Over recent weeks violence has flared in Jerusalem. Various causes have been promoted, such as the long-running dispute over land in the Sheikh Jarrah district and alleged restrictions on Muslim rights to pray in the Temple Mount complex. This year Ramadan runs from April 13 to May 12. However, between April 2 and April 10, on 20 occasions, the Palestinian Authority’s TV channel broadcast a video inciting terror. According to Palestinian Media Watch, the video was sometimes shown after animated children's shows “as part of the PA's indoctrination of children”.1 The narrator says, “Because songs are a basic part of our culture and they express our national identity … and because these songs are present in our consciousness … it’s here: ‘The Tune of the Homeland’”. The words of the song were shown on screen as the video progressed: “I fired my shots, I threw my bomb. I detonated, detonated, detonated my [explosive] belts … My brother, throw my blood on the enemy like bullets”. The accompanying graphic2 is shown on the right:
Graphic of jihad song
Such material gives the lie to any claim of spontaneous popular reaction to Israeli ‘provocation’.
Palestinian violence
On May 2nd there was a lethal shooting attack in which one Israeli was murdered. Three 19-year-old Israeli yeshiva students were wounded by Palestinian terrorist Muntasir Shalabi in a drive-by shooting attack at the Tapuach Junction, near Ariel in the northern West Bank. One of these, Yehuda Guetta, later died of his wounds, having been shot in the head.3 Hours after the attack, Fatah’s Nablus branch posted a song on its Facebook page, “Make sure your bullets hit the target.”4 A few days prior to the shooting attack, Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor on religious affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, similarly told Palestinians to fight Israel - even to death - because “this is what Islam wants of you!”5
A BBC report on violent clashes on May 8th stated, “Saturday's clashes broke out at Damascus Gate after tens of thousands of worshippers had prayed at Al-Aqsa mosque for Laylat al-Qadr, the most holy night in the Muslim month of Ramadan. The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 90 Palestinians were hurt, and 14 were taken to hospital. Earlier on Saturday, Israeli police had stopped dozens of buses carrying worshippers to the mosque, and a number of Palestinians were arrested after Friday's violence. ‘They do not want us to pray. There is a fight every day, every day there are clashes. Every day there are troubles,’ Mahmoud al-Marbua, 27, told Reuters news agency.”6 But how is it that rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails are in the hands of ‘worshippers’ seeking to pray? Nothing is said in our media about the connection between the ‘holy month’ of Ramadan, prayer, and violence.
Incitement to violence and murder
A Palestinian post on Twitter on May 8th stated in warlike terms: "This night is not devoted only to i'tikaf, it must also be devoted to deployment on the front, to jihad and to the defence of Al-Aqsa”7 (I’tikaf means constant worship at the mosque, especially during the last ten days of Ramadan). Worse, the International Union of Muslim Scholars proposed a Friday sermon on its website, stating amongst other things, “When the Prophet Muhammad spoke of the battle to liberate Al-Aqsa from the Jews, he clarified that the emblem of this campaign is submission to God. The compilation of reliable hadiths penned by Muslim states that the Prophet said, 'Judgment Day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Jews will hide behind trees and stones. Then the trees and the stones will say: Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him' – except for the gharqad tree, which is one of the trees of the Jews. … The truth, as clear as the sun at midday, is that negotiations and dialogue do not frighten the Jews, but they quake in fear [when they see] young men raised on the tenets of the faith and the directives of the Quran. The young jihad fighters of Palestine are the best evidence of this, for they have given the Jews a taste of dread and rocked their entity [the state of Israel] with their heroic jihad operations. They took up a rifle in one hand and the Quran in the other, after holding the Quran as belief in their hearts.”8
UK media fail to identify real motives
Hezbollah
How is it that the Guardian promotes headlines such as “Israeli police attack Palestinians at al-Aqsa mosque in eviction protests”, attributing the “nightly clashes … during Ramadan” exclusively to the Sheikh Jarrah issue9? Who in the UK knows what is said to the ‘faithful’ as they attend Friday ‘prayers’ at the Palestinian mosques? How is it that the BBC’s Arabic-speaking staff remain quiet about such scandalous incitement? Why is it that the inherent violence of Islam is so disregarded, the claim that it is a religion of peace so widespread?
