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How Are Muslim Countries Reacting to Israel’s Gaza Bombing Campaign?

Nov. 15, 2012 7:20am Sharona Schwartz

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi (AP photo)

While Hamas continues to rain a barrage of rocket salvoes on Israeli civilians, from Cairo to Tehran, Israel’s Muslim neighbors and adversaries are lining up to condemn the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operation against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.

Here’s are highlights of how they’re reacting:

Egypt

How did the government of President Mohammed Morsi respond to Israel’s air campaign against Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideological ally in Gaza?

Within hours, Egypt withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv, Atef Salem al-Ahl, back to Cairo. According to Reuters, the Israeli embassy staff had also left Cairo over concerns they could be endangered in case of a public backlash by Egyptians against the embassy in the wake of the military conflict next door.

In a televised address Thursday, President Mohammed Morsi called Israel’s attacks “unacceptable” and said they would lead to regional instability. He said:

We are in contact with the people of Gaza and with Palestinians and we stand by them until we stop the aggression and we do not accept under any circumstances the continuation of this aggression on the Strip […] The Israelis must realize that this aggression is unacceptable and would only lead to instability in the region and would negatively and greatly impact the security of the region.

Morsi spoke to President Obama by phone, saying in his speech that the two discussed “ways to reach calm and end the aggression”.

Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yasser Ali was quoted by Al Masry Al Youm saying Morsi also requested urgent meetings of the Security Council and the Arab League and sent a protest letter to Israel.

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, vowed a change in policy from what it considered complacence by former President Hosni Mubarak to past similar conflicts. Al Masry Al Youm reports (emphasis added):

The FJP described the assassination as a “crime that requires quick Arab and international action to stop these massacres against the Palestinian people besieged in the Gaza Strip.” […]

The party condemned the return of the policy of assassinations against leaders of the Palestinian resistance movements, saying that it “confirms that the Israeli occupation wants to drag the region into instability.”

Israel, according to the statement, “should be aware that the change witnessed in the Arab region, especially in Egypt, will not allow placing the Palestinian people under the Israeli aggression as was in the past.”

On Tuesday, a day before the military campaign began, the FJP legal committee was drafting an amendment to the 1979 Camp David peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, which it hopes to send to President Mohamed Morsi for review, according to Egyptian media reports.

Calling this round of violence one of Morsi’s greatest challenges since taking power, the Saudi-owned site Al Arabiya believes despite more heightened rhetoric, Morsi will not likely behave much differently than his secular predecessor Mubarak:

Contrary to its pre-power rhetoric, the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mursi are expect to exercise caution and self-restraint in response to the Israeli escalation in Gaza.

Professor Barry Rubin, a Middle East analyst with the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, writes Hamas has gained much more confidence since the Muslim Brotherhood took over in Egypt. He writes (emphasis added):

Hamas openly came out as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and openly initiated attacks on Israel rather than merely permitting smaller groups–Islamic JIhad, Salafist groups, and al-Qaida affiliates–to do so.

The Egyptian regime tried but apparently failed to organize a ceasefire. The timing of a confrontation now is inconvenient for the new government which is seeking to consolidate power, including tightening its control over the military, taking over the official religious institutions, and producing a constitution. In future, though, it is more likely to back up Hamas either indirectly–letting money, weapons, terrorists, and Egyptian volunteer fighters- cross from Egypt into Gaza–or even through direct military intervention.

Neither side takes U.S. policy very seriously. The Egyptians and Hamas know that President Barack Obama will not take Israel’s side to the same extent as previous presidents while Israel knows it cannot depend on an energetic U.S. pressure on Egypt to tamp down on the terrorists.

Syria

Facing a military threat of his own, Syrian President Bashar Assad took a break from criticizing his domestic foes Thursday to bash Israel. A notorious violator of human rights, the Syrian government ironically employed similar words with which opposition forces have criticized it [see added emphasis below]. According to the Syrian News Agency (SANA):

The Syrian government denounced the barbaric, reprehensible crimes committed by the Israeli army against the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip on Wednesday which resulted in a number of martyrs and injured.

In a statement, the government called on the international community to pressure Israel into ceasing its aggression on the people of Gaza Strip, imploring the free and honest people of the world to move seriously to confront this tyranny and repel Israel which constantly ignores international legitimacy and shirks international resolution in blatant violation of international law.

Syrian opposition leaders have a conspiracy theory of their own, suggesting the Israeli military operation is designed to prop up President Bashar Assad by shifting attention away from the Syrian civil war. Al Arabiya interviewed Syrian opposition leaders and reports:

Anas al-Abdi, a Syrian National Council (SNC) official, told Al Arabiya that the opposition was “always skeptical of the Israeli stance on Syria,” adding that “any new front in Gaza will lighten the burden on the Syrian regime and shift Arab and international attention away from its crimes.”

The Syrian crisis has topped regional and international media agenda for more than a year, prompting a steady buildup of pressures against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian opposition groups are worried that the break-up of a war in the region will relegate their cause to second place in the global agenda.

