Media Plan for Publicising the Cause of Al Quds

Al Sharif in the West and Mechanisms

for its Implementation

By : Dr.  Abdullah Kan’an(*)

Many are the Arab, Islamic, regional and international conferences and summits held about Al Quds and its issues and dimensions. Yet, Al Quds, with its western and eastern banks, has remained prisoner of Israeli colonialism of the West Bank since 1948, and the East Bank since 17 June, 1967.

Although our intention is not to belittle the importance of these summits, conferences and symposia, one cannot help but wonder : what is the worth of these summits, conferences and symposia if they have not managed to end the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem, as called for in the resolution of international legality and the United Nations resolutions on the question of Palestine and Jerusalem and on the Arab-Israeli conflict known within the political and media circles as the Middle East conflict.

Those who closely follow the Arab-Israeli conflict will inevitably reach the following conclusions :

First : The adulteration of the main cause of the conflict, the Palestinian cause, through its generalisation and its consideration as the conflict of the whole Middle East, and not an Arab-Israeli conflict at the heart of which is the Palestinian question.

Second : The dwarfing and shrinking of this conflict by altering it from an Arab-Israeli conflict, the main source of which is the Palestinian cause, to an Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the heart of which is Jerusalem.

Third :  Modifying the question of Jerusalem from a national, Arab and Islamic issue to one of Islamic and Christian holy sites, the protection of which becomes, within the framework of regional and international educational, scientific and cultural organisations, the theme of many conferences. This was the case of the first international conference held by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation -ISESCO- in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, from 6 to 17 June 2002. Dedicated to discussing the situation of Islamic and Christian holy sites through a comprehensive approach to these sanctities in all their historical, legal, human and religious dimensions, this conference issued a number of recommendations and proposals.

Among the recommendations and proposals made by the Rabat Conference was a recommendation to draw up a “draft media plan for publicising the issue of Al Quds in the West”. This constituted one of the important items placed on the agenda of the 2nd International Conference for the Protection of Islamic and Christian Holy Sites in Palestine, currently being held in Amman at the invitation of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation -ISESCO-, and in cooperation with the International Islamic Charitable Organization.

Defining the broad lines of the draft media plan for popularising the issue of Al Quds and proposing mechanisms for its implementation inevitably leads us to ponder questions that we will categorise, according to their subjects, under the following main axes :

First Axis : Al Quds and its Issues

1-What is meant by Al Quds Al Sharif ? Is it the old city and its surface area of less than one square kilometre enclosed within the walls ? Or is it the Corpus Separatum as defined by the UN General Assembly’s Resolution No. 181 of 29/11/1948, and whose area is 175 kilometres ? Is it the 6.5 kilometres-wide eastern part of Jerusalem before its occupation by Israel in the aftermath of the war waged on 5 June 1967 against Jordan, Egypt and Syria ? Or is it the unified Jerusalem with its current surface area of 125 kilometres ? Is it the Greater Jerusalem planned for and expected to stretch over 400-600 square kilometres ?

Second Axis : Jerusalem in the Zionist and Israeli Perspective

1- How is Al Quds perceived by the Zionist movement and by Israel ?

2- What are the myths behind the Israeli vision of Jerusalem ?

3- How compatible are these myths compatibility with the civilisational, religious, demographic and archaeological reality of Al Quds ?

4- What are the issues related to Al Quds, and what does this city represent? Is it only a case of Islamic and Christian holy sites ? Or is it a religious issue that is at the heart of the Islamic and Christian faiths ? Is it a demographic issue ? Or is it a national issue confronted by the policy of judaisation in all its forms, the worst of which are the settlements, immigration and forced relocation policies ? Is it an issue proper to the Palestinians, or does it concern all Arabs and Muslims ?

5- Is it possible to address or settle the question of Palestine in isolation from the Palestinian issue, or from the Arab Israeli conflict with its nationalist, religious, regional and Islamic dimensions ?

6- Is it possible to reflect all these questions in the broad lines of the draft media plan for publicising the issue of Al Quds Al Sharif ?

Third Axis : Jerusalem and the West (Target Audience)

1- What is meant by the West ? Is it a geographical concept ? Is it a philosophical, civilisational, intellectual and political concept that encompasses many countries irrespective of their geographical location on this or that continent, and that includes Israel, a western entity planted in Palestine for Western strategic purposes and interests, and with a religious facade that encompasses within its folds Jewish Zionism and Christian Zionists ?

2- Are we dealing with a West that presents a homogeneous perception of the questions of Palestine and Al Quds, of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the positions of the two main contenders : Israel and the Arabs, Palestinians in particular ? Are we dealing with a myriad of perceptions that differ in terms of content and basis of their approach to these issues ? How homogenous or divergent are the perceptions of the Western world, especially those of the United States of America, as compared to the perception of the European Union countries ? In whose favour are these perceptions ?

