Putin's Jihadfest?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited all Palestinian factions to meet in Moscow on February 29^th. This would include terrorist organizations such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad along with mainstream organizations like Fatah and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

According to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, “We are ready to engage. If Hamas is not, then that’s a different story. We need Palestinian unity,” he said, adding that to be part of that unity, Hamas needed to meet certain prerequisites.

“Palestine is ready. We have the institutions, capabilities, but our serious problem is we are under occupation,” Shtayyeh said. “We are under Israeli occupation, and we need it to end.”

Shtayyeh added: “They need to come to our political agenda. Our ground is very clear. Two states on the borders of 1967, through peaceful means. The Palestinians need to be under one umbrella.”

According to Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov “we have invited all Palestinian representatives – all political forces that have their positions in different countries, including Syria, Lebanon, and other countries in the region”.

Relations between Russia and Israel – quite close last year when Prime Minister Netanyahu was courting Putin – have soured since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7^th. Putin has called for a ceasefire and Moscow has, somewhat hypocritically, repeatedly criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

These statements, together with Russia’s partnerships with Hamas, Syria, and Iran, call into question Russia’s ability to act as a valid interlocutor between the Palestinians and Israelis when several of Russia’s friends in the region reject Israel’s right to exist and have called for global jihad against Jews wherever they may be.

The question remains: is Putin trying to play a constructive role in the Middle East, or is he simply trying to resurrect the Soviet Union’s role during the cold war by supporting terrorist groups that act against Western interests?

We should not forget that, during the Cold War, The Soviet Union and its allies, chiefly through the KGB, armed, funded, and provided safe haven for the world’s terrorist organizations. These in turn ensured that the Soviet Union’s enemies lived under the perpetual threat of violence.

In addition to all of the Palestinian terrorist organizations, groups such as all West Germany’s Baader Meinhof Gang, France’s Action Directe, Italy’s Brigate Rosse, Spain’s ETA, the Japanese Red Army, and the IRA unleashed wave after wave of terror with Moscow’s support. This provided the Soviet Union with an effective tool to carry out indirect warfare on the West. Soviet allies like Libya, Iraq, and Syria provided refuge for many of these groups as well as training sites for their terrorist activities.

I am always conscious of the fact that the Russian’s favorite chess piece is the knight. It can move in eight different directions, all of them crooked.

Putin has demonstrated this skill time and again, and we must question his motives in bringing together this motley group. As well, where will Syria, Iran, the Houthis, and other supporters of a Middle East free of a Jewish presence fit in? All work against Western interests, and all work to disrupt global trade and security.

The picture should become clearer after this initial meeting takes place and we see the results.

In the meanwhile, Western media should keep coverage of this meeting on the front pages, and Western governments keep this encounter front and center in their foreign policy analysis.