Zvi Yehezkeli is an Israeli journalist and filmmaker who is fluent in Arabic, which allows him to go undercover among Muslims, posing as a Palestinian. Most recently we saw him visit various Muslim strongholds in the USA.
In the following interview from Israeli TV, Mr. Yehezkeli discusses the current policy changes that Saudi Arabia and other Sunni countries are implementing vis-à-vis Salafism. He intersperses his remarks with relevant clips from Arab media.
Many thanks to RL for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
| 00:00 | Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) against the Muslim Brotherhood | |
| 00:01 | Shalom Zvikah, (Yehezkeli) Shalom Yaron (London) | |
| 00:14 | Let’s start by discussing Mohammed bin Salman, (MBS) then we can discuss what’s going on in Jordan. | |
| 00:19 | There is connection between the two, but let me first conclude our previous conversation. | |
| 00:24 | Regarding the Iranian reaction to Israel’s attack in Syria. | |
| 00:28 | It’s interesting to note, that the Iranians only announced that Israel violated international law, | |
| 00:32 | and by that, only complicated the situation in Syria and intensified the terror. | |
| 00:35 | The Iranians do not portray themselves as the impacted player; | |
| 00:38 | They do not admit that they were damaged — it’s important to understand that. | |
| 00:41 | This is consistent with all of Israel’s attacks — the Iranians suffered a blow, | |
| 00:45 | yet they kept quiet. As for Mohammed Bin Salman: | |
| 00:49 | I read all the interviews he gave in the US to The Atlantic and Time. | |
| 00:54 | I am one of those who are excited about this man’s willpower to change the face of Islam. | |
| 01:02 | It’s a very captivating issue to observe after years of Islam’s inner struggle to find direction. | |
| 01:08 | After all, one of the main crises occurring is not necessarily between the Sunnis and Shias, | |
| 01:12 | or Iran and Mohammed Bin Salman, (MBS) who named Khamenei: “The Hitler of the Middle East,” | |
| 01:17 | but in particular, the struggle is within Islam about the character of Islam. | |
| 01:20 | and the group that highlighted in recent years the struggle for Islam’s identity — | |
| 01:24 | and that perhaps was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ — was ISIS (Da-esh), | |
| 01:28 | who asserted that THEY are the ones who speak in the name of Islam. | |
| 01:31 | Consequently, they caused individuals like Mohammed Bin Salman to regret and admit: | |
| 01:34 | We were wrong! We were incorrect to advance political Islam! | |
| 01:38 | And here I would like to discuss the Muslim Brotherhood and his statements about them, | |
| 01:42 | which I personally found particularly interesting, as it was the theme of my documentary on Europe. | |
| 01:45 | He stated the following to the Time Magazine — which is worthwhile reading. | |
| 01:51 | He says, “Actually, if you see any terrorist, you’ll find he used to be in the Muslim Brotherhood. | |
| 01:56 | And you know what’s the biggest danger? They’re not in the Middle East, | |
| 01:59 | because they know that the Middle East is taking a good strategy against them; | |
| 02:03 | in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Jordan, and a lot of countries. | |
| 02:06 | Their main target is to radicalize Muslim communities in Europe. | |
| 02:09 | They hope that Europe in 30 years will turn to a Muslim brotherhood (Ikhwaniya) continent. | |
| 02:15 | So this will be much more dangerous than the Cold War, | |
| 02:18 | ISIS, Al Qaeda, than whatever we’ve seen in the last hundred years of history.” | |
| 02:22 | We can’t question his devotion to Islam, or to his family lineage, | |
| 02:27 | a person who also relished the fusion of politics and Islam, | |
| 02:30 | yet steps forward to discuss the merging of politics and Islam | |
| 02:34 | and the advancement of the political system through Islam. | |
| 02:37 | He discusses the Saudi Bin Laden… | |
| 02:40 | He said, “If Bin Laden had been captured by us, we would have arrested him.” | |
| 02:44 | We are familiar with the history of Saudi Arabia and Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda… | |
| 02:51 | Of course! They (Saudis) nurtured all of these Islamic movements. | |
| 02:56 | Let’s move on… Just one word to show you, that these | |
| 03:00 | are not just his (MBS’s) words, but rather it’s a philosophical revolution | |
| 03:04 | of the entire young generation of Saudi journalists. | |
| 03:07 | I listened to a segment from one of the Saudi TV channels, | |
| 03:11 | and they all point at a “triangle” which they used to call “the evil axis” and now it’s | |
| 03:15 | “the triangle axis.” Look who they mention as part of the “triangle axis”: | |
| 03:19 | Our main problem is to unravel Islam from the lies and defamations attached to it. | |
| 03:24 | Abdallah Alrifayee — Saudi commentator | |
| 03:28 | We can link this to “the evil axis” or “the triangle axis” | |
| 03:33 | being led by the northern country (Iran) and the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan). | |
| 03:38 | I say with full confidence that these forces | |
| 03:41 | attempted to highjack the Sunni faith and the true and sincere understanding of Islam, | |
| 03:51 | and heaped upon Islam unbearable ideas. | |
| 03:55 | Therefore, removing these unbearable ideas that sadly got attached to Islam, | |
| 04:02 | is the most urgent thing to do. | |
| 04:05 | This is an issue that ultimately points to the madrassas — the same madrassas the Saudis | |
