Defeating Zionism, aim of Islamic
Jihad Movement in Palestine

Qodsna (Tehran) - On the occasion of the martyrdom of Fathi Shaqaqi, the former co-founder and Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Canadian writer and journalist specializing in the Middle East affairs, Eric Walberg said in an exclusive interview with Qodsna that the Islamic Jihad Movement “arose, supported by the Islamic Revolution in Iran” to defeat “secular Zionism and its new-found Zionist Judaism.”

Referring to the condition of the Palestinian issue before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Walberg said: “The Palestinians remained without a unifying secular political organization until Fatah was founded in the late 1950s and the PLO was sponsored by Egypt in 1964.” He then noted that “following the 1967 invasion of Sinai and all of Palestine by Israel, the pressure to establish some kind of equilibrium in the Middle East built up to a breaking point.”

Walberg stressed that even after the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, the Zionist regime “proceeded apace with colonizing all of Palestine, leaving the Palestinians with only token Arab support. So when the Islam revolution happened in Iran in 1979, new life was breathed into the Palestinian cause.”

The writer of “The Canada-Israel Nexus” book then talked about the daily Israeli atrocities against Palestinian, saying “as orthodox Jews began to condone the state of Israel, adjusting their religious beliefs in the interest of promoting Israel as the 'home of Jews', the struggle now became religious. The new version of Judaism being promoted by the state and the orthodox majority is not the traditional Judaism.”

Walberg went on to say that in this context, the Islamic Jihad Movement arose and its aim was “to resist the distorted Judaism, in service to a Jewish state, which welcomes only Jews. The Islamic Jihad Movement rejects this Jewish state, and aims to restore Palestinian rights, and to defeat secular Zionism and its new-found Zionist Judaism.”

Talking about the efforts of the Zionist regime in Western countries to stifle anti-occupation voices, the Canadian journalist added that “Western citizens, disgusted with their governments' inaction, work to affect a boycott of Israeli goods and academics, but face a resilient Zionist movement in the West, which has been able to force western governments to accept a definition of anti-Semitism equating it with any criticism of Israel.”

Walberg also referred to the recent normalization agreements of Arab countries with Israel, saying that “Palestinians should be united to face the foe.”

“Israel encouraged the division of Palestinians with the Oslo accords of 1993. This allowed Israel to expand its theft of Palestinian lands, bringing aggressive, armed settlers to Palestinian lands. There are attempts to end the division, but that means dismantling the regime of Israel-Palestinian Authority (Fatah) control of Palestinian lands. This shows the secular path of the Oslo Accords is bankrupt, demanding a more religious face to Palestinian resistance,” he added.

News-ID: O.T-70