ZION QUARTERLY - 2nd QUARTER 1993 
a publication of Christian Friends of Israel 


FROM THE SWORD TO THE ATOM 
Islam and the Arab - Israeli conflict

By Robert Franklin - Jerusalem


"Now it will come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the 
house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, 
and will be exalted above the hills; and all nations will stream to it. 
For the law will go forth from Zion, and the Word of the Lord from 
Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:2,3)

A journey to the top of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem provides 
one of the most spectacular sights in the Holy Land. It is an 
inspiration-a reminder of prophetic history, of revelation past and 
future. Across the valley are the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, and 
the Golden Gate, sealed until the Messiah enters to set up the 
Kingdom of God on earth. The slopes on both sides of the valley are 
covered with thousands of graves, because according to Jewish 
tradition, when the Messiah ascends the Mount of Olives, the dead 
will rise.

The most imposing view is of the Temple Mount, the site of the 
biblical temples. For Jews, it is the holiest place on earth, the very 
dwelling place of God's Name (1 Kings 9:3). It was here that the Ark 
of the Covenant stood in the Holy of Holies, bathed in the Shekhinah, 
the visible glory of God's presence.

For Christians, it was from this view that Jesus wept over Jerusalem, 
and foretold the destruction of the city and His return in glory at the 
end of days. It was at the temple that he was dedicated, that as a boy 
he taught the elders and as a man he taught the multitudes.

Moslems also revere the Mount, believing it is the site from which 
Mohammed ascended to heaven. The Dome of the Rock, a magnificent 
Moslem shrine, encloses the rock where this is said to have occurred, 
and has marked the claim of Islam to the site since it was built in the 
seventh century.

From atop the Mount of Olives, the Dome of the Rock is 
unquestionably the most outstanding and dominant feature of the 
Jerusalem landscape. For most, this does not have any special 
significance, except that the Dome is a majestic testament to 
architecture and antiquity. But it is really much more than that. It is 
a statement. It is a statement that Islam is supreme, the final 
revelation which has superseded every previous one. The Dome 
transforms the Temple Mount from a Jewish (and Christian) holy site 
into a Moslem one, and erases every biblical connection with it. The 
Mount is renamed the Haram al-Sharif (i.e. the Noble Sanctuary), and 
it symbolizes Islam's victory over Judaism, and in the present 
context, over Israel.

The Temple Mount touches the deepest sensibilities of Jews and 
Arabs, and it contains within it the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict. 
On the surface this conflict is about land, but ultimately, it is about 
revelation, about divine promise and inheritance, a conflict between 
spiritual powers in high places.


THE HOUSE OF WAR

Without understanding Islam, it is impossible to understand the 
Arab-Israeli dispute, because Islam has been the dominant force in 
Arab culture and ideology since it was founded in the seventh 
century. Islam divides the world into two parts: the House of Islam 
(Dar al-Islam) and the House of War (Dar al-Harb). The House of 
Islam consists of all countries under Islamic law, the House of War 
applies to all non-Islamic countries, and as its name implies, these 
are to be brought under Moslem dominion by war-specifically Holy 
War, or jihad. The final goal of the jihad is to subject the entire world 
to Moslem rule.

Under Islamic law, Jews and Christians are considered Dhimmi, which 
literally means "protected" subjects, but which in practice makes 
them second-class citizens with no equal rights. This concept reflects 
the supremacy of Islam: "Allah it is who sent his messenger 
(Mohammed) with the guidance and the true religion, that he may 
make it overcome the religions, all of them" (Koran, Surah 61 :9).

Moslems believe that Jesus and the Hebrew prophets were sent by 
God, but that the Bible was distorted by Christians and Jews. The 
Koran sets out the true doctrine, declaring that Mohammed is the last 
and most important of a long line of prophets-Moslem prophets, 
including Jesus, David, Moses, Abraham, and others.

This has obvious implications for the Holy Land because if the 
biblical prophets are Moslem prophets, then all biblical holy places 
are Moslem holy places. That Israel now controls the Temple Mount 
and other holy places like the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, is 
first and foremost an affront to Islam. "It is a reversal of history 
which creates a tremendous theological problem for Islam," says 
Moshe Sharon, a professor of Islamic history at the Hebrew 
University in Jerusalem. "From the Moslem point of view, the 
establishment of the State of Israel broke every single Islamic rule 
governing Islamic territory, Islamic holy places, and the Islamic legal 
position of the Jew. To Moslems, the Jewish state is a cosmic 
catastrophe."


