Recent events in Iran have focussed the world’s attention upon its most militant Islamic state, though little has been said about the spiritual basis of its politics nor the ultimate goal of its militant posturing.
Its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khameini, is no mere titular head of state. He heads the Revolutionary Guards, a branch of the armed forces formed in 1979 specifically to protect the newly-formed Islamic political system. Within that large unit is the ‘Quds Force’ which has the mission of ‘liberating’ former Muslim lands (i.e. subsuming them under Muslim control and the governance of Sharia law), especially ‘Al-Quds’ (from which the force takes its name) – ‘Jerusalem’ in English.1
Major General Soleimani, killed in a US drone strike earlier this month, was Commander of this force and Khameini’s right-hand man. He had co-ordinated and participated in military interventions in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. He also took a very active role in supporting the Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad paramilitaries. Hamas leaders saluted him as “one of the most prominent Iranian military leaders who had a major role in supporting the Palestinian resistance”.2
Qassem Soleimani receives an award from Iran's 'Supreme Leader' Khameini.In 2017 Iran hosted the sixth ‘International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada’ in Tehran, which Ayatollah Khamenei opened by calling Israel a “cancerous tumour” and urging the Palestinians to wage a “thunderous” intifada until what he called “the complete liberation of Palestine” is achieved.3
In November 2019, four decades on from the Islamic revolution, the Revolutionary Guard’s Major General Hossein Salami was quoted as saying, “We have managed to obtain the capacity to destroy the impostor Zionist regime…This sinister regime must be wiped off the map and this is no longer…a dream, it is an achievable goal.”4
Such vitriol is not mere rhetoric; it is expressed physically via weaponry deployed against Israel. Many of Hezbollah’s rockets and the necessary training are provided by Iran while, according to Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas is largely funded by Iran. In November 2012 Khameini stated, “We proudly say we support the Palestinians, militarily and financially. The Zionist regime needs to realise that Palestinian military power comes from Iranian military power”.5
All this is motivated by the desire to recover Jerusalem for Islam. It is no coincidence that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, attending Soleimani’s funeral, said “I declare that the martyred commander Soleimani is a martyr of Jerusalem.”6
Jihad against Israel is motivated by the desire to recover Jerusalem for Islam.
Islam the Driving Motivation
The flags flown by Hamas display the Shahada (the motto of Islam), which translates “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger”. Hamas’ logo displays crossed scimitars in front of a depiction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, above which is a block-map of Israel coloured completely green – a picture that paints a thousand words!
The logo of Palestinian Jihad is similar, showing the Dome of the Rock in front of crossed rifles, above clenched fists, superimposed by a red block-map of Israel, below which is the motto ‘Allahu akhbar’ ('Allah is greatest').
Palestinian Authority Facebook post, 6 November 2014.The reality that Islam is a driving motivation for Palestinian violence is also clear from images circulated in the Palestinian media and online, such as this one (right) from 6 November 2014, during a spate of fatal car-rammings. The caption reads “Run over Zionists for the sake of Al-Aqsa” (one of the mosques on Temple Mount, Jerusalem).
Sermons from Al-Aqsa mosque (beneath the smaller of the two domes above), are often laced with overt and vicious anti-Semitism drawn from the Qur’an. Take this example, from Sheikh Omar Abu Sara, on 27 November 2014:
Talking about the traits of the Jews…we are dealing with people to whom every single vile trait has been attributed. These traits were registered in the Quran, which depicted all aspects of the lives of the Jews in the most abominable images…It was the Jews whom Allah turned into apes and pigs, and afflicted with degradation and humiliation…I say to the Jews loud and clear: The time for your slaughter has come. The time to fight you has come. The time to kill you has come…7
The sheikh’s authority for the “apes and pigs” teaching comes directly from the Qur’an (especially from Surah 5:60), whilst the timing is derived from one of the Hadiths: “The Day of Resurrection will not happen until the Muslims are fighting the Jews…rocks and plants will say, ‘O Muslims, O Allah’s servants, behind me there are Jews. Come and kill him” (‘The Prophecy of the Rock and the Tree’). Such teaching is completely in opposition to the word of God. God is the one who promised blessing on Abraham’s descendants (and on those who bless them) and who promised to curse those who curse them (Gen 12:1-3).