Abdi said if the military action on Gaza continues, it would be with the Israeli intention to buy more time and leeway for the embattled Assad to collect himself against a daring armed opposition.

[…] Bassam Ishak, a key member of the Syrian National Council and General Secretariat, said Assad is always a favorite of Israel because he helps ensure its security despite his continuous claims of being anti-Israel.

No mention from Syrian opposition figures of Israel’s firing earlier this week at a Syrian military outpost after Assad’s forces fired some errant shells onto the Israeli side of the Golan Heights. Nor do they mention how Israel might benefit from a weakening of President Assad, who for years has facilitated the work of the Jewish state’s arch-foe Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran

Moving east, Iran joined in condemning Israel’s “barbaric” and “brutal” nature. The Iranian news agency, Fars, reports:

Iran on Wednesday condemned the Zionist regime’s fresh strikes on the Gaza Strip, describing the attacks as another example of the regime’s “barbaric nature”. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast deplored the Zionist regime’s assaults on the coastal enclave which have resulted in the killing and injuring of dozens of civilian Palestinians, and said the onslaughts are another “sign of the regime’s brutal nature”.

Hamas

Beyond the barrage of rockets on southern Israeli towns, Hamas continued its threats of inflicting a heavy price on Israel, adding that it has erased all “red” lines in terms of moderating its own response:

Spokesman of the Palestinian Hamas Movement Sami Abu Zuhri condemned Israel’s terror attack on Hamas military chief, Ahmad al-Jabari, and warned that the Zionist regime will pay a heavy price for its heinous crime. “The Zionist regime will pay a heavy price for the assassination of Al-Jabari”, the deputy chief commander of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Hamas Movement, Abu Zuhri said on Wednesday. […]

Also, the Quds Brigades – the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement – announced that Israel should take full responsibility for its crime, and added that it will not restrict itself to any redline in reacting to this assassination.

Hezbollah

While Gaza sits to the south of Israel, Islamic extremists who populate south Lebanon over Israel’s northern border weighed in. Hezbollah released this statement regarding the “barbaric Zionist aggression” on its English website. Notice how Hezbollah’s website refers to “Israel” only in quotation marks. It also took the opportunity to lambaste the Obama administration:

The Zionist barbaric aggression and crimes against the Gaza Strip is a desperate attempt to break the will of the resistance.

In parallel, “Israel” is trying to compensate for its loss of morals after the resistance heroes ripped the Zionist prestige and ability to decisiveness, through imposing new equations in the field. […]

Moreover, Hizbullah condemns the US position that supported the aggression. It further views that such support as well the international community’s failure to perform its duties constitutes a full partnership with the enemy in shedding the blood of the Palestinian people.

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Comments (35)

Libertyluvnmomma
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 3:12pm
Obama began the conversation with the Egyptian leader with a gaffe.

Obama called him “king Tut” and then bowed via Skype.

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Rillobymorning
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 1:42pm
Hey Morsi…wanna end the aggression? Tell your Hamas brethren in Gaza to stop shooting Missiles over the border into Israel and I’ll bet the agression will stop. Duh!

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- nzkiwi
  Posted on November 15, 2012 at 5:08pm
  Exactly.
  
  Israel is committing unforgivable aggression by defending itself.
  
  How dare Israel return fire against innocent Hamas terrorists with a mere couple of thousand rockets.
  
  How dare Israel take pictures of the humanitarian aid and food that they deliver daily to the Gaza strip for dastardly propaganda purposes.
  
  These dreadful war crimes must not go unpunished!
  
  Report this comment
rickroland
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 12:53pm
“The Freedom and Justice Party…” — wow, that’s the most egregious naming DON’T, I have ever seen.

Any group that promotes sharia law, is not interested in freedom and justice in any way, shape or form.

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twistin
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:41am
It ALL depends which side you are on. Me? I’ll side with Israel, and anyone else against despicable Jihadis and Islamists. I don’t care if our President adores them, I don’t.

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- pdw
  Posted on November 15, 2012 at 12:49pm
  It is strange how they attack then cry because Israel files back? Now with Egypt with-drawing its diplomats that could be in preparation for a more aggressive war threat. They always pull their “diplomats” out to keep them from being killed. Before they wen to war the first time they told the Palestinians to leave or die with as they were going to kill everyone in their way. Then after that war they refused to allow them refuge in any Arab nation.
  
  Report this comment
poetopoet
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:19am
The truth is! Islam, like the fictional Borg wants the U.S. (and all non-Muslims) to assimilate with them and praise Allah, their moon god without question and reason or die; claiming resistance is futile! Muslims recite and shout in every Mosque and country daily “kill all infidels” (non Muslims), when it should be the other way around, not the involuntary submission to a One World Order under the grips and ultimate control of Muslims.

America’s presidential half breed has aided and abetted America’s assimilation to Allah and Muslimism! Barack Hussein Obama (that sounds all American (not) has supplied billions in funds and arms to the Muslim Brotherhood, Americas sworn enemy; for this purpose B.H.O. claimed and stated to be the fundamental “Hope and Change” he was elected and reelected for, he has implemented fast and furiously.

