The Meir Amit
Intelligence and Terrorism
Information Center

March 14, 2012
Iranian Involvement in the Marches to Israel's Borders Planned for March 30,
2012 1
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/iran_e160.htm

Overview

1. A number of simultaneous marches to Israel's borders from the various
Arab countries are planned for March 30, 2012, referring to themselves as
part of the Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ). The marches are expected to
take place in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. The
anti-Israeli boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign is also
planning a so-called "global activity day," combining propaganda events in
various places around the world with Land Day, marked by Israeli Arabs. The
organizers of the events set up committees and umbrella networks in the
various countries to deal with logistic deployment and propaganda.

2. Evidence in our possession indicates that Iran openly and with its own
propaganda supports the March 30 events and is also involved in
organizational preparations for the marches. To that end it employs proxies,
including organizations and individuals, affiliated with Iran.

3. Iranian support for the marches and its involvement in their preparations
are additional proof of the event's extremist character. That is also
manifested by the involvement of Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, extremist
organizations in Asia and the terrorist organizations (such as Hezbollah and
the Palestinian Islamic Jihad) in the preparations. In our assessment the
radical Islamic nature of the marches casts a shadow over the participation
of various Western human rights organizations and NGOs, and may even make
them reconsider. In addition, the presence of extremist Middle Eastern
elements in the planned events, especially in the Lebanese sector, heightens
the potential for violence and provocation, despite the fact that the march
organizers have repeatedly stated that they will be non-violent.

4. To summarize, there is evidence that Iran, both directly and through its
proxies, supports the marches and possibly additional propaganda events
planned for March 30. In our assessment, Iran has a number of objectives: to
strengthen its regional influence by exploiting the sensitivity of the
Arab-Muslim world to the issue of Jerusalem, to draw international attention
away from itself, and to broaden and deepen the delegitimization campaign
being waged against Israel by channeling it to Iran's own political needs.

Summary of Information about Iranian Involvement in the Marches

5. The following is a summary of the information in our possession, updated
March 13, about Iranian direct and indirect involvement in the marches
planned for March 30:

1) A February 26, 2012 Fars News Agency item quoted Khamenei as supporting
the march to Jerusalem. He said Iran should openly support movements and
groups operating against Israel. Support for the marches to Jerusalem was
presented as part of a new strategy designed to increase regional unity
against Israel, based on the so-called "resistance axis" [i.e., Syria and
the terrorist organizations] and opposition to the so-called "occupation" of
Jerusalem (Fars News Agency, Iran, February 26, 2012). In the same vein,
Ghzanfar Asl Roknabadi, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, said he hoped all
"Palestine" would shortly be liberated from its "Zionist occupiers" and that
cries of "Allahu Akbar" would be heard throughout Rehavia [an elite
neighborhood in West Jerusalem] (ISNA, March 4, 2012).

2) In Iran as well as in other countries, a local committee was appointed to
make preparations for the marches, called The Board of the Global [March] to
Jerusalem in Iran. Its head is Hossein Shaikhol-Eslam, described as
secretary of the Board and march coordinator for Iran. In addition, the
umbrella organizations directing the project have two Iranian participants,
in our assessment handled and directed by the Iranian regime. One of them is
Saleem Ghafuri, an Iranian who was spokesman for the Asian March and is now,
according to the Fars News Agency, head of the GM2J Board of Executives. The
other is the aforementioned Hossein Shaikhol-Eslam, secretary of the board
of the Global March to Jerusalem (both quoted in the Fars News item on
February 26, see below).

3) The Internet Haganah website, run by American professionals specializing
in the analysis of jihadist Internet sites, examined the GM2J website and
found indications of Iranian involvement in the marches. They found three
domains of march organizers sharing an IP address with Ahl al-Bayt, an
Iranian institution directed by Khamenei's office which spreads Shi'ite and
Khomeini ideology around the globe. It is headed by Khojat el-Eslam Mohammed
Hassan Akhtari, the former Iranian ambassador to Syria. Ahl al-Bayt has an
active branch in Britain. It has connections to another Iranian-oriented
organizations operating in Britain, the Islamic Centre of England, one of
the organizations participating in London's annual Iranian-initiated
Jerusalem Day (For further information about the Ahl al-Bayt institution,
pro-Iranian bodies and individuals operating in Britain and their connection
to GM2J, see the Appendix.).