3- What is the nature of the powers that influence decision-making and public opinion in the Western world, in which direction, and in whose benefit? Is it in the favour of the Arab or Israeli side? What is the target audience of this media plan? Is it the political decision-making circles in the West, or the media and public opinion?

4- How does the Islamic world perceive the West ? What are the points of convergence and divergence in their perception of each other ? Can the gap separating them be bridged ? And how can that be achieved ?

Fourth Axis : Media Plan Initiator (Source)

Who is in charge of preparing and implementing the desired media plan ? Is it the official Arab and Islamic media institutions, or the non-governmental political and media institutions ? Is it the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), acting in cooperation with Islamic regional and international organisations such as the International Islamic Charitable Organization ? Can we, in the Arab and Islamic World, separate the political and media discourse from the non-governmental media discourses ?

Fifth Axis: Media Plan : Features, Components, Premises,

Objectives, Mechanisms for Implementation and Obstacles

1- What are the features of the proposed media plan ?

2- What are the components of the media plan ?

3- What are the premises and bases of the media plan ?

4- What objectives do the media plan aim to achieve ?

5- What are the working mechanisms that will achieve the success of the media plan and the fulfilment of its objectives ?

6- What are the obstacles and stumbling blocks that may hinder the implementation of the media plan or prevent its success ? And how can these obstacles be overcome ?

The Media Plan

As we raise all these questions, we do not entertain the possibility of finding satisfactory answers to them as much as we seek to analyse the local, Arab, Islamic, regional and international reality, specifically the Western one. We seek to break the media plan down to its components in such a way as to identify its bases and main premises, to help sketch its main features and objectives, to define the mechanisms for its implementation and the conditions for its success, and how to overcome the obstacles that may stand in its way. In fact, such effort falls more within the realm of artistry than of plain hard labour.

Features of the Media Plan

It is not important to elaborate on one’s perception of the proposed media plan to publicise the issues of Al Quds and its Islamic and Christian holy sites as it is to secure the support of the West for it. What is important for this media plan is to be clear and have definite objectives ; otherwise we may miss the whole point of the exercise, thus causing the media plan to carry within it, from the start, the seeds of failure. Therefore, we need to define the characteristics of the media plan. So how will this plan be ?

Through a study of the political and media experiences of other nations and peoples, whether those who fought national liberation battles and wars, or the powers and movements that engaged in warfare to colonise others, force them to migrate and cause them to scatter in all parts of the world, all for the purpose of expanding their own geographical reaches and consecrate their military presence -prominent among these is the Zionist movement and the Zionist Israeli entity-, and through a study of these contradictory and conflicting experiences of peoples, nations, powers, liberation and colonial movements, we can safely say that the success of any strategy or political plan, be it in the media or in economy, should have the following features and vital components necessary for a successful launch :

1- Clarity of the focal point and objective of the plan, not only in the minds of its architects but also in those of the parties targeted by this plan, so that consensus can be achieved on the principle of clarity of objective, paves the way for success no matter how long and arduous the path is. This exact modus operandi was adopted by the Zionist Movements in designing its strategy. This movement established the “Hebraic State”, and planted the Zionist entity in the land of Palestine as its main objective as a movement, as a Jewish and Zionist leadership and as an international ally. Its target was Palestine, its Arab people and lands.

2- Flexibility of the media plan to guarantee effective interaction with the local, regional and international developments and to steer clear of the rigid stereotypes that are based on constants that have long been bypassed by events, and that increase the burden of the media plan architects and ultimately lead to its failure. Thus, the plan must be free from rigidity and monotony as much as possible.

3- Adoption of a gradual approach to implementing the auxiliary objectives of the plan, moving towards the implementation of the major final objective. In other words, it is necessary to adopt the method of breaking down the main objective into short, medium and long term objectives.

4- Entrusting the implementation of the media plan to one single party that will supervise all the phases of implementation no matter how numerous or long they become in response to anticipated or unexpected local, regional and international developments.

Premises of the Draft Media Plan

Starting from the objective diagnosis of the media plan’s reality, as conducted through the formulation of the questions raised in the proposed media plan and its bases, we can define the main premises of the draft media plan in the following points, categorised according to the above-cited axes :

Al Quds and Its Issues

1- According to the boundaries defined by the General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation in Resolution 181/1947, Jerusalem is the focal point of the draft media plan. It is not the East Bank only, but Jerusalem with its two banks and as it was prior to the occupation of the West Bank in 1948, and of the eastern side in 1967.