ISLAM AND ARAB NATIONALISM

Since the Moslem conquests swept the Middle East and North Africa 
in the seventh century, the Arab world has been guided by the 
principle of pan Islam-a religious doctrine that Moslems are one 
people who should live in one empire under Islamic law. This 
doctrine inspired pan-Arabism, a movement which began early this 
century and became the basis of modern Arab nationalism. Although 
Islam was crucial in its development, pan-Arabism was a secular 
movement, which aimed at unifying the Arab nation. It regarded all 
lands taken in the Moslem conquests as part of the "Arab homeland." 
Non- Moslem rule in any part of this homeland was an obstacle to 
pan-Arab ambitions, and therefore, the destruction of Israel became 
the unifying force in the Arab world.

Pan-Arabism was the ideological foundation for the Palestinian 
national movement, which came to maturity with the founding of the 
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964. But the current rise 
of Moslem fundamentalism in the region marks the growing 
Islamization of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Hamas, the leading Moslem 
fundamentalist group in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, has gained so 
much popular support that it is now posing a serious challenge to the 
secular leadership of the PLO.

Hamas has combined Arab nationalism with Moslem 
fundamentalism, transforming secular PLO ideology into religious 
ideology: Palestine is not Arab land but Moslem land; destroying 
Israel is not a national duty but a sacred duty; Palestine will be 
liberated through jihad instead of armed struggle; an Islamic and not 
a secular state will be established.

Hamas also rejects the PLO's official support of a negotiated 
settlement; since Palestine is Moslem land, compromise is a violation 
of Islamic beliefs.


THE REBIRTH OF ISLAM

Hamas evolved from the Moslem Brotherhood, the group which built 
the foundation for the present surge of Moslem fundamentalism in 
the Middle East. The Brotherhood was established in Egypt in 1928, 
and calling for a state based on Islamic law, it spread all over the 
Arab world. The Brotherhood believed the return of the Arab masses 
to Islam was the answer to Western culture and materialism, which 
it regarded as corrupting the Arab nation. Zionism was a Western 
implantation, an enemy of Islam, confronting the divine order 
handed down by Allah to the Arab people. Israel was a religious 
enemy that had to be destroyed in order to bring Islam to Palestine. 
The Islamic struggle, however, was not limited to Palestine. The 
Brotherhood cultivated what it called the "Moslem World" ideology; 
Islam had a global mission.

Although the Moslem Brotherhood had military wings which carried 
out terrorist attacks, it focused on educating the people in Islamic 
doctrine. It believed in a gradual conversion of the masses that 
would eventually bring about a Moslem state, from which jihad could 
be waged against the infidels and enemies of Islam.

Fifty years after the Brotherhood gave birth to modern Islamic 
fundamentalism in the region the Iranian revolution brought it to 
fruition. The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini inspired fundamentalists 
throughout the Middle East, by overthrowing a pro-Western regime, 
and establishing a state based on Islamic Law. Khomeini brought the 
jihad into the here and now. He declared Holy War on all violators of 
the Islamic code-dissidents, prostitutes, drug dealers and users, 
"sinners"-and tens of thousands of people were executed.


EXPORTING THE REVOLUTION

Not long after Khomeini consolidated power, he made it clear that his 
goal was to revive Islam as a world force. "We should...awaken the 
people of the world," he said, "if we want to export the revolution." 
The awakening has begun, and Iran is now successfully exporting the 
revolution throughout the Middle East and North Africa. The area has 
proven to be fertile ground, primarily because of the deteriorating 
economic situation, and a widening gap between rich and poor. Over 
the past 20 years, deep resentment has been growing among the 
Arab masses, who watched a small group of their brothers in the Gulf 
become obscenely rich, while they lived in primitive conditions and 
abject poverty.

Declining oil prices and revenues have aggravated the situation. 
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Gulf states used to employ millions 
of people from poor Arab countries, but they have been forced to cut 
back sharply. The result is increasing unemployment, especially 
among the young, an even lower standard of living, and growing 
frustration.

Iran has taken advantage of these conditions to export its brand of 
Islam, and fundamentalist movements are now threatening moderate 
Arab regimes through terrorism and subversion:

Egypt. Moslem militants have launched a terrorist campaign which 
has killed hundreds of people, including policemen and soldiers, 
government oflcials, and civilians. Machine gun attacks on tourist 
buses have crippled the tourism industry, the country's biggest 
earner of foreign currency.

Sudan. A radical Islamic government which is cooperating closely 
with Iran was established a few years ago in this country on Egypt's 
southern border. Sudan has become a training base for Islamic 
terrorists trying to overthrow the Egyptian regime.

