Palestinian activists plan to invade Israel on foot from neighboring Arab states as part of a "Global March to Jerusalem," a report issued Monday by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center said.
Leaders of the Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ) say the event will take place March 30 and will involve "the crawling of hundreds of thousands of Arab and international supporters through the neighboring countries and into Israel…"
Marchers from around the world will meet in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon GMJ's website said. Massive marches will also be organized in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip toward Jerusalem. Organizers say the marches will be "peaceful," the Meir Amit report said, "but past experience … has taught that they have the potential for violence."
And organizers acknowledge that they "aim to make this march a turning point in the nature of the confrontation, with the occupation having to face millions of protesters and demonstrators demanding Freedom for Palestine and its capitol Jerusalem."
Activists involved in the march have ties to Hamas, including:
GMJ spokesman Zaher Birawi is a Hamas activist who lives in the UK and has also served as a spokesperson for various Viva Palestina convoys. Viva Palestina (VP) is a UK-based organization which has delivered millions of dollars to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Birawi also serves in leadership positions for Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood affiliated organizations in the UK.
Mohammed Sawalha is formerly a senior Hamas operational operative in the West Bank who fled to Britain. Sawalha played an active role in organizing the deadly May 2010 flotilla to Gaza. He is involved with the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK and is one of the UK signatories of the pro-Jihad February 2009 "Istanbul declaration."
George Galloway, the brainchild of the pro-Hamas organization Viva Palestina, plans on joining GMJ. Galloway discussed GMJ on his show The Real Deal, aired on Iran's Press TV station this month.
Iranian-born Paul Larudee is the co-founder of the California-based Free Palestine Movement and participated in the May 2010 flotilla to Gaza. The Free Palestine Movement is an endorser of GMJ's branch in North America (GMJ-NA) and serves as a financial conduit for of GMJ-NA. Larudee is a leader of GMJ-NA, and serves on the International advisory Committee for GMJ.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh promoted the march in a recent speech.