2- Al Quds is not only an issue of Islamic and Christian holy sites, it is also a national, Islamic and demographic issue.

3- Jerusalem is the core of the Palestinian cause and we categorically refuse to strip it of its nationalist, Islamic and international dimensions. It is part of the occupied Arab Palestinian land and is covered by all the UN resolutions, whether those dealing with Jerusalem per se, those related to the Palestinian question, or those pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict or the Middle East conflict as it is referred to in some UN resolutions and called by the West and some of its allies. These resolutions urge Israel to pull out from the occupied Arab lands, including Jerusalem, and they condemn the Israeli policy of judaisation in its demographic and political manifestations, namely settlements, land expropriation and displacement.

4- The question of Jerusalem is an Arab, Islamic and universal one. It is of concern to all Arabs and Muslims and to the international community, and not only a national Palestinian cause.

 Israeli Zionist Perception of Jerusalem

1- The Israeli Zionist perception of Jerusalem is based on Torah myths of “the Chosen People, Diaspora and the Promise” as a set framework for legitimising politics. Thus, the tactic of nurturing the Zionist entity before planting it in Palestine, the policies of occupation, judaisation, the compulsory transfer and banishment of Palestine’s Arabs, and the systematic genocidal wars that followed, the policies that fall within the realm of the inviolable can neither be questioned nor condemned. Any Jew who dares to cast doubts, negate or criticise these practices is considered as a self-hater, and if he is not a Jew, then he is considered anti-Semitic. The world is expected to decree laws that forbid the mere questioning of the three-dimensional mythological world : “God’s Chosen people” (divine selection of the Jews), “The Promised Land” (the myth of God’s promise), and the myth of “Racial Purification” (A land with no people for a people with no land), and even questioning the Zionist accounts of the tragedies that befell the Jews (The Holocaust). These requests were met with positive responses in the form of several laws issued by European countries, such as the Gatsio Law(*) in France, and recently the Anti-Semitism Law signed by President Bush Jr. as he embarked on the American elections of 17/10/2004. The law provides for the opening by the US Foreign Department of offices in all its diplomatic missions abroad to monitor any anti-Semitic activity in the world, particularly in official media organs and school curricula, and present an annual report on this issue as part of its yearly reports on human rights. So many political officials were forced to resign their posts or disappear from the political arena on the grounds of being anti-Semitic.  For some of them, no consideration was taken of their past, their long-standing friendship with Israel, or even their position as leaders of friendship leagues with Israel. This was the case in 1986 with the former chairman of the Federative German Parliament and president of the German-Israeli Friendship League who lost everything for no crime but for having quoted Hitler when talking about Nazi barbarity during the celebration of the Crystal Night(*)at a parliamentary session held for this purpose and attended by the president of the Jewish community in the Federal Republic of Germany.

This was considered by the Jews an unpardonable insult and an unforgivable crime for which the only atonement was his resignation and the formal apology he presented to the Jewish community and its president.

2- Jerusalem is the unified and eternal capital of Israel by divine ordinance and the decision of the Israeli people, its leadership and governments, and there is no renouncing of this city.

3- Guaranteeing freedom of access to holy sites and places of worship for the followers of the three divine religions, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. This provision is the most dangerous of all ambiguous stipulations. The Jews interpret it as granting them access to Al Aqsa Mosque to perform their prayers there because, according to their claims, the site, which they call Temple Mount, is the holiest of all holy sites.

4- Rebuilding the alleged Temple Mount where Al Aqsa Mosque stands now despite the fact that no trace was found of this temple after many excavations and archaeology digs carried out by Israeli and western archaeologists. An increasing number of Israelis refute the Jewish allegations about the temple, having conducted their own investigations, excavations and studies which all point to the non-existence of the temple in the alleged site at any time in history.

5- Jerusalem is at the heart of the Jewish faith, the cornerstone of its spiritual and intellectual edifice and of the dream of rebuilding the Hebrew state in accordance with the false Zionist slogan of the “Return to Zion”, or “Return to Jerusalem”, ensuring its continuity and the continuity of the Israeli presence in the Arab region. This presence is vital for the West since Israel acts as a shield that protects the western civilisation from confronting the so called “Arab backwardness, barbarity and savagery”. Thus, Jerusalem is the cornerstone of the spiritual edifice and the Zionist Jewish entity. Were it to be dislodged, the whole edifice and the Zionist entity itself would crumble like a deck of cards.