Algeria. The secular government declared martial law, after the 
Islamic Salvation Front won an impressive victory in parliamentary 
elections two years ago. Terrorist attacks on security forces and 
political assassinations have seriously destabilized the Algerian 
regime.

Jordan. Islamic parties nearly swept the lower house of parliament in 
1989, and observers believe the fundamentalists could try to seize 
power, if the ailing King Hussein dies. So far, Hussein has managed to 
keep the fundamentalists in check.

Lebanon. The Iranian-backed Hizbollah is the only militia which has 
not been disarmed by the Beirut government. Hizbollah has carried 
out countless attacks on Israeli soldiers in the Security Zone in South 
Lebanon, and periodically, it fires Katyusha rockets into Israel. 
Hizbollah's main objective is to torpedo the peace process, by 
escalating the situation on Israel's northern border.


IRAN AND HAMAS

The spread of fundamentalism in these countries has ominous 
consequences for Israel: it makes the peace process more uncertain 
and more risky, threatens the regional balance of power, and 
increases the chances of war. Egypt, the only country to have signed 
a peace treaty with Israel, and other countries which may sign a 
peace treaty with Israel, could in the not too distant future be ruled 
by Ayatollahs, who are committed to Holy War against the Jewish 
state. The massive amounts of sophisticated arms which the Arab 
states are now procuring could fall into the hands of fanatics.

At present, Israel's primary concern is that the Iranian revolution is 
spreading in its own backyard-the West Bank and Gaza Strip-
through the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. Iran began taking 
special interest in Hamas after the Gulf War, when the US used its 
undisputed influence in the region to bring Israelis and Arabs to the 
negotiating table. Iran regarded these negotiations as apostasy, and 
Hamas became its key instrument to oppose and torpedo the peace 
process. A Hamas office was opened in Teheran, and Iran has 
reportedly given the group financial support to the tune of $30 
million.

Hamas has brought the jihad from the territories to the streets of 
Israel with a wave of bloody terrorist attacks that have shocked and 
shaken the nation.


ISLAMIC TERRORISM

At this stage, terrorism is the principle weapon of the jihad. As Tel 
Aviv University Professor Barry Rubin put it, "Believing that they 
possess absolute truth and that those opposing them are evil-
enemies of God as well as man-encourages these movements to 
justify any means to achieve power."

Although most Islamic terrorist activity has been confined to Israel 
and the Middle East, the recent bombing of the World Trade Center 
in New York was a grim reminder that the jihad is also directed at 
the West. America is regarded as "the Great Satan," and Western 
culture the enemy of Islam. Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, the radical 
Egyptian cleric allegedly behind the bombing, taught his followers 
that America is leading a worldwide conspiracy to destroy Islamic 
cultures, and plant mini-Americas around the world. Khomeini 
described it as a clash between Islam and western culture, between 
divine and satanic forces; the vanguard of the forces of darkness is 
Israel.

The weapons of Islamic terrorism are well known: bombings, suicide 
attacks, hijackings, hostage-taking, murders, and kidnappings. Its 
purpose is to instill fear, create instability and unrest, weaken 
regimes, pressure governments, and of course, grab headlines.

But today, the weapons of the Jihad are changing; so much so, that 
Islam is on the threshold of threatening both Israel and the world 
itself.


THE ISLAMIC BOMB

While Iran is now exporting the revolution through terrorism and 
intimidation, it is preparing for all out war. Iran is currently 
spending billions of dollars to beef up its conventional forces. It has 
purchased over 150 sophisticated Russian warplanes (to be added to 
the 90 frontline Iraqi fighter planes flown to Iran for safekeeping 
during the Gulf War), hundreds of tanks, three attack submarines, 
and over a hundred Scud-C ballistic missiles.

The most grave threat, however, is from Iran's nuclear program, 
which is expected to produce an atomic bomb by the year 2000 at 
the latest. Assisted by Western companies, as well as India, China, 
and the former Soviet Union, Iran has an operational nuclear reactor 
and two others nearing completion, three nuclear research centers, 
and a uranium enrichment facility.

There are also reports that Iran is trying to buy nuclear weapons 
from the Islamic republics of the former Soviet Union. Indeed, it may 
already have done so. According to a report in the London weekly 
The European, three nuclear warheads "disappeared" from the 
former Soviet republic of Khazakhstan, and "reappeared" in Iran.

China is now helping Iran produce a missile capable of hitting Israel 
with a nuclear payload. Iran is also producing chemical weapons, and 
may be developing biological agents as well.

This massive arms build-up is making Iran into a regional 
superpower. Analysts say its immediate aim is to overrun the oil rich 
Gulf states, overthrow pro-western Arab regimes, and eradicate 
Israel; the long-term aim is world domination. By going nuclear, 
Iran-and in turn, Islam-become a power that Israel and the world 
cannot ignore.


