Mixed Muslim and Arab Views/Actions Toward Jews, Zionism and Israel, 1920s-2024
For 100 years, Arabs and Muslims have expressed multiple attitudes toward Jews, Zionism, and Israel. They stretch along a spectrum from hatred to acceptance. They have ranged from: fiercely threatened, vigorously and violently opposed, fully rejected, boycotted, disliked, barely tolerated, infrequently ignored, moderately or pragmatically accepted, collaborated with, and diplomatically, either quietly or openly recognized. Multiple views have been held and are frequently held simultaneously by populations and leaders, sometimes dependent upon fierce ideology or proximity to Israel. Dozens of other factors, too numerous to note have influenced retention, changes, and alteration of views over time. This listing is offered as a small but representative snapshot.
— Ken Stein, November 9, 2024
October 4, 2024, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: “The primary cause of war, insecurity and backwardness in this region is the existence of the Zionist regime and the presence of governments that claim to seek peace and calm in the region…The [Zionist] regime is like “an evil tree, uprooted from the ground,” which according to God’s true words, “lacks any stability” (Quran 14:26). This malicious regime is rootless, fallacious, and unstable, and it has only managed to stand on its feet with difficulty with US support. And God willing, this too will not last for long.” https://english.khamenei.ir/news/11146/Palestinian-and-Lebanese-Resistance-pushed-back-Zionist-regime
September 17, 2024, poll of Palestinian Arab views: “For the first time since October 7, 2023, simultaneously in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, findings show significant drop in the favorability of the October 7 attack and in the expectations that Hamas will win the current war, and a moderate drop in the level of support for Hamas; moreover, findings show a drop in the Gaza Strip in the preference for a continued Hamas control over that area in the day after the war and a rise in the preference for PA control. Nonetheless, despite all that, support for Hamas remains the highest compared to all Palestinian factions. Furthermore, findings show significant rise in support for the two-state solution (from 32% to 39%) accompanied by a drop in the preference for armed struggle (30% prefer armed struggle) and a rise in the preference for negotiations (to barely 25%) as the best means of ending the Israeli occupation. (occupation is defined as all the land west of the Jordan River), Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research
June 12, 2024, poll of Palestinian Arab views: “Two-thirds of the Palestinian public continue to support the October 7 attack; About half of Gazans expects Hamas to win the war and return to rule the Gaza Strip; a quarter of Gazans expects Israel to win. Increased support for armed struggle is accompanied by more than 60% support the dissolution of the PA.” When asked which political party or movement they prefer, the largest percentage (40%) said they prefer Hamas, followed by Fateh (20%) In the same context, just over half believe that Hamas is the most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people today while only 16% believe that Fateh under the leadership of Abbas is the most deserving. Satisfaction with PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ performance stands at 12% and dissatisfaction with 85%. About 90% want the president to resign. Today, 94% of West Bankers and 83% of Gazans demand the resignation of the president. Support for a two-state solution stands at just one-third and a majority says it supports armed struggle. In this regard, it is worth noting two findings: unlike the previous poll, in the current one, support for the two-state solution decreased significantly, and support for armed struggle increased. Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, Public Opinion Poll No. 92
December 13, 2023, poll of Palestinian Arab views: In a survey completed two months after Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israelis, Palestinians praised Hamas actions, with a vast majority not believing that Hamas carried out atrocities against civilians, less than 15% give any support to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, or are satisfied with his work as president; less than a third of both populations supported a two-state solution. Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research
May 26, 2021, Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader: “We support the eradication of Israel through armed jihad and struggle. This is our doctrine. Our complete gratitude is extended to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has spared us and the other Palestinian resistance factions nothing in recent years. They have provided us with money, weapons, and expertise. They have supported us in everything, with the grace of Allah. They deserve huge credit.” Middle East Media Research Institute
September 2020, Abraham Accords: Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel, promoting their respective national interests; Morocco and Sudan soon do likewise.
October 19, 2017, Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader, meeting with Gaza youth about Fatah reconciliation: “Over is the time Hamas spent discussing recognizing Israel. Now Hamas will discuss when we wipe out Israel.” https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-chief-we-wont-discuss-recognizing-israel-only-wiping-it-out/
December 2006, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (founding member of Hamas in 1988 and one of three key Hamas political leaders for decades afterward): “We will never recognize the usurper Zionist government and will continue our jihadist movement until Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are liberated. We will continue with this trend until all Palestinian refugees return to their homes. We are the reliable protectors of the Islamic and Arab Palestinian territories.” Ismail Haniyeh, live broadcast Iranian Radio, December 8, 2006, BBC Monitoring Middle East — Worldwide Monitoring.
