Command and Control: The International Union of Muslim Scholars, The Muslim Brotherhood, and The Call for Global Intifada During Operation Protective Edge

Starting with the launch of Operation Brother’s Keeper by the IDF after the kidnapping of three Israeli teens by Hamas operatives, and well into Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, the International Union of Muslim Scholars’, (IUMS) Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi – a leading Islamic jurist whose pronouncements the Muslim Brotherhood consider authoritative – has been issuing calls on the Islamic and Arabic umma and all of the free peoples of the world to rise up in support of Palestine.

In multiple statements on the IUMS website, Qaradawi and the Union’s Secretary General Qaradaghi have issued these international calls to Muslims, Arabs and their supporters to aid in Gaza’s victory over the “Zionist enemy.” Qaradawi repeatedly couched his call in religious language, stating that all Muslims had a shariah obligation to support their brothers in Palestine, and condemned Arab and Islamic governments and scholars who were remaining silent or supporting the Israelis as traitors.

In an interview on Al-Jazeera, Qaradawi emphasized that no permanent peace deal could be sealed with Israel and that it was the Islamic Umma’s obligation to rise up for its central cause, the cause of Palestine. Citing his worldwide call to rise up for the Prophet Mohammad’s honor after satirical Danish cartoons were published and the response worldwide Qaradawi expressed the belief that he and his organization, maintained the ability to arise the Umma into action on behalf of such important causes.

The protests that arose as a response to Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip suggests that Qaradawi’s ability to call such protests deserve examination. While protests were not exclusively Islamist in character, the presence of Hamas flags carried by protesters was ubiquitous. Additionally black flags and white flags emblazoned with the Shahada, popular among those supportive of jihadist causes, were seen in almost every rally worldwide.

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