Jerusalem and the West

1- As a political concept, the West comprises all the countries where the political regimes are based on a liberal system, and call themselves “free and democratic regimes”. In practice, this would mean that the concept of “West” includes the western world as a whole, with the United States of America as its pivotal point, Canada and the countries of the European Union or those awaiting permission to join the EU. This includes, to a large extent, the NATO member countries, with the exception of a few such as Turkey. It is a political rather than a geographical concept ; although since the end of the Cold War, the demise of the Soviet Union, the collapse of the Communist block and the adherence of many countries to the European Union and NATO, it has witnessed a greater convergence of its political and geographical dimensions. In fact, this concept has expanded to include even “Israel”, as the “vanguard eye” of the West, the sturdy bastion defending the Western civilisation from Arab barbarity as some are prone to describe the Arabs. This took shape in the Tripartite American-British-French Declaration of 1950 which guaranteed the continuity and the protection of the Israeli entity and its scientific and military superiority over all Arab countries put together, and it is still in force today. This was also reflected in the strategic relationship between the United States of America and Israel which manifests itself not only in the military, logistical and technological fields, but first and foremost in the political field. The United States did not only limit themselves to guaranteeing the survival and continuity of Israel and its military superiority over all Arab countries, they even protected the judaisation policy of Israel from any criticism or condemnation by international institutions, particularly the Security Council where the US often resorts to the right of Veto, which right has been used seven times during the term of President Bush only. Sometimes these instances pertained to Jerusalem and at other times to the genocidal policy followed by Israel against the Arab Palestinian people, such as the last military incursion against Gaza. All this was influenced by the dynamics of interaction of religious relations in form, and political interests in content between Jewish Zionism, on the one hand, and Christian Zionism on the other, through its diverse institutions the most dangerous of which are the American presidency and the American Congress with its two houses.

2- Still, there remains a certain divergence in the way Western countries perceive Israel, Arabs and the question of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and above all the Palestinian issue and Jerusalem, with its many dimensions. Therefore, we perceive two main perceptions, namely :

First : The American Perception and its Premises

1- The “Israeli Question”, in other words guaranteeing the existence of the Zionist entity, its continuity and supremacy over Arabs in all fields, particularly the military and technological ones, is dealt with as a domestic issue that is not in the least subject to or conditional upon the lobbying of American Jews with their financial, media and political institutions, and their influence in the spheres of decision-making in America, their manipulation of public opinion about Israel, Arabs, and conflict issues such as Palestine and Jerusalem, or their impact as an electoral power that determines who occupies the White House after the presidential elections or the American Congress and Senate. Rather, and for issues of vital interests, America treats Israel as a permanent and irreplaceable strategic ally, worthy of preservation at any cost. This relationship is often disguised, justified and bolstered with moral values, religion and many cultural and civilisational claims and allegations.

2- Israel is the one and only free and democratic regime in the Arab world, and even in a Middle East that is rife with tyrannical dictatorships and hostile unenlightened ideologies.

3- The legitimacy of any means to which Israel resorts in its confrontation Palestinians and Arabs, including pre-emptive wars and genocide, these measures being no more than an expression of the legitimate right to self-defence.

4- The recognition of Jerusalem as the unified and eternal capital of Israel by virtue of the Department of State decision of 2003, approved by Bush, to always append the expression “capital of Israel” wherever the name Jerusalem occurs in official documents, and the undertaking to transfer the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

5- The Arab occupied territories, Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese, are no longer considered in American politics as occupied territories covered in the United Nations resolutions that request the withdrawal of Israel from the Arab territories occupied in the aftermath of the 5 June 1967 war, but are considered as disputed territories.

6- The UN resolutions, whether those that are issued by the Security Council or by the General Assembly, on the subject of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the many issues related to this conflict, including and above all the Palestinian question and Jerusalem, are of a voluntary nature and not of a biding nature. Israel is free not to respond to them, as long as they do not invoke Article 7 of the UN Charter, as was the case with the resolutions issued on Iraq before its occupation, although Israel owes its presence to one single resolution of the UN General Assembly (Partition Resolution No. 181/1947), dividing Palestine in two countries, one Hebrew and the other Arab, and providing for a special status for Jerusalem.

7- Discussing the creation of a Palestinian state side by side with the state of Israel is a cover-up slogan for gradual tactical purposes that pave the way for Arab countries to support American policy in the Middle East and the policy of survival and pre-emptive wars in confronting international terrorism, as long as the establishment of a Palestinian state remains conditional upon the existence of a willing Palestinian partner for peace, so far a non-existing condition in the American-Israeli perception.

