Following the December 6, 2017 announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,[1] the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm published an article by senior journalist Muhammad Amin, formerly chairman of the board of the newspaper, in which he criticizes the Arabs who, he says, are protesting against Trump's decision only on social media and aren't doing anything beyond that.
In the article – headlined "Where are the Millions?" which is also the title of a popular song[2] from the period of the first intifada exhorting Palestinians to join in the violence against Israel – Amin calls on jihadi activists to express their anger until "Israel doesn't sleep and Trump regrets his decision and reneges."
A protestor sets an Israeli flag alight at a protest at an Alexandria mosque (Source: Al-Yawm Al-Sabi, Egypt, December 8, 2017).
The following are translated excerpts from Muhammad Amin's article[3]:
"The scenarios [as to] what would happen if Trump decided to move the embassy to Jerusalem were known and calculated in advance. As far as Israel and the Americans were concerned, the story was known – the Arabs would change their [profile] pictures on Facebook, sing, write protest songs, and publish condemnations [and that's all]...
"In fact, the young Arabs wrote 'Jerusalem is Arab,' on social media, added a Palestinian keffiyeh to the photographs, posted them, and urged others to post them [as well]. Some tweeted against Trump's decision and called him crazy, and some shared the song 'Where are the Millions? Where? Where is the Arab People? Where is the honor, where?' Everyone joined in the song... That was the expectation and those are exactly the scenarios that occurred!
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"I know that some [people] don't [have the ability to do] anything other than to change their profile [picture]... to sing or to write poetry and put it to music. That is also a kind of [expression] of anger, but it doesn't concern the White House and it remains within the safe boundaries [of protest].
"I read the posts [on social media], I read the mocking jokes and I watched Julia Boutros as she sang: 'Where are the millions? Where, where, where? Where is the Arab People? Where is the Arab fury? Where is the Arab blood? Where is the Arab honor?...' [but] there aren't a million martyrs and no one is going [to Jerusalem] and no one is coming!
"Everyone hides and rests and only takes care of himself. We recited the Friday prayers and not a word was said about Jerusalem or about Al-Aqsa – not during the sermon and not when the Quran was read – as if what had happened hadn't happened. Only Al-Azhar cried out [about Jerusalem][4] and in the El Qaed Ibrahim Mosque [in Alexandria] they burned the Israeli flag.[5] Symbolic participation and cultured behavior – I understand it, but [if] no one does anything – nothing will happen!
"This is a historic opportunity for Trump [to announce his decision], at the timing that suits them [the U.S. and Israel], while [Arab] countries are suffering wars, terror and destruction... The loudest voices [of protest] come from the east, from Latin America, from China and Korea. All that remains is for the Palestinians to launch a new intifada. [Express your] rage, don't wait for the millions. [Express your] rage and don't wait for official decisions to demonstrate and to rage. Revolution is the goal... We are talking about Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. We want to see the jihad brigades, the brigades of the resistance and [Hamas's Izz Al-Din] Al-Qassam [Brigades]; we want to see the heroic deeds already – now is the time for them. Rescue Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, oppose the imperious American decision, oppose the decision of Trump the madman.
"Trump gambled that only profile [pictures] would be changed. Netanyahu bet that only the Israeli flag would be burned. Don't make their bets correct – rage until Israel doesn't sleep. [Israeli prime minister] Golda Meir used to say, 'these are nations that sleep,' and [Israel's] allies still believe that today. Make Trump regret and renege, so that Tel Aviv [i.e. Israel] will prefer to treat [the Palestinians] well."
[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 7217, Reactions To U.S. President Trump's Jerusalem Announcement: Hamas, Resistance Axis Call For Violence, Attacks On U.S. Interests; Palestinian Authority, Moderate Arab Countries Express Restrained Condemnation, Hope For Retraction, December 10, 2017.
[2] Lebanese singer Julia Boutros, who performs "Where are the Millions?" expressed outrage at Trump's announcement on her Instagram account, quoting from the song. In response, numerous Instagram users shared the lyrics of Boutros's songs in protest against Trump's announcement. See Al-Nahar (Lebanon), December 7, 2017.
[3] Al-Masry Al-Youm (Egypt), December 9, 2017.
[4] For information about the call by Grand Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb to dedicate the Friday sermon to Jerusalem, see Al-Masry Al-Youm (Egypt), December 7, 2017.
[5] For more information see Al-Yawm Al-Sabi (Egypt), December 8, 2017.
