|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-887239
The Future of Gaza Will Be Decided in Mosques
(Jerusalem Post) Shimon Refaeli - Ahead of Ramadan, three new mosques were inaugurated in northern Gaza, funded by a Turkish religious foundation, with Turkish flags flying prominently on their facades. One is named after Abdullah Azzam, one of the spiritual fathers of al-Qaeda. Qatar and Turkey operate in Gaza with significant influence, providing food, shelter, infrastructure, and mosques. These states, that openly support Hamas and host its senior leaders, understand well that real influence begins with consciousness that is shaped in mosques and schools. Without deep de-radicalization - a fundamental transformation of values and messages - nothing will truly change. One cannot build a stable reality when a child in Gaza learns to admire terrorists as "heroes," consumes content that glorifies "martyrs," and listens to sermons preaching war against infidels. Therefore, the "day after" in Gaza must come together with de-radicalization. We have already wasted an entire generation since the Oslo Accords, in which we relinquished control and assumed that economic incentives would suffice. If before Oslo Israelis could travel by bus to Gaza via the central bus station in Beersheba, today that reality seems imaginary. This is the depth of the shift in consciousness that has occurred there within just one generation. The battle over tomorrow's Gaza will be decided by the question of who drafts the Friday sermon. The writer, a policy assistant to former Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, is a senior fellow at the David Institute for Security Policy.