Second : The European Perception

Although it is difficult to speak of a unified perception of the countries of the European Union, there are several countries that practically espouse the vision and positions of the United States of America, either in the stance this country adopts vis-à-vis some of the issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict, or in refraining from condemning the aggressive and expansionist Israeli policies of Judaisation. Thus, we can say that the European Union’s perception of the Arab Israeli conflict with its diverse issues, including the Palestinian question and Jerusalem, is based on the following premises:

1- The need for Israel’s withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories, including Jerusalem, in conformity with the related UN Resolutions, most particularly Security Council Resolutions 242/1967 and 338/1973.

2- The refusal to recognise any demographic, civilisational or religious modifications in the occupied Arab territories, in holy sites and in the Islamic and Christian civilisational landmarks.

3- Recognition of the Arab Palestinian right to self-determination and to establish its independent state on the territories occupied in 1967 with the eastern part of Jerusalem as its capital, whether Jerusalem remains unified or is repartitioned. This repartition is not a favoured solution in the eyes of the European Union, nor is it likely to happen in view of the status quo policy.

4- Extending support to the Palestinian National Authority in such a way as to enable it to build government and Palestinian civil society institutions, with reiterated emphasis on the need to engage in administrative and financial reforms and fighting what is called Palestinian terrorism.

5- Criticising the Israeli settlements and judaisation policy and the excessive use of military force.

6- Israel is an external, not domestic, issue, though this does not negate the obligation to give due consideration to the Jewish presence and its political and media influence on European decision-making, whether at the level of the European Union, with its various central institutions, or at the level of individual countries.

7- Solving the Arab-Israeli conflict and reaching a sound solution acceptable to all parties in the conflict is a matter of vital interest for the European Union, in addition to the feat of freeing its Member States from the burden of history, particularly the Federal Republic of Germany in its dealings with Israel. The resolution of this problem would also open before European Union countries wide horizons of economic, cultural and civilisational partnership and coalition with the Arab world. Israel has been and will always be a heavy political and economic burden on the European Union as a block and as individual entities, as long as the Arab Palestinian people do not recover their right to self-determination, and as long as they do not have their sovereign, independent state. The European Union’s relations with the Arab world will remain unstable, shaky and at the mercy of the constant developments unfolding in this part of the world. Europe would be the main beneficiary from a fair, permanent and comprehensive global resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, for only through this can it shed its historical burdens and benefit from a wide open and permanent Arab market for its products.

The perception and position of Japan, also part of what is known as the West, but more as a political than a geographical concept, are nearly similar to those of the European Union, while those of Canada and Australia tend, in times of crisis, to lean towards the American position. In final analysis, the following observations stand out :

There are 5.2 million Jews in the United States, and 4 million Arabs (the number of Muslims, including Arabs, averages seven million inhabitants). Yet, the extensive Jewish influence on American policy in the Middle East is such that Israel is practically considered an American “domestic” issue where American and Israeli interests blend, or so claim the Zionist lobbies within American decision-making spheres. The case is different in Europe where the number of Jews is less than three million, while the Arab community in the old continent is estimated at seven million (the number of Muslims in Europe, including Arabs, is many times that number). For Europe, Israel is western in its political system, but falls outside the political parameters of Europe, and should be maintained within the limits of the frontiers of 1967. For the Europeans, the establishment through negotiations of an independent Palestinian state side by side with Israel is a fundamental necessity. This is not in total contrast with the American position, but differs from it in that it does not condone armed conflict between the two parties, but favours conflict, no matter how fierce, within the confines of the United Nations Organisation.

The Architects of the Plan

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation -ISESCO- is an official institution, one of the main organs of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference whose member states are Muslim countries. The International Islamic Charitable Organization in Kuwait (Palestine Charity Committee), on the other hand, is a non-governmental organisation. Therefore, the broad lines of the draft media plan, to be drawn at this Conference (2nd International Conference for the Protection of Islamic and Christian Holy Sites in Palestine, being held in Amman from 23 to 25 November 2004), will be the handiwork of two parties : an official one and a non-governmental one. Perhaps, this combination of the official and the non-governmental may benefit the plan if the roles are properly assigned. The non-governmental side takes up the task of publicising the issues of Al Quds for the western public opinion, while the official side’s contribution will be to use its diplomatic missions and consulates in the Western world to liaise with the decision-making circles there. The non-government side will enlighten these spheres about the reality on the ground in Jerusalem and about its issues, in line with the main orientations of the media plan. It will put in perspective developments in the issue of Al Quds and the dangers of Israel’s persistence in its judaisation policy in all its manifestations, and highlight the impact of the West’s stance about these issues on its vital interests, on the one hand, and on its overall relations with the Arab and Islamic countries, on the other.

