Palestinian Groups Eulogize Turkish Tourist Who Stabbed Israeli Border Policeman, Declaring Unity Of Arab And Turkish Muslims And Calling To Confront Israel; Salafi-Jihadis Praise His 'Hijrah' And Jihad

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On April 30, 2024, an Israeli Border Police officer was moderately wounded after he was stabbed with a knife in Jerusalem's Old City. The attacker, a 34-year-old Turkish national named Hasan Saklanan, was shot to death on the scene. He had entered Israeli legally via Jordan on the previous day.

A Telegram channel linked to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) provided additional details about the perpetrator, claiming that he was the imam of a mosque in Eyyübiye municipality, in Turkey's Şanlıurfa Province near the Syrian border. According to the channel, he was visiting Jerusalem as part of an official delegation from Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (the Diyanet). The delegation had planned to tour the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, but Saklanan, claiming he felt ill, went to the mosque alone and prayed the noontime prayer, before carrying out his "heroic stabbing operation" in which he "ascended as a martyr."[1]

Ahmad Qanitah, a supporter of Hamas and Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), added that Saklanan was born in 1990 and had four children.[2]

Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, Hamas Political Bureau Member Celebrate Stabbing; Declare It Show Of Unity Between Arab And Turkish Muslims; Urge All Muslims To Confront Israel

Some Palestinian militant organizations eulogized Saklanan. On April 30, the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement issued a statement celebrating the "heroic stabbing operation" and praising "the martyr, Turkish mujahid Hasan Saklanan" for perpetrating it. The group declared that the stabbing proves Jerusalem is a "compass and destination of jihad for all free and noble members of our ummah [Islamic nation]," and that it "reflects the true will of the ummah, which has been shackled by restrictions and borders from defending" Jerusalem, showing "the victory of sincere will over the restrictions." The Mujahideen Movement urged "all noble and free members of our ummah" to follow Saklanan's path and that of "the martyrs of Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and all martyrs of our ummah," and to direct their jihad against "the true enemy of the ummah – the Zionist entity and its allies worldwide."[3]

On May 1, Hamas Political Bureau member 'Izzat Al-Rishq published a post on his Telegram channel praising the stabbing as demonstrating the unity of Muslims, be they Arabs or Turks. Al-Rishq noted that Turkish and Arab Muslims have fought and sacrificed their lives together since the Muslims captured the Turkish city of 'