The Effect of Jerusalem(Holy Quds) War in Nigeria

By Muhammad Auwal Albarno

In Nigeria, when someone mentiones Jerusalem (Holy Quds), the first things that come to mind are the Middle East, Palestine, Israel, Hamas, Iran, the USA, Islamic movement members, and religious matters. This topic carries different perceptions, because everyone has their own understanding of what is going on over there. And this has greatly affected Nigeria, whether we know it or not.

Firstly, Jerusalem(Holy Quds) is a place located in Palestine, which both Palestine and Israel claim as their capital. The war between the two countries originated over 70 years ago. Many people here in Nigeria think that the war is between Islam and Christianity, but that is absolutely not true. As I have said, the war is between Israel and Palestine. Now, who are the Palestinians and who are the Israelis?

Israel is a country with a majority Jewish population. According to statistics, Judaism makes up 90 percent, Islam 7 percent, and Christians only 3 percent. On the other hand, Palestine is an Arab country that includes both Muslims and Christians. Before we look at how this conflict affects Nigeria, let us briefly explain how this war started.

This conflict dates back many decades and has led to major violence that caused the deaths of innocent people. Since the 1948 to date, many people's futures have been cut short. If we put our minds to researching the war, we will realize that many people died before their time.

Secondly, how does this affect Nigerians? Yes, this war has involved Nigerians since the very beginning. It has also divided Nigeria in many ways, especially by religion, Islam and Christianity. Not all, but many Muslims and Christians don’t truly understand what is happening. Due to religious differences, some support Israel, while others support Palestine. In fact, many Christians support Israel, and many Muslims support Palestine. There is also regional division. Many Northerners support Palestine, while the majority of Southernerns, especially the south east, support Israel.

Thirdly, the Middle East itself. As I mentioned above, physically the fight appears to be a war between Hamas and the Jews, but in reality, it is a war between Iran and the USA. And all of this is about power.

How did this begin? The USA and its allies, like the UK, France, and others, are pushing Israel into the war. Their benefit is to gain power to control the Middle East. Many countries have refused to be under the shadow of the USA.

This makes it hard for the USA to directly control power, so they hide behind Israel’s war to gain influence in the Middle East. Now, assuming the war ends and Israel has won and taken over Palestinian land, don't think the war has ended. The USA’s mission is that after Palestine, the next targets are Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. After succeeding in this, Iran will be easier to defeat. And the USA will now boast of its power and move to confront its enemies like Russia, China, North Korea, and India.

Fourthly, Iran is a Persian country, which was once ruled by the Shah. They were friends of the West before the revolution, which was led by the late Imam Khumaini. After gaining independence through the revolution, it became the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, the country is a Shi’ite country. They are always supporting innocent people, like those in Gaza and other parts of the world. They constantly face opposition, even from Arab countries like Saudi Arabia. That situation has affected the world, including Nigeria. All the tension between Islamic movement and the Nigerian government originates from Iran-Saudi politics.

Iran has a powerful defense and various types of weapons, some of which only God knows the extent of. They have weapons the world has never seen. That is why they respond to the USA with strong words, words that, if spoken by another country, would provoke a powerful reaction from America.

However, Iran also has allies that support them, Russia, China, North Korea, and others.

The next issue is the Islamic movement in Nigeria. Many of them, especially those who believe in Imam Khumaini, always support Palestine. The truth is that Hezbollah, Hamas, Mujahideen, and Ansarullah are all similar and are friends of Iran. And if you look closely, their aims and governments are also against Western powers. That is why the Nigerian government gets pressure from the USA to crack down on Islamic movement, because the USA classifies members of the Islamic movement and Hamas as terrorists. This, in reality, is part of a business. Many in government know the truth but refuse to act on it because of their loyalty to the USA. And the issue of colonialism is still affecting our country. I don’t want to go too deep, but even the issue of Biafra can be linked to the USA. That is why many Igbos support Israel in the Jerusalem(Holy Quds) war, and also support Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Many people believe that Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Taliban, ISIS, and Islamic movement are the same. Of course, in some people’s eyes, they may look the same, but in reality, they are not. Their goals and intentions are different.

Honestly, they are not the same. If they were, Boko Haram would not be attacking members of the Islamic movement, and ISIS would not be against Iraq. Have you ever heard of Hezbollah or Hamas attacking Islamic movement? These groups that we hear about, anyone that supports Iran is classified a terrorist by the USA, while some of the others were created by the USA itself. Journalists, writers, and others are afraid to speak the truth about this issue. Especially in Nigeria, our journalists are mostly biased and under someone’s control.

From everything we’ve said so far about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, you now understand the reason for this war and how it affects Nigerians. You now know how and why Shi’ites keep losing their lives. By God’s grace, next time we’ll talk about who the real terrorists are, and how their activities started in the world. We’ll also look at the difference between Hezbollah and ISIS, Hamas and Al-Qaeda, and why they wear masks, and why they are not terrorists. May Almighty God guide us and give us the knowledge to do what is right.