When half the American population of thieves, cowards, traitors, welfare dependents, corrupt politicians, overpaid civil servants, an inept congress, senate, judicial and military bureaucratic establishment, feed off the public troth and America’s carcass; they are guilty again by the reelection and support of this malignant plague, who can never claim to be naïve namby-pambies.

This dishonor is public knowledge and a public disgrace, not a public outcry, when all departments of government and Americas elected representatives are allegedly ignorant of this fact. Ignorance of any crime has never been a good defense, e

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spfoam1
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 10:37am
The apes are all beating their chests. They don’t dare atttack themselves, so they convince the monkeys to do it, and then they cry to the press and the UN when the monkeys get killed.

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algae
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 9:45am
I think the “bombing” is from a crowd of protestors that spontaneously organized because of a recent showing of “Obamacare and the Hamas” movie……What do you think?

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mrs.janet.murgatroid
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 9:39am
Why are normal people banned from Mecca? Only Muslim animals are allowed in that city.

It’s time to make the USA a Muslim free country.

GET OUT MUSLIMS

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- moonstruck2
  Posted on November 15, 2012 at 10:38am
  Too late Mrs. Murgatroid!!
  
  Report this comment
gac1218
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 9:38am
The muslims are nothing more than animals in human form, human filth and a disgrace to mankind. They declare holy jihad on Israel and declare to wipe them off the face of the earth and then cry foul when Israel shoots back. These people have the mentality of dogs growling over a bone. I’m fed up and utterly disgusted by the continued idiocy of these people and those who support them.

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baarebeary
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 9:03am
Obama said he was going to visit Israel after the election. I think now would be a good time to visit.

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- IAMMADDOG
  Posted on November 15, 2012 at 1:43pm
  He needs to take Biden with him too.
  
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WeroInNM
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 9:01am
Is Israel the next Arab Facebook Campaign?
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/is-israel-the-next-arab-fa…
“Food For Thought”
Semper Fi!
Jake

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getourcountryback
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 8:57am
The muslims are truly an ugly people and that is both inside and outside. The men are some of the most unattractive people I have ever seen and well, I have to assume the women are also but who knows? Maybe that IS why they cover themselves……..

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IndyGuy
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 8:50am
“Egyptian president: Obama and I have already talked on the phone”….Of course they have…Obama is the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood…

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Chromo200
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 8:48am
What is th difference between Obama sending a drone to Yemen and killing an Al Quada leader . who happens to be an American Citizen, and the IDF sending a rocket to kill another terrorist.

And all this noise from countries that have enslave their women and children and send them out into the world strapped with bombs to their chest.

It is interesting that every time there is war, Israel has been stopped from going all the way by the West (US/Europe/Russia). It will happen again this time too.

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IndiscriminatenessAnEpidemic
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 8:44am
War is imminent. One Apartheid State after another siding against Israel, yet watch the entire Modern World side with the terrorists. The entire philosophy is crazy, yet real. Liberals will always side with evil over good, wrong over right. Not only will their side with the enemy, they’ll go out of their way to label Israel as the aggressor and an Apartheid State. Watch it unfold.

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ClaudeRains
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 8:26am
Considering Israel has beat the crap out of these clowns every time they’ve been attacked I would think there would be some fear. Unfortunately Muslims seem to be incapable of learning.

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blanco5
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 8:19am
Go ahead, Israel and go “b#lls to the wall.” Even though the American people support you, the cheaters in charge will never be on your side. Do what you have to do!

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momrules
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 8:17am
The nations of Islam react just as expected. They smell Israeli blood and will put aside all else to join the attack.
America was given one last chance to stand with Israel but they voted for Barack Obama anyway. With him back in office Israel cannot expect America to defend her. We, as a nation, have turned our back on God. He has taken notice.

God Bless Israel.

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JUSTANOTHEROPINION
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 8:03am
As always Israel is the bad guy. Just ignore the fact that Israel is under constant attacks from Palistien. What a crock. Obama had dam well backup Israel or there will be a firestorm of backlash at him which he might not survive politically. I STAND WITH ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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kaydeebeau
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 7:58am
how do they act regardless of the issue ? violence, murder and mayhem – the SOP of the arab world

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denkat56
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 7:53am
Obama doesn’t realize that they are laughing at him, and the 49% who voted him back in. They have no respect towards America at all.

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jackact
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 7:47am
Shock and Awe hopefully.
:)

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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 7:43am
War is coming as Israel defends herself and Obama leaves her to her fate: he has abandoned an ally to potential destruction.

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AJAYW
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 7:33am
Did obama tell Mohammed Morsi that the muslim brotherhood needs to respond with rockets against Israel that he supplied them with.

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rickroland
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 7:32am
Yeah, I am really shocked by the responses from Egypt, Syria, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah — no, really. :/

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- PorkPIG
  Posted on November 15, 2012 at 7:48am
  Don’t worry , when they overreact is when you will see some serious s-h–it . The IDF is no Joke , and I doubt they will follow any of the foolish rules of engagement the US has implemented on its military .
  
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