The spiritual dimension of all this anti-Israel sentiment and action, inseparable as it is from blatant anti-Semitism, should never be disregarded or underplayed. Make no mistake; the Islamic vision is full of lies, lies of satanic origin. As Jesus himself declared of Satan, “There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
The spiritual dimension of all this anti-Israel sentiment and action, inseparable as it is from blatant anti-Semitism, should never be disregarded or underplayed.
Same Spirit in Britain
There should be no doubt that the same lying spirit underlying this anti-Semitic hatred has also taken root in Britain’s Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
In July last year, I wrote personally to Mr Corbyn at Labour HQ to draw his attention to spectacularly vicious incitement by Fathi Hammad, (senior member of Hamas, member of the Palestinian National Council and of the Muslim Brotherhood) and to ask him to publicly withdraw his support of Hamas in light of it. The incitement was broadcast in Arabic via Al-Aqsa TV and translated by MEMRI.8 Al-Aqsa TV is the channel run by Hamas, of which Hammad is the current Director. This is a short extract:
Our brothers abroad are still preparing…Oh, you seven million Palestinians abroad, enough warming up! There are Jews everywhere! We must attack every Jew on planet Earth – we must slaughter and kill them, with Allah's help…I say to those in the West Bank: How long will you sit in silence? You can buy knives for five shekels! How much is the neck of a Jew worth to us – isn't it worth five shekels, or even less?
In spite of two subsequent reminders, no response from Mr Corbyn or his staff has yet been received.
Labour’s anti-Semitism scandal, which has its roots in an institutionalised hatred of Israel, is proof that such incitement as this is not confined to Gaza, or even the Middle East. Through the internet especially, it has global reach and influence, feeding the international growth of anti-Semitism. The spiritual onslaught has adopted technological wings! And yet, Jerusalem (Al-Quds) remains its primary focus.
The Lord Will Go Forth
In the prophecy of Zechariah, we read amazing statements from God about the future of Jerusalem. Early in 519 BC, God said of the last days, “I am zealous for Zion with great zeal…I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem” (Zech 8:2-3). A little later God spoke again:
I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding nations…a burdensome stone for all nations…And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on Me, whom they pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son… (Zech 12:2-3, 10).
Left: West-East fault line under the Mount of Olives. Right: Tectonic force direction. See Photo Credits.In chapter 14 we read, “The LORD will go forth and fight against those nations…and in that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives…[which] shall be split in two, from east to west, making a large valley. Half the mountain shall move toward the north, and half toward the south.”
Clearly, these prophecies are yet to be fulfilled and events are building to that end. The scene is even set geologically, as the maps to the left show.9
In the meantime, we are commanded by Scripture to PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM (Ps 122:6-9). That peace is not merely political, but spiritual: the reconciling of people to God, of Jewish people to their Messiah, in preparation for his return. May we also pray that the scales be removed from the eyes of Muslims, that they may be delivered from Satan’s lies to find The Truth in Jesus.
References
1 Matusitz, J, 2014. ‘Al-Quds: The Muslim Jerusalem’, in Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication and Behavior. Rowman & Littlefield, p117.
2 Hezbollah, Hamas and Assad Regime Praise Soleimani, Vow Revenge for Iranian General’s Death. The Algemeiner, 3 January 2020.
3 Lipin, M. Iran Uses Palestinian Conference to Spotlight Anti-Israel Rhetoric. VOA, 23 February 2017.
4 ‘Not anti-Semitic’: Khamenei defines Iran’s goal of ‘wiping out Israel’. Times of Israel, 15 November 2019.
5 Why Is Iran Shipping Arms to Hamas and Hezbollah? The Blaze, 9 April 2014.
6 Hamas Chief Attends Soleimani Funeral in Tehran: 'He Is a Martyr of Jerusalem'. Ha’aretz, 6 January 2020.
7 Preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque Omar Abu Sara to the Jews: "We Shall Slaughter You Without Mercy". MEMRI, 28 November 2014.
8 Hamas Political Bureau Member Fathi Hammad Calls On Palestinians All Over The World To Slaughter Jews… MEMRI Special Dispatch, 15 July 2019.
9 See also this article.