ISLAMIC APOCALYPSE

The imminent danger is that the Islamic bomb may fall into the 
hands of terrorists. Instead of threatening to blow up Western 
passenger jets as was done in the 70's, terrorists in the 90's could 
threaten to blow up Western cities. Instead of taking 50 Americans 
hostage as Iranian militants did at the US embassy in Teheran in 
1979, Moslem terrorists could take the entire United States, and yes, 
the whole world hostage.

Another danger on the horizon is the nuclearization of the Arab-
Israeli conflict, and a potential nuclear confrontation between two 
regional superpowers-Israel and Iran, or an Iranian-led Islamic bloc. 
Israel developed nuclear weapons as the ultimate deterrent to Arab 
aggression, in effect making the Arab war of annihilation against 
Israel a zero sum game: if Israel is destroyed, the Arab world will be 
destroyed along with it. But when Iran reaches nuclear capability, 
the stakes will be raised drastically. Moslem fanatics will then have 
the power to spring on a nuclear apocalypse with the press of a 
button.


ISAAC AND ISHMAEL

The focal point of this cataclysmic confrontation is Jerusalem. What 
could be a more fitting site for Holy War than the Holy City, revered 
not only by Moslems, but also by the Judeo-Christian West? What 
better place to manifest Islam's victory over the West, over the Bible, 
over Judaism and Christianity, than in Jerusalem, the source of 
inspiration and revelation?

Khomeini understood this well, and therefore the word "Jerusalem" 
was inscribed on the lag of the Iranian revolution. The Ayatollah 
even issued a religious ruling that it is a sacred duty to eliminate the 
"Zionist entity." Israel had to be destroyed because it was desecrating 
Moslem holy places, first and foremost the mosques on the Temple 
Mount in Jerusalem.

It is not surprising that this classic struggle should focus on the 
Temple Mount, because symbolically, this is where the controversy 
began. According to Jewish tradition, it was here that Abraham-the 
common forefather of both the Jews and the Arabs-brought his son 
Isaac to be sacrificed according to God's command (Genesis 22). 
According to the Bible, Isaac was saved, and thus became the 
recipient of God's covenant that he and his descendants (the Jews) 
would inherit the land of Israel, forever. According to Islamic 
tradition, however, it was not Isaac who was saved from sacrifice, 
but Ishmael-Abraham's other son who was the progenitor of the 
Arab nation. Ishmael is the heir.

For Jews and Christians who believe in the Bible, this doctrine is 
nothing short of heresy. But aside from the issue of faith, there is 
very little concrete evidence to substantiate the Moslem claim to 
Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran, and it was 
only Moslem legend which placed Mohammed's ascent to heaven at 
the Temple Mount. And while Moslems have revered Jerusalem 
because of its traditional connection to Mohammed, the city has 
played only a marginal role in Arab history. During the centuries of 
Moslem Arab rule in Palestine, Jerusalem never served as the 
imperial capital-that honor was reserved for Damascus, Baghdad, 
and Cairo.

By contrast, Jerusalem is mentioned over 600 times in the Bible; it 
became the capital of Israel 3,000 years ago, and has remained the 
focal point of Jewish national and spiritual aspirations ever since.


CITY OF WAR AND PEACE

As the 20th century draws to a close it is clear that neither Isaac nor 
Ishmael will relinquish his claim to Jerusalem. The attachment to the 
city is too deep on both sides, and Jerusalem will remain an 
insurmountable stumbling block in the Middle East peace process.

Therefore, Jerusalem appears headed for confrontation, for Holy War; 
and with the Middle East on the threshold of the nuclear age, the 
consequences could be catastrophic, not only for the region, but for 
the entire world.

Ultimately, this Holy War will end in defeat and judgment for the 
forces of Islam. "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to 
all the people round about. And it will come about in that day that I 
will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." 
(Zechariah 12:2,9).

The defeat of Islam will break the heavy burden that this religion 
has imposed on the Arab people for over a thousand years; and the 
way will be opened for the Word of the Lord to go forth to the 
nations of the Middle East, where it has been forbidden in the past

And if the Temple Mount contains within it the seeds of conflict, if it 
is the center for that cosmic battle between the powers of darkness 
and light, it also holds the supreme promise of peace:

"And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the 
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may 
teach us of His ways, and that we may walk in his paths. And He will 
judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many 
peoples; and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their 
spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against 
nation, neither will they learn war anymore."  (Isaiah 2:3,4)