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At first glance, it appears that the title given to Friday's weekly confrontation in Gaza, "World Day of Jerusalem", differs little from the various banner titles given to the 60 confrontations that preceded it since its inauguration a year ago.
Yet the "World Day of Jerusalem" banner, which Hamas and, of course, Islamic Jihad has endorsed, sends a clear message to the Arab public – from the kings and presidents of the Arab states to the latest Arab media adept.
In the Arab world, it is well-known that the World Day of Jerusalem – in Farsi, Ruz Jihani Quds – was one of the first days of commemoration created by Ayatollah Khomeini and inscribed on the official calendar of the new Islamic Republic. from Iran in 1979. Since then, most of the demonstrations and rallies took place in Iran or the Shiite areas of Lebanon under the auspices of Hezbollah.
Inevitably, events include the customary slogans "Down with Great Satan, the United States and Little Satan, the Zionist Entity" and the burning of American and Israeli flags and effigies of their leaders, including the photos are then broadcast by the official Iranian media sites in Farsi, English, Arabic and Turkish.
The identity of the leaders of World Jerusalem Day with Iran and its representatives is also reflected in the leaders' speeches paying tribute to this event. Year after year, Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of the Islamic Republic and sometimes its president, address the Islamic world to defend the Palestinian cause and denigrate Israel.
Hbadan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, is another speaker who addresses each year the crowd of his bunker in Beirut on the World Day of Jerusalem.
While the Iranian leaders and their proxies are blatant that day, Sunni Arab leaders never mention it, much less make a speech in their honor. This even includes the Qatari emir, which has close relations with Iran's rulers as a bulwark against Saudi Arabia and its allies, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain (the latter could be better regarded as a client Saudi).
The Palestinian Authority is also clearly in the consensus of Sunni Arab states to ignore the World Day of Jerusalem.
World Day of Jerusalem is so closely linked to Iran and its representatives that even Hamas, a Sunni organization with traditionally strong ties to Iran, has refrained from commemorating that day until today. Now.
Why has Hamas changed course, not only to designate its major event to commemorate this event, but also to organize a conference bringing Hamas leaders together under this name?
YAHYA SINWAR, Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, gave a clear answer at the conference. He focused on the "Deal of the Century" of US President Donald Trump, which he sees as an attempt to end the conflict in the region, to integrate Israel into the Arab region and to Islamic and change the mentality of the Arab nation that turns its enemies into friends and friends into enemies.
Two points he raises leave no doubt as to who in his region is responsible for this destructive confusion from his point of view. He thanked Iran for helping "resistance" without the aid of which Hamas would never have developed the military capabilities demonstrated during the latest wave of hostilities .
Hamas, he added, can not be criticized for thanking Iran, with clear reference to Sunni Arab states led by Saudi Arabia.
This accusation is barely veiled: "It is our duty to thank all those who offer help and help to achieve the goals of our people and our nation … Those who support the resistance and Jerusalem are friends and those who bet on the sale of Jerusalem are the enemies. "
Sinwar, addressing the Arab leaders, claimed that they were in a historic period during which their positions "will be commemorated or denigrated" and urged them "to adopt the choices of the nation, the Palestinian people and Jerusalem ".
For all the heaviness of Sinwar – in his speech, he also warns Israel that during the next war, Hamas will hit Tel Aviv hard – the speech and, more importantly, the Hamas decision to return to Iran the commemoration of the World Day in Jerusalem also reflect its weakness.
The decision and speech reflect both Hamas' concern over the Trump peace plan that is appealing to the Arab states behind this plan.
Hamas must also realize that the inscription of the World Day of Jerusalem on the calendar of "resistance" deepens the gap that separates the Palestinians since the takeover of Gaza 12 years ago. The fact that the Hamas media stressed both the speech and the commemoration, in contrast to the total disregard for the sites of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah, reflected this divide.
Courting Iran also weighs negatively on relations with Egypt, Gaza's gateway to the Arab world and beyond.
The deep Egyptian state, since the Iranian revolution, testifies to the hostility and fear of the Iranian Republic, not only for its way of interfering in the affairs of the Arab States, but also for the link that united the Encounters between the ayatollahs and the Fatimid revolution in the 10th century in Egypt which established by subversion a Shiite dynasty that ruled Egypt for 200 years.
Convinced that Iran is determined to try to repeat this historic event, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, like his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, represses any sign of Shia Islam in the country.
Egypt is sufficiently tired of Hamas to become an organization of the Muslim Brotherhood. The close relations with Iran only increase Egypt's fundamental hostility towards that organization.
The fallout from Iran's defense may explain why Sinwar, closer to the military wing of the organization, has headed for World Jerusalem Day, rather than a leader like Ismail Haniyeh, more to the Hamas's public spirit, which desperately needs Egypt's portal to Rafah to the outside world and fears the Egyptian vengeance that such a position could spark a free flow of Gaza bound for.
Evaluating the benefits of World Jerusalem Day against the floods caused by the holding of World Day of Jerusalem is only one more reflection of the lessons learned by Hamas since its takeover of Gaza in 2007.
Many in Israel – including, most likely, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – are banking on these lessons to lead to a long-term "taming" of Hamas. Avigdor Liberman thinks that only force will change the behavior of the organization.
Liberman is probably right. After all, Sinwar has decided to upset most Arab countries, including Egypt, demonstrating his refusal to "tame Hamas".
The author is a professor in the Bar-Ilan University's Middle East Political Studies and Studies Departments and Senior Research Associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. .
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