Islamic Movement has shown its true colors - Nadav Shragai

 

by Nadav Shragai

Ra'am's appropriation of the cancellation of Naftali Bennett's visit to an Arab town as a mark of "respect for the martyrs" proves that it is incapable of putting its national and religious aspirations aside.

The attack on Israeli police officers in Kfar Qasim by Islamic Movement members and the cancellation of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's visit to Umm al-Fahm once again turn the spotlight onto the movement's southern branch and the Ra'am party that represents it in the government. 

Since the swearing-in of the new government, the one question that surrounded the historical precedent of an Arab party joining the coalition was whether Ra'am ─ whose origins go back to those of the Muslim Brotherhood movement and whose history is characterized by the struggle against Israel and Zionism – is capable of putting aside its national and religious aspirations for the sake of civil agendas. 

Today, we can almost certainly say that it is not. 

A movement who calls rioters seeking to shed Jewish blood martyrs, or whose members participated or supported those who took part in riots in mixed cities during the latest conflict with Hamas, or whose leaders meet with known terrorists is one whose civil agenda is secondary at best, and a disguise at worst. 

This is no longer a "one-time incident." The explanation Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas gave to the cancellation of Bennett's visit - "out of respect for the memory of the shahids (martyrs) who fell in the clashes at al-Quds (Jerusalem) and al-Aqsa (the Temple Mount)" – shows that the change that has been praised endlessly is an illusion. 

If one just pays attention to the statements made by senior Ra'am officials, one will understand the situation. Abbas, for example, has told Arab media a few weeks ago that "Ra'am has not given up on its religious, national or societal goals." 

Also, the embraces that Ra'am and its religious leadership has repeatedly extended to terrorists and their families have been underreported. Whoever would like to read more about the dozens of such incidents should read reports by the Habithonistim defense and security forum. 

It is no coincidence either that Ra'am very problematic announcement referred to the cancellation of Bennett's trip to Umm al-Fahm in particular. It is the stronghold of the northern, more radical, branch, the place from which terrorists set out to carry out attacks and "save Al-Aqsa." 

The Temple Mount is the ultimate common denominator between the two branches. With regard to the Temple Mount, Ra'am's statements are just as threatening and inciting as those of the northern branch. 

In the long run, Ra'am's civilian agenda, similarly to the Muslim Brotherhood, is to establish the rule of Islam and the caliphate and similarly to the southern branch, to see Israel's defeat against the Palestinians. 

Ra'am and members of the southern branch simply cannot help but exhibit this. The civilian masks they wear are not wide enough to hide their true colors. 

In an interview he gave recently, Communication Minister Yoaz Hendel was under the impression that the transformation Abbas has gone through was impressive. Abbas may have changed, but the transformation that Hendel and his colleagues in the Bennet government have undergone – to include terrorists into the coalition, who only a year and a half earlier prevented the establishment of a government led by Benny Gantz ─ is even more astonishing.

 

Nadav Shragai

Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/islamic-movement-has-shown-its-true-colors/

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