Turkey stands firm as Israel raises the threat level

 MuslimVoiceNetwork.com

Analysis by Sabir Esa, Editorael and Turkey are now locked in the most serious stand off either country has seen in many years. The tone has shifted on both sides. The movements on the ground have changed. The risk is no longer a background concern. It is visible in open statements and in the strategic decisions each state is taking.

Israel has now placed Turkey at the top of its regional threat list. Senior Israeli ministers describe Turkey as the most significant danger to Israeli security. This marks a major change in Israel’s public thinking. It suggests that Israeli planners are preparing for scenarios they once treated as unlikely.

Turkey rejects any attempt to push it aside. Ankara has stated that it is ready to deploy forces to Gaza under the United Nations stabilisation mission. Turkey has the military strength to support this position. Its armed forces are large and experienced and have spent years operating across Syria and Iraq. Turkey behaves like a state that understands its weight and refuses to accept external pressure on matters it considers central.

Israel rejects a Turkish role inside Gaza. Israeli officials argue that Turkish troops would limit Israel’s freedom to act. Turkey rejects this claim and insists that the future of Gaza cannot be shaped by Israeli preferences alone. These positions cannot be reconciled. They create a direct collision point inside Gaza’s post war framework.

Tension also rises in Syria. Israel has increased its activity in the south. Turkey has renewed its multi year military mandate across Syria and Iraq. Both states now operate close to each other in areas where mistrust already runs high. In these conditions even normal movements carry the risk of misjudgment. This matches patterns seen in other conflicts before they escalated.

Turkey is not a small state. It has a large population, a serious economy, and a defence industry that equips much of its own military. It is not a country that collapses under pressure. Its refusal to step back makes the situation far more serious than disputes involving weaker regional states.

The wider international position remains uncertain. The United States remains Israel’s main partner, but no public source confirms how Washington would respond if this confrontation intensifies. France and other European governments show no sign of preparing for involvement in a dispute that includes a NATO member. Their public position remains focused on preventing escalation rather than entering it.

This leaves Israel and Turkey facing each other with fixed positions and little room for compromise. Israel wants full control over Gaza’s future security structure. Turkey insists on being part of that structure and refuses to retreat. Syria adds a second line of pressure where both sides already operate within reach of each other.

The conditions for escalation are now visible. This does not confirm a war. That outcome remains unknown. But the threat is real, growing, and no longer hidden. It is important to recognise these movements now, while there is still time to understand the direction they point towards.

Lead by example

 It’s Friday… which for millions of Muslims means one thing: Jumu’ah.

A weekly moment of faith, reflection and community, and for many employees something they are quietly trying to squeeze in between meetings, deadlines and leaders who have not quite understood what the day actually means. We all love saying bring your whole self to work, but as leaders we should be asking ourselves: Do my Muslim colleagues feel comfortable stepping out for Friday prayers? Do they have an actual space to pray that is not a stairwell, a car park or a cupboard? Have I planned meetings and shifts in a way that respects what matters to them? Here is the reality: There are almost four million Muslims in the UK and Jumu’ah is not optional. It is part of their week. But this is not only about Muslims. On Sundays many Christians attend church but their shift patterns do not always make that easy. On Saturdays Jewish colleagues observe Shabbat which affects availability, travel and even tech use. Different faiths, different needs, one leadership responsibility. Now a word to policing. In policing we know public safety always comes first. Operational demand is the priority and that will never change. But leadership still matters. If you are a line manager, sergeant or inspector and you never do a simple Friday check in with your Muslim officers by asking questions like: What time is Jumu’ah today Can we make it work with the demand Do you need a space to pray If none of that crosses your mind then I am really sorry to tell you… you are not doing your job properly. Supporting officers in their faith does not weaken operational policing. It strengthens it. Officers who feel respected are more likely to stay in the service. They are more confident and more motivated. They are far less likely to burn out or disengage. And it costs absolutely nothing to avoid scheduling a briefing at the exact moment someone is praying. You will not bankrupt the budget by being considerate. So here is your Friday challenge: If you are a leader in policing, the public sector or the private sector are you actually considering the faith needs of your team... Or are they working around you instead of you working with them? Inclusion is not a theory. It is not a policy. It is a habit. A weekly habit. Just like Jumu’ah. Just like Sunday service. Just like Shabbat. Happy Friday. Let’s lead better than we did last week. 🤝✨

Media Block Out

 Perhaps you have not heard much about Gaza these days.