‘Islam’ literally means ‘submission’, not ‘peace’. Mark Durie, a linguistics and theology scholar maintains that “In its original meaning, a Muslim was someone who surrendered in warfare”10 and it is no coincidence that the symbol of the sword is prominent in Islamic iconography.
HamasThough the Sword of Islam is often interpreted as a symbol of law, Muslim scholars Al-Olaqi and Sherif admit that Islam “was spread by strength and the sword in the case of those who stubbornly resisted, until they had no choice and had to submit to the new reality.”11 The singular Sword of Islam features in Hezbollah’s emblem, along with the automatic rifle, whilst crossed swords and the Islamic Dome of the Rock (NOT ‘al-Aqsa!) form the core of the Hamas emblem. Note that in the latter image, the entire map of ‘Palestine’ is coloured green for Islam, with no place at all for Israel!
Fatah is apparently more secular, replacing crossed swords with crossed automatic rifles and a grenade. However, even the acronym/word ‘Fatah’ is Islamic. Its formal title is ‘Harakat At-Tir Al-watani, alFilasti’, meaning the ‘Palestinian National Liberation Movement’, but the word ‘Fatah’ is linked with the Arabic root verb for conquering. Although perhaps exaggerating his case, Philip Haney points out, “… everyone in the Islamic world knows that, sooner or later, Fatah intends to turn the entire area west of the Jordan River into the land of Islam.”12 The similar green ‘Palestine’ map element portrays this.
Fatah Praying for the situation
Truly, Jerusalem is already proving to be “a burdensome stone” (Zech 12:3), in the course of which not only are Israelis harmed, but also many ordinary Palestinians are being exploited by their imams and by their leaders in Fatah and Hamas. We should pray that their eyes should be opened to the truth of their situation, and especially to the truth that is in Jesus. Whilst it is imperative that we continue to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” and for “peace within its walls” (Ps.122), we should consider that the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61 may continue into chapter 62, with, “For Zions’ sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem” (v.1) and “I have set watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent ….” (v.6.) And we should, “speaking the truth in love”, contend for truth regarding Israel’s situation – in our fellowships and in the wider world.
Endnotes
1The real source of the violence in Jerusalem | PMW Analysis (palwatch.org) accessed 9 May 2021
2Screenshot from note 1
3Tapuach Junction Victim Yehudah Guetta, Hy"d, Laid to Rest | Hamodia.com accessed 10 May 2021
4Hours after lethal shooting attack, Fatah posts song: “Make sure your bullets hit the target” | PMW Translations (palwatch.org) accessed 9 May 2021
5Just days before 3 terror attacks: Abbas advisor tells Palestinians to fight Israel, even to death – “this is what Islam wants of you!” | PMW Analysis (palwatch.org) accessed 10 May 2021
6Jerusalem: Many injured on second night of clashes - BBC News accessed 9 May 2021
7Twitter.com/KhaledSafi, May 8, 2021
8IUMS Sermon Calls for Jihad in Jerusalem | MEMRI 9 May 2021, accessed 10 May 2021
9Israeli police attack Palestinians at al-Aqsa mosque in eviction protests - YouTube accessed 10 May 2021
10Quoted by Tim Dieppe, (2018 ) Is Islam a religion of peace? - Christian Concern accessed 10 May 2021
11Al-Olaqi & Sherif (2016) ‘The Sword in the Islamic World View’ accessed 10 May 2021
12Philip B. Haney, (Jan 21, 2015), quoted in Is Fatah Really 'Moderate'? - Dr. Rich Swier (drrichswier.com) (The Arabic significance is by Dr. Swier) accessed 10 May 2021