However, do we not need to wonder about the capacities and resources of the executive cadres of the actual media plan ? Preparing a realistic and constructive media plan is not really the issue. The problem lies in how to put it into action and ensure that it fulfils the desired objectives. This certainly requires more than the efforts that can be exerted by these two institutions. It calls for a mobilisation of all Arab, Muslim, international, governmental and non governmental competencies that believe in peoples ‘right to self determination, including the Arab Palestinian people. This enterprise also calls for cooperation and field co-ordination with the United Nations and its various organs, particularly UNESCO, with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (ALECSO), and all the non-governmental organisations active in matters related to Al Quds. This highly important mobilisation is not an easy task and much of it is but wishful thinking, if not an impossibility, in the light of the current Arab, Islamic, regional and international present situation.

Broad Lines of the Draft Media Plan : Objectives and Mechanisms

Based on the above intensive review of the conditions of the Palestinian question and Jerusalem as they stand today, I wish to emphasise once again that it is of no consequence to hold conferences and symposia to draw up media plans that will remain on the shelf or no more than ink on paper. What is important for this plan is to be realistic, well articulated and clear in terms of the mechanisms contributing to its concretisation.

What then are the desired objectives of the media plan, and what are its implementation mechanisms ?

Objectives of the Plan

The objectives of the media plan can be divided into three categories :

First : Short term objectives

Second : Medium term objectives

Third : Long-term objectives

Short term Objectives :

The short term objectives focus on preliminary or introductory measures likely to pave the way for moving to the medium term plans and ultimately to the long term objectives. Under this category the following objectives can be listed :

1- Publicising the history of Jerusalem since its foundation by the Canaanite Jebusites to date. This would be achieved through a systematic and intensive process that is easy to assimilate by the Western public opinion and that demands little time, material and mental effort. It would be based on accurate and documented information that relies on archaeological findings and credible documents or manuscripts, as well as on a rejection of the Torah-based history.

2- Popularising Islamic and Christian holy sites in the same manner, starting with Al Aqsa Mosque which, according to the noble Hadith, is only forty years older than the first shrine ever created for humanity, Al Haram Mosque in Makkah.

3- Shedding light on the demographic alterations that Jerusalem witnessed, the most dangerous of which were the waves of Jewish settlers, the colonialist Israeli occupation and judaisation policy under all its forms, resulting in the modification of the demographic and civilisation characteristic of the city. These policies reached their apogee in the aftermath of Israel’s completion of its occupation of Jerusalem after the war against Arab neighbouring countries and its design to place the whole world before a fait accompli.

4- Exposing the Israeli myths and allegation, particularly the myth of the divine promise, the myth of God’s Chosen People and divine selection, and the slogan a people with no land for a land without people. This refutation would be based on historical and archaeological documents, the irrefutable findings of the excavations, particularly those carried out by western and Israeli archaeologists.

5- Shedding light on the legal situation of Jerusalem, with special emphasis on the UN resolutions pertaining directly or indirectly to Jerusalem (the Arab countries refused a draft project to divide Palestine and internationalise Jerusalem back then). Emphasis would also be placed on the fact that the Arabs’ acceptance of the Rights of Return Resolution (194) involved a tremendous compromise on the parts of the Arabs because justice is in the return of Palestine to its people and not the return of Arab Palestinians to the so called state of Israel which was originally created after usurping their land.

6- Exposing the illegal position of Israel and its blatant defiance of the international community’s request for withdrawal from the Arab occupied territories, including Al Quds and refraining from any action likely to alter the civilisation, monumental, spiritual, demographic or historical nature of Al Quds and its Islamic and Christian sanctities.

7- Emphasising the American pro-Israeli position which prevents its adherence to the resolutions of international legality in the making of which the United States of America initially participated, stressing that this position is lacking  in balance, undermines the vital interests of the United States of America and of Europe, and influences the peace and security of the entire world.

8- Sensitising the western public opinion to the fact that Israel’s persistence and its determination to maintain its occupation of Arab territories and refusal to recognise the rights of the Palestinian people, makes it a heavy burden for the West and its vital interests, and not an ally or a protector of its strategic interests.

9- Sensitising the West, especially the US public opinion to the fact that at the root of the Arabs’ and Muslims’ resentment of the Western policy is the absolute bias of the West in favour of Israel and encouraging it to pursue its colonialist policy, and not religious or ethnic reasons. This type of bias runs counter to the will of the international community and the resolutions of international legality and is one of the main causes of violence against the West and its interests in the Middle East and within its own countries, perpetrated by those who give free reign to their sentiments and passions in reaction to the catastrophes and family tragedies that befall them.

10- Convincing the West that no peace could be achieved without Israel’s recognition of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and to the establishment of a sovereign and independent state over all its territories under occupation since 1967, with Al Quds as its capital, and with the return of all refugees, the withdrawal from all Arab occupied territories and Israel’s forsaking of its Zionist and arbitrary character.