| 04:11 | used for education — if you consider Taliban, ISIS — all graduated from the same madrassas. | |
| 04:15 | So how do you separate politics from religion? | |
| 04:19 | After all, Islam (as the Muslim Brotherhood) says that; “Religion is the State, | |
| 04:23 | and the State is the Religion.” —And in essence, this is the challenge. | |
| 04:26 | Now let’s see how things evolve in each Middle Eastern country. | |
| 04:29 | So I will discuss the election result of the | |
| 04:32 | Association of Engineers & Lawyers in the city of Zarka (Jordan). | |
| 04:35 | Why is it important? Since in the past, the Muslim Brotherhood did NOT enter politics, | |
| 04:40 | In the present, this is an indication of whether they are strong. | |
| 04:43 | And Jordan, is in my opinion, one of the few countries in the region that still allows | |
| 04:48 | the political integration of the Muslim Brotherhood, in contrast with Abu Mazen, or al-Sisi, | |
| 04:52 | of course, and here you can notice the Jordanian King tread a thin line | |
| 04:56 | where he has no choice. He can’t suppress them, | |
| 04:59 | as they are almost a majority of the Palestinian population. | |
| 05:02 | Here we observe their victory, in spite of the challenges and strict election laws in Jordan. | |
| 05:07 | They won in Zarka, and it’s important to witness how their victory celebration | |
| 05:11 | brought to the fore a renewed conversation on what the Muslim Brotherhood want. | |
| 05:14 | Here are the voices heard after the election result, which were immediately stopped | |
| 05:17 | Zarka, Jordan last month | |
| 05:18 | by the Muslim Brotherhood leaders themselves. Listen: | |
| 05:22 | “From the top of the Mountain and Underneath the Sewage — Hooray for Tora Bora!” | |
| 05:35 | Guys, you are not allowed to rejoice in such a way… | |
| 05:38 | This chant is a deviation from our organization’s rules and is forbidden! | |
| 05:41 | We should NOT mix this celebration with Tora-Bora — It’s a political matter — shame on you! | |
| 05:47 | They need a Tora Bora reminder… Tora Bora was the pinnacle — the capital of Al Qaeda. | |
| 05:55 | There is where Global Jihad started, and they view it that way. | |
| 05:58 | It’s a path towards the Jordanian Kingdom. | |
| 06:01 | Let me finish, and point out how the Abu Mazen regime protects itself. | |
| 06:05 | Last week we saw the demonstration in Gaza, the tires burning and, | |
| 06:08 | we watched Abu Mazen supporting them in the UN, | |
| 06:11 | demanding an International Criminal Court, as he attacks Israel. | |
| 06:14 | Listen to what his advisor on religious affairs says while Abu Mazen sits in the audience | |
| 06:18 | during the Friday sermon. He speaks about Hamas forcing kids to kill — | |
| 06:22 | public charges we did not hear previously from the PA. | |
| 06:26 | Again, in this fight of a national regime, defending itself against the Muslim Brotherhood. (Hamas) | |
| 06:30 | Here is Mahmoud al-Habash last Friday in the Mukata (Abu Mazen’s compound). | |
| 06:34 | This is unbelievable! Slogans that when you hear them, | |
| 06:37 | you think that those who chant them are already at the heart of the freed Al Aqsa mosque, | |
| 06:44 | after it was liberated… Then you discover that Hamas is selling illusions, | |
| 06:51 | trade with sufferings and much worse. I am asking Allah for forgiveness, | |
| 06:56 | as I appear on cable TV and other media outlets, | |
| 07:12 | to deliver a strong statement. | |
| 07:15 | No one buys your type of ‘heroism’ anymore. | |
| 07:23 | Incredible things are happening —Look how Political Islam threatens our neighbors on all sides! | |
| 07:28 | I thank you very much, Zvi. —Thank you! |
We seem to be hearing from Zvi Yehezkeli that Islam itself is splitting up, that some political centers of Islam (Iran, Hamas in Gaza) threaten other centers of Islam (Saudi Arabia, Jordan). The constant fighting between Islamic sects in the Middle East has given them a certain immunity: they know how to handle their own radicals, and recognize the tricks of the radicals.
The West, now opening itself up to massive Muslim immigration, has no resistance at all to radical Islam. Not only can we not recognize when radical Islamic ideas are being taught; we somehow have developed a vulnerability where it is actually punished when someone warns of the dangers of Muslim populations.
The current ruler of Saudi Arabia, taking a strong stand to protect his own ruling class against the disruption of the Muslim Brotherhood flavor of Islam. As Zvi Yehezkeli pointed out, Saudi Arabia has sponsored many, or most, or all of the mosques in the West now infecting Muslim immigrants, and Muslim natural-born citizens, with radical, political Islam.
And what is political Islam? The use of government to enforce Islamic laws, and the political actions Muslims must take to accomplish the goal of government enforcement of Islam. There is no way to avoid calling Saudi Arabia a center of political Islam, although it may be liberalizing on questions like the complete isolation of women.
Israel is taking full advantage of the splits and changes in the various Islamic cults. But, Israel, note, does this while not admitting Muslims and by progressively excluding Muslims who are potential Israel residents. I would say, a very sensible policy. The West is currently on a very real suicide road by admitting masses of Muslims and refusing to recognize the dangers they pose. And there may be more danger in the political subversion by organized Muslim identity groups than by the violent Islamists who overtly kill people.