July 10, 2001, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah: “We consider the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland to be as important an objective as the liberation of our own lands. Lebanon cannot possibly tolerate settling Palestinians in its midst. Our rejection of settling Palestinians in Lebanon is not built on political calculations; it is based on the fact that settlement as a principle is unacceptable. This is our conviction and we are ready to carry it through even on our own.” Akhbar al-Khaleej, as quoted in Middle East Mirror.
November 2-8, 2000, Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah: “From any perspective, Israel is the threat. It is a threat to every Arab country. It is a threat to the whole Arab world, and it is also a threat to the Islamic nation as a whole. Any sound order of priorities necessitates that all Islamist movements concentrate their efforts on confronting the Zionist project while postponing side battles. The Islamist movement must take a vanguard position in this battle [against the Zionists], exerting every possible effort to mobilize the Arab and Islamic peoples on that front.” Interview, Al-Ahram Weekly, Issue No. 5.
January 30, 1996, Yasser Arafat, PLO chairman, more than two years after signing the Oslo Accords: “The PLO will now concentrate on splitting Israel psychologically into two camps. … We plan to eliminate the State of Israel and establish a Palestinian state. We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. Jews will not want to live among Arabs. I have no use for Jews. They are and remain Jews. We now need all the help we can get from you in our battle for a united Palestine under Arab rule.” Quoted in The Jerusalem Post, February 23, 1996.
October 26, 1994, Jordan-Israel peace treaty: Promotes mutually beneficial strategic national interests.
August 7, 1994, Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah: “We will not give up resistance. The struggle against the Jews and the battle against Zionism will continue until all the land is recovered. … We will return to Jerusalem … and not a single Jew will remain in Palestine — that is God’s promise.” Reported by French Press Agency (Paris) in English and taken from Foreign Broadcast Information Service — Near East and South Asia, August 8, 1994, p. 77.
September 13, 1993, Oslo Accords: Israel and the PLO sign the Oslo Accords, granting the PLO a chance to govern a portion of the territories Israel secured in the June 1967 war, without promising a Palestinian state. Likewise, no promise to stop or withdraw Jewish settlements in those territories is agreed upon.
September 9, 1993, exchange of recognition: The PLO and Israel recognize the legitimacy of each other. Yasser Arafat, the leader of the PLO, seeks to reassert the diminishing influence of the PLO over Palestinians in the territories. Israel’s Yitzhak Rabin sees PLO recognition as a small step in Palestinian acceptance of Israel.
August 18, 1988, Hamas Charter: The militant Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas stipulates that Israel is illegitimate and should be destroyed through jihad. Hamas expresses opposition to all recognition, negotiation and agreements previously signed by Arab states and the PLO with Israel.
April 21-27, 1980, Palestinian leader George Habash opposing Sadat and acceptance of Israel: “The Camp David phase has brought our Palestinian struggle in particular and the Arab liberation struggle to face a new, difficult, dangerous and complicated phase that is different from any previous phase ever experienced by our Palestinian struggle against the Zionist invasion which is allied with imperialism. … The Camp David agreements have for the first time led an official Arab regime to recognize, cooperate and ally itself with the Zionist entity in an open, declared, official manner. We had never faced such a situation before. Arab reaction, which during previous phases could not confront the Zionist invasion, had at a time plotted secretly with Zionism and imperialism against the Palestinian struggle and, at other times, attempted to weaken or abort the Palestinian struggle, as happened in 1936 and 1948. It is our duty to support the Iranian revolution as long as it is hostile to imperialism and Zionism, irrespective of the views of the Iranian revolution’s political and economic quarters during the current phase.”
March 26, 1979, Egypt-Israel peace treaty: Israel agrees to return all of the Sinai to Egypt and to withdraw settlements from there as well in return for Egypt’s stepping away from the Arab military encirclement of Israel. The treaty comes after prolonged and difficult talks during the Carter administration that saw an outline for a treaty and some autonomy for the Palestinians in the territories offered in the September 17, 1978, Camp David Accords.
June 5-10, 1967: Israel wins the Six-Day War, greatly expanding the territory under its control, but does not sign any treaties with Arab states.
May 26, 1967, Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser to Arab Trade Union: “The problem today is not just Israel, but also those behind it. If Israel embarks on an aggression against Syria or Egypt, the battle against Israel will be a general one and not confined to one spot on the Syrian or Egyptian borders. The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel. I could not have said such things five or even three years ago. If I had said such things and had been unable to carry them out my words would have been empty and worthless.” Egyptian President Nasser to Arab Trade Union
May 28 1964, Palestine Liberation Organization: The PLO forms, stating its purpose is to destroy Israel through armed struggle. It retains this policy until recognizing Israel formally in 1993.
November 29, 1947, U.N. Security Council Resolution 181: The United Nations endorses the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states with an economic union and Jerusalem managed as a separate area. Zionists accept the idea; Palestinians and Arabs vehemently oppose Zionism and a Jewish state.
