THE FALL OF ISRAEL - Mahdi Hamad Fatlawi (2001)
Having noticed that Iran's replacement for Lanjani is Mohammad al-Qadr I decided to reread this book, which he translated from Arabic to Farsi. The title might be a western cosplayer's wet dream but visit any bookshop in Cairo/Amman/Ramallah and you'll find lots of them, most with lurid covers, full of antisemitism, cherry-picked Quranic quotes, conspiracy theories,a warped view of history, and boldly predicting the year of Israel's demise. This one by an Iraqi academic has all of those faults, bar the date, but is better written and coherently organised.
The author attempt to interpret the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the prism of religious concepts, historical traditions, and Quranic verses. He views human history as an arena for a civilisational struggle between the forces of truth and falsehood. The book is divided into 6 parts:
1: The Place of the Islamic World regarding Israel: emphasising the importance of “Islamic awakening” and the formation of axes of resistance. The Islamic Revolution in Iran is presented as a historic turning point and a model for the struggle against the West and Zionism. Islamic entities that don't support their aims should be undermined.
2: Religious Prophecies Regarding the Fate of Israel: focusing on religious interpretations and traditions that refer to the ultimate fate of Israel. Drawing on Quranic verses, hadiths and traditions, it identifies patterns and prophecies that point to the decline and destruction of Israel.
3 The Political Background to the Collapse of Israel: examining factors and processes that will cause the eventual collapse of Israel, such as the strengthening and expansion of resistance movements in the region. The goal is to show that the collapse of Israel is not a fantasy, but is grounded in political realities and developments on the ground.
4 Quranic Prophecies of the Destruction of Israel: similar to the second part but focused more explicitly on Quranic verses. The author seeks to present Quranic evidence that the destruction of Israel is divine will and inevitable through direct interpretation and adaptation of Quranic verses to historical and contemporary developments in the region.
5: Scenarios for the End of Israel’s Existence and the Vision for the Future: presents various scenarios regarding the manner and timing of Israel’s collapse. emphasising the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the regional system, and offers a description of a future in which Jerusalem is liberated and rule under the Mahdi (messiah) is established.
6: Conclusion - Ties the above to support the basic Islamist theory: Islam came to replace Judaism; therefore the existence of Israel is an abomination and a challenge to the truth of Islam; therefore it is God's work to destroy it, and God's Will that they will eventually succeed, no matter how long it takes and how many defeats they suffer on the way.
This book was required reading when it came out. Published shortly after Arafat disastrously rejected the offer of two states and opted for the violence of the 2nd Intifada, it was an extra component that warned the Oslo Accords were doomed to failure. It presents a window into the worldview of Islamists such as Hamas and the Iranian leadership. 25 years later, with all that has happened and these dead end ideas still around, it just makes me sad.
