The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) has published a report titled “The Global March to Jerusalem: Part of the International Campaign to Delegitimize Israel” by analyst Ehud Rosen. The conclusions of the report are as follows:
- Over the past few years there has been a Palestinian campaign focusing on the so-called “Judaization” of Jerusalem. A number of related topics have been raised recently in what appears to be an orchestrated campaign initiated by leading figures in the PA, Hamas, and Muslim Brotherhood.
- In January 2012, the European Preparatory Committee for the Global March to Jerusalem published an invitation for participation and support. The organizers are aiming to hold marches to Jerusalem “or the nearest point to it” on March 30, to coincide with the annual Palestinian “Land Day.” Originally, marches were planned in Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the four neighboring countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.
- The European Preparatory Committee is comprised of members of UK Muslim Brotherhood circles and a member of the Free Gaza movement (founded by the International Solidarity Movement, ISM), this time joined by the anti-imperialist camp. The original idea is said to have come from participants in the December 2010 “Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan.”
- In February 2012, various national committees began their preparations, including in Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Iran. More than twenty Palestinian organizations have endorsed the march.
- It is hard to predict the results of these preparations. However, the participation of Sunni-Islamist circles is increasing, encouraged by their rise due to the Arab Spring. Fatah, the PLO, and the PA are becoming more involved as well, as are more Islamist jihadi forces and far-right European elements.
Read the entire report here.
A post from February reported on a conference held by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) Pakistan to discuss preparations for the march where conference speakers claimed that mosques in Jerusalem and Medina are “Under Direct Threat of Jewish Designs” and one speaker described Israel as a “cancer. Others posts discussed planning by the U.K. Muslim Brotherhood for the march and another planning conference that took place in Istanbul. Yet another post discussed the invitation to the march that was posted on a far-left website. As noted in that post, six of the twelve individuals listed as sponsoring/endorsing the initiative are either leaders in or closely tied to the Global Brotherhood.
In December 2010, Rosen published another report titled “Mapping the Organizational Sources of the Global Delegitimization Campaign against Israel in the UK” in which the global Muslim Brotherhood is seen to play a significant role. The report begins:
Part of the problem with understanding the phenomenon of delegitimization, even after the organizations promoting it are mapped out, is that most political observers are not fully acquainted with the groups that are involved. The Muslim Brotherhood, for example, has been at the center of a large debate in policymaking circles in both the United States and the UK over whether it should be regarded as a moderate Islamist alternative to Al-Qaeda and other violent groups or as a precursor for all modern Islamic terrorism. Therefore, any effort to map out the sources of delegitimization must first examine the ideologies and background of its constituent elements. Subsequently this paper will consider how these groups, which were never at the center of British politics, have managed to “mainstream” these efforts and acquire the impact that is being witnessed today.
Read the rest here.