Drammeh Urges Reassessment of Muslim World’s Stance on Israel

Sheikh Musa Drammeh, President of Muslims-Israel Dialogue, has called on Muslims worldwide to critically reassess long-held positions on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning that decades of rejectionism have contributed to prolonged instability, suffering, and intellectual stagnation in the Muslim world.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Drammeh traced the roots of the conflict to the United Nations’ post-World War II partitioning of the holy land, noting that Jewish leaders accepted the plan and immediately began building a sovereign state, while Arab and Muslim leaders rejected it outright.

He argued that this rejection, according to him, extended to a refusal to accept the idea of a two-state coexistence that recognizes Israel as a legitimate nation.

“From the beginning, Arabs and Muslims strongly rejected the idea of a two-state coexistence that normalizes the existence of Israel with legitimate sovereignty,” Drammeh stated.

He further alleged that what he described as a “religiously-tied anti-Israel campaign” within the Muslim world has been driven by hatred, anti-Zionism, and antisemitism.

The cleric also accused groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood—whom he described as influential in the formation of regional and international Muslim alliances—of being unwilling to tolerate Zionism or an independent Jewish state in the Middle East. He argued that this stance has had far-reaching consequences for both Palestinians and the wider region.

“Unfortunately, the inevitable backlash of this regrettable attitude resulted in prolonged Palestinian statelessness, nonstop death and destruction, marginalization of Arab citizens, globalization of hatred, terrorism and antisemitism,” he said, adding that it has also contributed to what he described as severe intellectual regressiveness in the Muslim world.

Drammeh further warned that continued violence and extremism have strained relations with Western countries, some of which, he claimed, are reassessing their national security strategies in response to terrorism. He expressed concern that Islam, as a religion, has been “hijacked and replaced with often violent ‘Pro-Palestine’ campaigns” in parts of the West.

Addressing Muslims directly, the cleric issued a call for introspection and reform. “My fellow Muslims, it’s time to retrieve back our intelligence, our religion, our values, our dignity, our freedom, our future and our religious democratic principles,” he said, stressing that such values are applicable across societies and generations.

He concluded by questioning why Israel’s legitimacy continues to be singled out for rejection when many modern Muslim-majority nations were also formed in the aftermath of World War II.

“Israel was one of dozens of countries formed post-World War II, including most Muslim countries of today. Why then singularly focus on it for illegitimacy while being proud of others?” Drammeh asked.