4) Seyed Saleem Ghafuri, an Iranian participating in organizing the GMJ,
told the Fars website that the [Asian] convoy was expected to arrive in Iran
on March 14 (Fars News Agency, Iran, February 26, 2012). From Iran it
planned to continue on to Turkey and from there to Lebanon.2 The previous
Asian convoy left Iran in December 2011 and passed through Iran on its way
to the Gaza Strip. Its visit to Iran was exploited for meetings with senior
members of the Iranian regime and to defame Israel (with an occasional
anti-Semitic aside) and the West, while showering praise on the Iranians.3
In our assessment the convoy's stay in Iran will again be exploited to the
the same end.

5) In Lebanon Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, two overtly
Iranian-oriented terrorist organizations, are involved in organizing the
march. Sheikh Abd al-Majid Omar, the Hezbollah representative, and Abu Imad
al-Rifa'i, from the PIJ, participated in a meeting which took place on
February 21, 2012 in Hamas headquarters in a southern suburb of Beirut. Also
present were representatives from other Islamist bodies in Lebanon. They
examined the possibility of holding a mass march to the Israeli-Lebanese
border similar to the one held on May 15, 2011 (the Nakba Day march, which
ended with casualties). A committee was appointed to contact various
elements with the objective of enlisting as many Lebanese and Palestinians
as possible to participate in the march (Al-Safir, February 23, 2012). In
addition, several members of the Lebanese parliament attended a coordination
meeting held in the Lebanese city of Tyre on March 1, among them Hezbollah's
Nawwaf al-Musawi (GM2J Arabic website).

6) An Iranian website connected, in our assessment, to the Iranian regime,
initiated a cartoon contest in support of the marches. The cartoons are
supposed to deal with the theme of the so-called "right of return" of the
Palestinian refugees and with opposition to the so-called "occupation" of
Jerusalem. Each of the three winning entries will receive a prize of $1000
and a trophy. Entries are to be sent to the Irancartoon.com website, the
same site which on August 14, 2006, a few months before the Holocaust denial
convention was held in Tehran, announced a contest for anti-Semitic,
Holocaust denying cartoons. Two of the winning entries in 2006 were the
following:

7) The Iranian English-language Press TV channel was also enlisted to
promote a propaganda campaign for the marches. On January 8, 2012, a video
was posted on YouTube to promote the marches, produced by Press TV and
featuring George Galloway, who gave his blessing to the marches, which, he
said, would promote the return of the Palestinians to what [the Israelis]
called Israel. Press TV also broadcast a conference call between George
Galloway and a pro-Palestinian anti-Israeli Indian activist named Feroze
Mithiborwala, an organizer of the Asian convoy and of the GMJ (YouTube). In
addition, a Facebook page was opened in Farsi for the GMJ
(Facebook.com/Farsi).

8) Another manifestation of Iranian participation in the GMJ propaganda
campaign was an open letter, in our assessment planted by the Iranian
regime, posted on the marches' website on March 5, purportedly written by
Iranian Jews. Its heading was the Society of Iranian Jewry Supporting GMJ
and it was signed by two Iranian Jews, one a Jewish member of the Majlis
(the Iranian parliament) and the other a Jewish leader. In it the Society of
Iranian Jewry expressed support for what the letter called a global
demonstration in support of the liberation of Jerusalem from the Zionists,
which was planned for March 30.4

6. For institutions and activists in Britain affiliated with Iran and their
connection to the planned marches, see the Appendix.

>> To the Full Document in PDF Format Click Here >>
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/iran_e160.pdf

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1 Update of the February 22, 2012 bulletin "The organizations participating
in the campaign to delegitimize Israel plan a series of propaganda events on
Land Day, March 30, 2012, to challenge Israel and attract media attention.
Among the events planned are a potentially violent march to Israel's borders
from the neighboring countries and worldwide BDS activities" at
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/hamas_e153.pdf.

2 Awamibharat.blogspot.com.

3 For further information see the December 12, 2012 bulletin "A convoy from
India and other Asian countries left New Delhi to reach the Gaza Strip at
the end of December. Among the participants are extreme leftist and Islamic
activists who were joined by human rights activists..." at
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/ipc_e146.pdf.

4 Aser Iran website, March 6, 2012/