Under Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad, Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011, but now that the al-Qaeda linked jihadist Abu Mohammad al-Julani (aka Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa) is president, Syria is now in good graces with the Arab League. Al-Sharaa was put there by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) notes:
Since 2017, Turkey has armed and supported these groups, facilitated the movement of jihadist fighters into Syria, and worked to transition al-Jolani’s group from a jihadist organization to a political entity aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood.
In this latest development, in which the president of the “Arab Republic of Egypt” has issued a formal invitation to al-Sharaa — “the president of the Syrian Arab Republic” — the new Syrian leader is fully legitimized and the Arab League has embraced him. The Arab League dismisses the view of any Western nation regarding al-Sharaa.
On Gaza, “al-Sharaa has called Trump’s plan ‘a very huge crime that cannot happen,’” while Erdogan has declared:
No one has the power to remove the people of Gaza from their eternal homeland that has been around for thousands of years…Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem belong to the Palestinians….The proposals on Gaza put forward by the new US administration under pressure from the Zionist leadership have nothing worth discussing from our point of view.
According to the JCPA, “Turkish opposition sources suggest Erdogan’s policies aim to revive the Ottoman Caliphate through strategic control over Syria.” His immediate task is to position “jihadist Islam as a vehicle for political Islam, aiming to establish influence over Syria.”
What this means for Israel is an increasing and overt display of hostility, backed by the Arab League.
The JCPA also warns about reports in the Turkish press which “indicate plans to establish military bases in Syria equipped with air defense systems, ostensibly to protect against Israeli airstrikes.”
In the meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has demanded the complete demilitarisation of much of southern Syria.” Netanyahu said that Israel will not allow Syrian forces led by al-Sharaa to “enter the area south of Damascus,” and that the IDF intends to stay indefinitely in parts of southern Syria.
Turkey should have been thrown out of NATO long ago. Instead, in recent bad news, EU leaders have started “lifting their opposition to key military hardware sales, to the alarm of Turkey’s rival Greece. The move comes as Turkey, Nato’s second-largest army, is viewed as potentially playing a key role in Europe’s security goals” involving Ukraine.
The EU’s move to help arm Turkey is akin to the billions of dollars that poured into Iran’s coffers under the Biden administration.
Turkey’s backing of Syria is worrying, given its hostility to Israel. A Jerusalem Post analysis stated that “Turkey may feel that it has a new opportunity to exploit the situation in the region. If this puts Turkey on Israel’s northern Golan border, even in terms of air defenses and air bases that have more of a role there, it could pose a challenge for Israel.”
“Syria’s leader invited to Arab League meeting on Gaza,” AFP, February 24, 2025:
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa received an invitation on Sunday to attend an Egyptian-hosted Arab League meeting on Gaza, the Syrian presidency said.
“The president of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr Ahmed al-Sharaa, received an official invitation from the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt… to participate in the extraordinary Arab League summit” on March 4 in Cairo, the presidency statement said.
For the latest updates on the Israel-Palestine conflict, visit our dedicated page.
The meeting was called in response to a widely criticised plan by US President Donald Trump, who has said his government should take over the war-battered Gaza Strip and redevelop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Its Palestinian inhabitants, according to Trump’s plan, would move elsewhere, including to Egypt and Jordan.
Trump’s plan sparked an outcry from Arab governments as well as other world leaders, and the United Nations warned against “ethnic cleansing” in the Palestinian territory.
Al-Sharaa has called Trump’s plan “a very huge crime that cannot happen.”
Syria under former president Bashar al-Assad was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 over his brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests which spiraled into a devastating war.
Damascus was allowed to return to the regional bloc in 2023…..
Billy says
Muslims are enemies of each other to achieve totalitarian power and control, but they will partner to terrorize, to discriminate, and to violate ALL Non-Muslims as taught in the Quran. This is KEY to understand. Furthermore, Islam is a totalitarian system of deceit and lies(Quran 3:28; 7:99; 8:30 and more).
Islam and its Muslims fund, promote, and practice ideological subversion, propaganda, bigotry, discrimination, deceit, supremacy, segregation, hatred, violence, and terrorism as taught in Islamic Law and in Islam’s Quran, and Muslim actions should be legally challenged with a multi-faceted force of Western Laws like Muslims wield against Americans and Westerners. Like a Foreign Terrorist Organization(FTO) designated by the USA Secretary of State, Islam is a MUSLIM TERRORIST ORGANIZATION(MTO) fighting against Non-Muslims and NOT A PEACEFUL religion under Western Law because Islam funds, teaches, and promotes a Terrorist Criminal Organization with Muslims as Terrorists for Allah. Under Islamic Law, Muslims are required to terrorize Non-Muslims becausee it is a Crime against Allah to neglect this Muslim DUTY; Jihad means warfare against Non-Muslims to ESTABLISH ISLAM’S RELIGION(Quran 3:151; 9:29; Muslim Law Manual – “Reliance of the Traveller”, o9.0 and more). More specifically, Islam is a Muslim Terrorist Ideology and Murderous, Criminal Enterprise of intolerance, continuous war, discrimination, segregation, supremacy, genocide, polygamy, propaganda, deceit, hatred, incitement, sedition, rape, terrorism, and violence against all Non-Muslims as taught in the Quran(Quran 2:216; 4:65,89,95; 5:14; 8:12,39,74; 9:5,21,29,36, 41,49,88,111,123; 21:92; 49:15 and more).
Tony says
To protect themselves, Israel should ban Islam, its Mosques, its Schools, etc. because Islam teaches and supports terrorism, discrimination, and violence against Non-Muslims. Deceitful Allah promises Heavenly Paradise to Muslims for acts of Muslim killing in terrorist attacks against Non-Muslims and Muslim hypocrites when Quran 9:111 says, “Surely Allah has purchased from the believers[Muslims] their souls and their money so that they may have the garden[Heavenly Paradise]. They engage in war for the sake of Allah, so they kill and are killed…”
ElderlyZionist says
“EU leaders have started ‘lifting their opposition to key military hardware sales, to the alarm of Turkey’s rival Greece. The move comes as Turkey, Nato’s second-largest army, is viewed as potentially playing a key role in Europe’s security goals’ involving Ukraine.”
EU leaders are fools if they imagine they can use the Turkish army for their own purposes. But I repeat myself.
Lady of the Lake says
Of course they are fools… look what they’ve done to their own countries
gravenimage says
Arab League invites jihadist Syrian leader to Cairo for Egypt-led summit on Gaza
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Jihad terrorists–some of the few who could make Assad look good in comparison…
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Bashar Assad’s only fault was keeping alive his country’s alliances w/ Iran & Hizbullah. He could have retained the Alawite dictatorship, but followed liberalization policies like the Emirates, w/o cracking down on sunnis, and eventually, he’d have been fine. His father Hafez was a regional rogue, out to destabilize Lebanon, promote Amal and so on, which is why Syria lost the Golan for good
But Bashar could have reconciled w/ Arabs, particularly against Turkey, and closed ranks. The Arab League would prefer an Arab if Alawite Syria to a Turkish though sunni Syria. He could have retained his alliance w/ Russia, though, and formed an alliance w/ Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel against Turkey
Otherwise, Syria had a pretty good record in its treatment of the Kurds, Druze and Assyrian Christians
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Looks like the Arabs have closed ranks w/ Turkey. They need to be re-split from them