent jihad is employed by the Islamic world against the West astronomically far more prevalently and in reality constitutes an exponentially far greater threat to the peace and security of the West relative to violent jihad.

      Hence, not only does this writer not understand what is happening in Israel is really a jihad of conquest and only one tiny part of the much greater global jihad at large, but he also doesn't have a clue about jihad and in fact habitually conflates what is really jihad as being terrorism, per the dictates of PC multiculturalism. Not too good.

      • wctaqiyya

        Well OK, you're hired already. Happy now? Jeepers brother, you need a blog of your own, because you write like Dickens, in that he was also paid by the word. Not that I don't like your writing…

        Might I offer this modest response to David's conclusion that the 'March on Jerusalem' was a major victory for the 'Arab cause'? First, the millions of promised marchers never showed up. That means all the ballyhooed cooperation and coordination between and among Arabs, Persians and auxiliary troops amounted to – not much. The much feared suicide squads from Iran did – nothing. Second, there is nothing new about the Muslim consensus on Israel. Old news. Third, Israel is not weaker. In fact, the front-line Muslim fighting forces arrayed against Israel are weaker. Syria will sooner or later be lost to Iran. Both Turkey and S. Arabia say so. Which means Hamas and Hezbollah won't be getting supplies and protection from Iran though Syria. They will be cut off. Thus, much weaker. The Hamas police prevented thousands of Gaza protesters from getting close to Israel. Why? Because they know. Neither Jordan or Egypt will risk oblivion just to make Iran or S. Arabia happy. They have plenty of internal troubles anyway. So much for that.

        Israel has large gas fields in the Med. and can make lucrative agreements with it's choice of powerful partners. It does not need the U.S. Israel could even let Russia help develop the gas fields. I can't think of many Arab countries that would attack an Israel partnered up with Russia or China. Can you?
        OK, my comment is also long. Shoot me.

        • WilliamJamesWard

          It just may be that Russia will attack Israel for past humiliation and China may attack out of greed
          and a sense of it's own invincibility. Both Russia and China can and probably have been using
          Muslims to advance their own goals and they are not as best I can tell favorable to Israel.
          William

          • wctaqiyya

            Yes, conventional thinking places Russia and Israel on opposite sides. Historically, Russia supported Egypt, Syria, Libya, etc. against the U.S. sponsored Israel. But that was more a function of the cold war when the 'superpowers' were competing for influence in that area. Ideology, for Russia, was a secondary consideration. Now, having lost all of it's client states but Syria, which it is losing as we write, those cold war distinctions are gone. Russia, under Putin, is more practical than ideological. And they love to go for the natural gas. If someone else helps Israel develop the gas fields, Russia's partial monopoly on the European supplies will be broken. Plus, they really want access to Mediterranean ports and Israel has some good ones. The conditions for a practical working arrangement between the two countries are almost ideal. Diplomatically, Israel and Russia work together OK. In addition, Israel and Russia can both poke a stick in Obama's eye and nobody thinks they both won't love doing that. There are numerous other reasons why such an arrangement makes sense. I like it because Obama would lose the election for sure.

            As for Russia attacking Israel, no chance. Russia will not even insert it's troops into Syria much less invade or attack Israel. Right now, they are trying to delay Bashar Assad's downfall because they want to keep the port they built for as long as possible and maybe negotiate it's continued use after Bashar's downfall. I don't think they will be allowed to keep it. Russian force projection ability is small and was not good even during the cold war. Now, they have a tenuous grip on one Syrian port so they can't possibly launch any attacks. It is also highly doubtful that Turkey would allow a Russian navel invasion force to transit into the Med. from the Black Sea. Turkey would almost certainly end any large scale Russian reinforcement by air, if they were crazy enough to try. China attacking Israel is even more of a remote possibility. They have no force projection ability whatever. Although I do see them investing in those gas fields.

            Russia and China helping Muslim countries to defeat Israel is not realistic. First, Russia and China do not cooperate that closely. They voted down the UN resolutions together because they both have an economic interest in Iran and by extension Syria. But, Syria is not going to be a proxy for Iran soon and they both know it. Since access to Med. gas would more than replace Iranian oil supplies or construction jobs, Iran can be abandoned. Besides, Iran and Syria are inconvenient, expensive and risky friends to have. Both Russia and China have more to gain in the Med. with Israel. Israel also has tons of advanced tech in many fields let's not forget.

            One last note, China doesn't feel invincible in my view. They have, in their view, more of a reason to fear the U.S. and it's allies. S. Korea, Japan and the U.S. together have a huge, advanced and very powerful and mobile military capability. China has tons of infantry. Not to mention that China has an uneasy to antagonistic relationship with India and Vietnam. I know the neo-con community likes to build up China as a growing threat, but that's empty rhetoric. China is peacefully investing in resources and aggressively looking after it's interests diplomatically. But that's playing by the rules and is a good thing. Even the spying is playing by the rules, or should be, since everyone does it. China has limited invasion ability, no force projection ability and there is no evidence they want to invade anyone. Nice chatting W.J.W., love your writing.

          • WilliamJamesWard

            Unfortunately my reply of a few minutes ago went out the window……..Suffice it to say that there
            is something in the Russian makeup that prefers revenge & slaughter to reasonableness so much that Putin is going to do what no one expects. China has projection by floating a new
            armada that is more advanced than what we have. China has also been making electronic
            parts for our Defense Department and surprise, surprise they do not work and as our equipment
            fails and the enemies of America get a good laugh I think the next administration has one
            gigantic investigation to undertake in how Obama has been undermining our very existence.
            I agree with most all you say but I see a darker persona in the Ruskies and Chicoms that
            overrides what would seem reasonable, Israel is in the way and so is America which is to play
            out with what I hope is for Russia and China, if we are lucky, to maybe seeing themselves
            with to much to lose and finally lessen the backing of hostile relations….Regards,………William