11- Sensitising the western public opinion to the fact that the common interests of Arabs, Muslims and the West have more rallying factors than dividing ones, that the respect and preservation of these interests cannot be furthered through coalescing with Israel, but through forcing it to adhere to the resolutions of international legality, uphold the principles of mutual respect, respect the other’s will and diversity, refrain from intervening in the domestic affairs of UN Member States, and to stop imposing a policy of change by use of force as has happened in Afghanistan and Iraq.

12- Sensitising the West to the fact that one of the sine qua non conditions of peace is Israel’s forsaking its racist character, its arsenal of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction weapons.

Mid-term Objectives

Moving from short to medium term objectives is basically conditional upon the achievements of short term objectives which serve as a preliminary that paves the way to progress towards other objectives or shifting to another phase, namely the medium term objectives. Of these objectives we can cite the following :

1- Gaining the support of some intellectual, cultural and political role-players who can impact on the Western public opinion about the Arab-Israeli conflict and the question of Al Quds, by adopting the international resolutions of legitimacy and the related UN resolutions as a starting point in the media plan.

2- Penetrating Western activities or fields of activities, particularly those of influential media, cultural, intellectual and economic spheres in such a way as to ensure their responsiveness to the other’s point of view and their outlook on the official stance of their countries as subservient to and reflective of the interests of the Zionist movement with its various formations and bodies, and not of the interests of their own countries, in particular economic and vital interests.

3- Discreetly and indirectly encouraging trends critical of Zionism and the Israeli judaisation policies in Jerusalem within western circles and in a way that would prevent the targeting, isolation and annihilation of these trends by the Zionists movement and its concealed and visible tentacles. This would make possible the use of these trends as a pressure tool in confronting the Zionist lobby and the coalition of Jewish and Christian Zionists (neo conservatives) in defending the vital interests of their countries.

4- Focusing on exposing anti-Semitic laws, such as the aforementioned Gatsio Law in France and Bush’s Anti-Semitism Law, as laws that have no bearing on the vital and non-vital interests of America, but are more of a mirror of Israeli and Zionist interests and serve as a decisive factor and tool in international policy orientations and contents, ultimately leading to the weakening of these countries and depriving them of the power to decide.

5- Transforming the question of Al Quds into a major domestic Arab issue instead of a subject for occasions and reactions.

Long-term Objectives

The long-term objectives of the media plan can be summarised as follows :

1- Breaking the monopoly of world Zionism over the processes of public opinion making in Western societies, particularly in the United States.

2- Encouraging the European Union, as a central institution and as individual members, to shift positions from a negative stance imitative of the United States, to positive stances. The European Union should not leave the stage free for the United States, and must be able to forge its own visions and positions. These would be more in harmony with the international will vis-à-vis the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Israeli occupation of Arab territories, including Jerusalem, and the right of the Arab Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of its independent state with Al Quds as its capital. Only in this way can the European Union become a major player instead of waiting for American instructions and guidance as if these matters were the sole view of American administrations, and as if the EU countries can only undertake what the United States of America sanctions. In other words, it is necessary to curb the monopoly of the United States of America exercised over the Palestinian question, the issue of Jerusalem and the Arab-Israeli conflict with all its dimensions and ramifications.

3- Transforming the Palestinian question and the Arab-Israeli conflict from internal American issues to external issues primarily governed by the mutual interests of America, the Muslims and the Arabs. This would break the immunity of the Israeli policies and force Israel to bow to the will of the international community and adhere to all of the UN resolutions.

Implementation Mechanisms

It is only natural that the implementation mechanisms should be varied in  nature and import  considering the plurality of  objectives and the diversity of their local, regional and international contexts, hence our decision to focus mainly on the most important ones. Among the important implementation mechanisms that must be adopted are the following :

1- Opening Al Quds media offices in every Islamic and Arab diplomatic mission within the Arab world and in western countries. The same would apply to UNESCO, ISESCO and ALECSO.

2- Encouraging Arab and Muslim communities in the West, particularly in the United States of America where the Muslim community is estimated at seven million inhabitants, a number that exceeds that of the Jews in America, to participate actively in political life ; for these communities can be a decisive power and a worthy rival of Zionist organisations as an electoral power whose influence cannot be scoffed at, and they would cease to be a marginal, undesirable community the support of which is not solicited even if offered to this candidate or the other. This is all the more important since this community includes great scientific, intellectual and political competencies which would be highly influential if properly utilised.

