Muslim Zionism is Stronger

A provocative piece by Daniel Pipes. While I usually agree with him, there are some flaws in this one, such as his representation of Israelis as "willing to divide Jerusalem." The segment of the population that he is referring to is basically willing to separate the Arab suburbs of Jerusalem (which were basically never considered part of Jerusalem) from the main part of the city, along with a small area within the Old City. The Left primarily believes that this will save many lives and strengthen the hold on the essential part of Jerusalem. While I strongly disagree with this position, it is far from apathy.

Each time that Jerusalem has emerged as a focal point of Muslim religious and political interest since the seventh century, it has been in response to specific utilitarian needs. When Jerusalem served Muslim theological or political purposes, the city grew in Muslim esteem and emotions. When those needs lapsed, Muslim interest promptly waned. This cyclical pattern has fully repeated itself six times over fourteen centuries.

Palestinians rediscovered Jerusalem only after the British conquered it in 1917, when they used it to rouse Muslim sentiments against imperial control. After Jordanian forces seized the city in 1948, however, interest again plummeted.
It revived only in 1967, when the whole city came under Israeli control. Muslim passion for Jerusalem has soared over the past four decades, to the point that Muslim Zionism closely imitates Jewish Zionism.

GENERALIZING, the analyst Khalid Dur n observed in 1999 that "there is an attempt to Islamize Zionism... in the sense that the importance of Jerusalem to Jews and their attachment to it is now usurped by Palestinian Muslims."

This effort is working, to the point that, as secular Israelis increasingly find themselves unmoved by Jerusalem, Muslim Zionism is emotionally and politically more fervid than its Jewish original.