1947-1949, Israeli Declaration of Independence: Israel declares its independence May 14, 1948, and wins the war but does not sign any peace treaties. Only armistice (cease-fire) agreements are signed between Israel and surrounding states. No Palestinian state is supported by other Arab states or emerges. The Arab commitment is not to recognize Zionism or Israel. Many Palestinians flee their homes and mostly settle in refugee camps in Arab states, categorizing their state of affairs as a “disaster” or nakbah. Jews flee Arab lands for Israel.
October 26, 1947, Saudi King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud: “The decision of the Government of the United States to support the claims of the Zionist in Palestine is an unfriendly act directed against the Arabs; without doubt, the results of this decision will lead to a death-blow to American interests in the Arab countries and will disillusion the Arab’s confidence in the friendship, justice and fairness of the United States. The Arabs have definitely decided to oppose the establishment of a Jewish state in any part of the Arab world. Even if it is supposed that the Jews will succeed in gaining support for the establishment of a small state by their oppressive and tyrannous means and their money, such a state must perish in a short time. The Arab will isolate such a state from the world and will lay siege to it until it dies by famine. … prosperity of the state will be prevented; its end will be the same as that of those crusader states which were forced to relinquish coveted objects in Palestine.” King Abdul Aziz to President Truman
September 1947, Arab League Secretary-General Abdulrahman ‘Azzam Pasha: “The Arab world is not in a compromising mood. We shall try to defeat you. I’m not sure we’ll succeed, but we’ll try. We were able to drive out the Crusaders, but on the other hand we lost Spain and Persia. It may be that we shall lose Palestine. But it’s too late to talk of peaceful solutions.” Remarks by ‘Azzam Pasha
March 1946, British Arab Office: “The whole Arab people is unalterably opposed to the attempt to impose Jewish immigration and settlement upon it, and ultimately to establish a Jewish State in Palestine. Its opposition is based primarily upon right.” The Case for Arab Palestine
1930s-1947: Palestinian collaboration with Zionists assists in the evolution of a Jewish state.
1931-1949, Arab Land Sales to Jews, a sampling: January 7, 1932, “The whole of Palestine is holy Arab land and whoever endeavors, allows, or helps to sell all or any part of these lands to the Jews will be considered as one who committed high treason,” Filastin newspaper; August 21, 1932, “Because the Jews are alert, and our leaders are asleep, the Jews are buying the lands,” al-Jami’ah al-Islamiyyah newspaper; September 2, 1932, “The Arab will never regard these sales as legal although the Jews possess the titles to these lands; and when political conditions change, the Arabs will demand that their lands be given back to them because they were sold in very extraordinary [circumstances],” al-Jami’ah al-Islamiyyah; September 16, 1932, “There is no doubt that the question of the sale of land is about one of the greatest dangers that threatens the future of the country,” al-Jami’ah al-Arabiyyah.
1929, Haj Amin al-Husseini, Mufti of Jerusalem: “The Arabs of Palestine, in rejecting the policy of establishing a Jewish National Home, are only defending themselves against a foreign usurpation of their land and heritage.” From a 1929 letter to British High Commissioner John Chancellor, as quoted in Tom Segev, One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate, New York: Henry Holt, 2000, p. 158.
1921, Musa Kazim al-Husseini: “The Arabs of Palestine cannot consent to the establishment of a national home for Jews in this country, because it is equivalent to yielding the land of Palestine, which is a pure Arab land, to the Jews, for them to make of it a base from which to extend their domination over the neighboring Arab countries.” Doreen Ingrams (ed.), Palestine Papers, 1917-1922: Seeds of Conflict, London: John Murray, 1972, p. 80.
1921, First Arab Congress in Jerusalem, Arab Executive Committee’s meeting: “The Zionist immigration is a death sentence upon us, and every Arab feels it in his bones. We do not know why we should be made to pay the price of European anti-Semitism. … We oppose the Jewish national home with all our might.” George Antonius, The Arab Awakening, Beirut: Khayats, 1938, pp. 265-268.
1936-1939 (comparable to October 7, 2023), Documents and Personalities of the 1936-1939 Riots Against Zionism, Jews and the British: “The war against us (JEWS-Zionists) here is not like any other war between people in which an army fights an army. Our war is distinguished by the fact that our civilian population serves as a ‘military target’ to the enemy. The indiscriminate murders of Jewish civilians, babies, women and the elderly, plus the looting and theft of our belongings, are executed by unruly gangs who are incited by terrorists. These are in essence the Arabs’ ‘military actions’ that are aimed at scaring us and create a climate of disturbances in order to make us give up our aspirations for independence and freedom, and the redemption of our brethren in the Diaspora. These tactics are evident in all the acts of our enemy.” From the archives of the Arab militias/bangs published in Hebrew by the Hebrew Defender, April 1944, Eretz Israel, Information Center of the Palmach, Central Zionist Archives Library, Jerusalem.