3- Setting up an Islamic fund to finance Al Quds-related activities in the Western world. The fund would be fed from the contributions of OIC Members States, particularly the oil producing countries, by allocating a set amount out of each exported barrel.

4- Exposing the American and European policy of closing down charity associations and institutions that support needy Palestinians, including Jerusalemites, and which are involved in humanitarian activities.

5- Mobilising Arab and Muslim educational competencies (teachers and students) in the Western universities, particularly in the United States of America, by creating committees of the Friends of Jerusalem in their universities, along with their American colleagues and classmates.

6- Dedicating a satellite channel broadcasting in English and other important foreign languages targeting the Western public opinion on Al Quds. It would be named Al Quds Satellite Channel and would be staffed with a media, information, intellectual and historical team knowledgeable about the question of Al Quds and its various dimensions.

7- Encouraging Arab and Muslim communities to integrate as much as possible the societies where they live in order to gain credibility.

8- Encouraging Arab and Muslim thinkers, scholars and opinion makers in western societies to preach moderation and shun radicalism and the resort to physical violence against opponents as this tends to be detrimental and generates negative reactions to Arab and Islamic issues.

9- Encouraging Islamic and Arab investments in the media field in the West, most particularly in the United States of America, in the different forms of media, written, audio and visual, thus paving the way for breaking the Jewish monopoly over American media.

10- Encouraging Islamic and Arab investments in modern information and communication technologies such as the internet and in the making of television and cinema documentaries which are likely to effect a change in western public opinion spheres which rely on this type of educational and media sources in forming their opinions about nations and civilisations and cultures.

11- Utilising modern communication technologies, especially the opening of internet web sites dedicated to Al Quds, and encouraging Muslims to embark on an internet-supported war for Al Quds to counterbalance the activities of the Zionist movement and its octopus-like formations, the most dangerous of which is Christian Zionism and its mastermind, the Neo Conservatives.

12- Encouraging Arab satellite channels that enjoy great popularity  and credibility in Western public opinion, such as Al Jazeera, or the stations that have great financial resources such as Al Arabia and Dubai, to be committed to the Cause of Al Quds and treat it as one of their focal media issues by allocating weekly programmes in English to it, targeting Western public opinion, benefiting from media personalities knowledgeable about Western mentality and capable of influencing it to the benefit of the issue of Al Quds with the help of UN resolutions.

13- Encouraging scientific research and writing in English and other languages such as French, Spanish, German and Russian (since one fifth of Israel’s population is of Russian descent) and other languages.

14- Encouraging radio broadcasting in English and other European languages on the topic of Al Quds, knowing that the Israeli radio broadcasts in 17 foreign languages.

15- Setting up Committees of the Friends of Al Quds in the United States and in the EU countries, at the public level or at that of students.

16- Popularising valuable studies and research about Al Quds, either those published in Arabic and English or any other European language, through Arab satellite channels, radio stations and institutions.

17- Unifying the efforts and capacities of active non-governmental organisations in favour of Al Quds at the Arab and Islamic levels and at the international level, by creating an effective co-ordination framework based on a distribution of tasks to guarantee complementarities, avoid duplicate efforts and maximise results and productivity.

18- Compiling all that is issued by Americans, Europeans and Jews against Israel, its policies and Zionism, publishing it again and disseminating it in the form of booklets in the European language widely used within the West to generalise effect and instigate a positive change in disposition towards the question of Al Quds within the Western public opinion spheres.

19- Producing films that reveal the barbarity of Israel, the dangers inherent in the policy of demolishing houses, murder and massacre of the Arab Palestinian people, and distributing these films as widely as possible in the Islamic world.

20- Urging affluent people to shoulder their responsibility towards Al Quds by contributing to the financing of Palestinian universities and building more educational institutions, particularly in Al Quds.

21- Urging Arab and Islamic public and private universities to fulfil their mission in terms of research, education and culture towards Al Quds and encouraging students and teachers exchanges within the framework of programmes such as Cultural Exchange for Al Quds, for example.

22- Emphasising the need to involve experts on the West in the discussion of the broad lines of the media plan to enrich it and guarantee all conditions of its success. These experts would be specialised in :

- Western media

- History of Al Quds

- Western political issues and the Western public opinion

- Psychology

- Religions and the Western public opinion

- Religions

- Law

- Western culture.

In conclusion, I wish to say that any media plan will fail to have the needed effect and fulfil the desired objectives so long as the Arab and Islamic political discourse, and the actual policies of these countries, remain totally divorced from this media plan.

May Allah grant us success.

(*) The Secretary General of the Royal Commission for Al Quds Affairs, Amman, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

(**) The Crystal Night commemorates the night the Nazis conducted raids on Jews and broke the glass of windows in their houses and shops.