Because the Israeli regime murdered 270+ journalists to silence their voices. Because the Israeli regime does not allow international journalists into Gaza. International reporters have been largely barred from entering Gaza, or allowed only extremely limited “embedding” with the military, under tight control. Because the Israeli regime banned Al Jazeera from Gaza. New laws give the Israeli government power to shut down foreign media outlets it deems a “threat” (sometimes called the “Al Jazeera law”). Because the Israeli regime destroyed media offices or rendered them non-functional. Because Social media and digital platforms are shadow-banning or restricting Palestinian coverage, which skew the information environment. Because YouTube recently removed the channels of three prominent Palestinian human-rights organisations: Al‐Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. The deletion included more than 700 videos evidencing war crimes by Israel: investigations, survivor testimonies, footage of strikes. The stated reason by YouTube was compliance with U.S. sanctions on organisations deemed to be collaborating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations. Human-rights defenders and the deleted organisations view this as censorship — erasing key evidence from public view while accountability is desperately needed. Because Larry Ellison - Netanyahu’s biggest funder - now owns TikTok. Because within Israel and in relation to Gaza coverage, the Israeli Military Censor has dramatically increased its interventions: in 2024 it banned 1,635 articles and partially redacted 6,265. Internet/communications disruptions in Gaza further hamper reporting and independent verification. Because the BBC downplays and minimises the suffering of Palestinians ‘The BBC has the most brilliant production values. It produces the most extraordinary natural history and drama series. But the BBC is, and has long been, the most refined propaganda service in the world.’ John Pilger The result: the global public has far less independent on-the-ground verification of what’s happening. But they will never silence their voices or the truth

Who was Rafqa - Al- Kurd

Her name was Rifqa Al-Kurd. She was older than Israel itself.

Born in Haifa in 1917, she lived through four empires—Ottoman, British, Jordanian, and Israeli. She saw two world wars, the Nakba, and the Naksa. She lived long enough to watch the so-called “Deal of the Century” unfold on the same land she had spent her entire life defending. In 1948, when Zionist militias invaded Haifa, Rifqa fled with her family. She left her home clean, thinking she would return in a few days. She never did. Like hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, she became a refugee overnight. Years later, in 1956, she was among the families who settled in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, in homes built for displaced Palestinians by the Jordanian government and UNRWA. They were told that after three years, they would officially become owners. They kept their end of the promise. History did not. After 1967 the land that had sheltered her was occupied. Decades of legal maneuvers followed. Settler groups began laying claim to parcels of Sheikh Jarrah, using a 1970 Israeli law that lets Jewish claimants reclaim property allegedly owned before 1948 — a law that does not offer the same to Palestinians. Israeli courts had ruled for settlers, and eviction orders and seizures followed. In 2009, a group of settlers, backed by armed guards, moved into part of Rifqa’s home. They covered windows with cardboard and plexiglass so the family could not see what was happening inside their own house. They installed cameras. They prayed, danced, cursed. They beat her 50-year-old daughter, knowing she had a weak heart. They claimed divine ownership of her walls. And still, Rifqa refused to leave. She built a tent in her yard—a place where journalists, activists, and solidarity groups gathered. Sheikh Jarrah became a symbol because she made it one. When tourists and well-meaning visitors came, she met them as a political subject. “Are you American?” she would ask. “We don’t want your sympathy. We want your action.” That line — simple, sharp — told you everything you needed to know about the woman inside that house. She wasn’t a humanitarian case. She was a fighter. A woman who stood her ground not with weapons, but with truth that cut sharper than any blade. Even in her nineties, she joined protests, treated the tear-gassed with yogurt and onions, and shouted at soldiers half her age. She lived under occupation for most of her life, but never under submission. “I will only agree to leave Sheikh Jarrah to go back to my Haifa house that I was forced to flee in 1948,” she said once, and meant every word. When she passed away in 2020 at the age of 103, Palestinians called her the "Jasmine tree" of Jerusalem. Because even in her final years—frail, sometimes forgetting names—she remembered the details of the Nakba. The faces. The fields. The theft. She never got to see justice. But she never stopped demanding it. Her name was Rifqa Al-Kurd. And she stood a hundred years tall.

King Charles warned us in 1993.

 said ignorance about Islam harms this country.

He said false images turn neighbours against each other.

He said we must study Islam with honesty.

You look at Britain today.

You see rising hostility.

You see communities blamed for events abroad.

You see headlines pushed to divide you.

You see people targeted for faith, dress, and identity.

His warning is now real.

• Mosques guarded at night.

• Women abused in the street.

• Children nervous on the way to school.

• Families judged for being Muslim.

This is not theory.

This is daily life.

He urged Britain to learn before it speaks.

He urged leaders to treat Muslims with fairness.

He urged the public to reject false stories.

Those words feel sharper today than t

hey did in 1993.

His stance was clear.

Respect.

Truth.

Justice.

Muslims are part of Britain.

Your faith, your work, your place in this society are not up for debate.

You deserve safety.

You deserve dignity.

You deserve equal treatment.

We share this home.

We share its future.

We refuse a Britain that forgets its own values.

He Loves Allah

 An Imam in Gaza who leads Taraweeh prayers said: "There's a person who always attends taraweeh in the 1st row who has Down Syndrome which is why his voice can be loud sometimes, and other times, he does rukoo" and sujood without the imam.

And when I raise from rukoo' and say Sami'Allaahu liman Hamidah (Allah listens to whom praises Him), that person innocently cries out loud Do you hear me Allah?
And when we do sujood, he innocently cries out loud love you Allah!. I cannot hide my tears after salah.
Someone asked me what's wrong, and I told him that, that person with Down Syndrome worships Allah better than us; it is truly us who are down...... He deals with Allah as if he sees Him!

That is IHSAAN. He doesn't just worship Allah; he LOVES Allah." May we worship Allah with better love, sincerity and of course, authenticity.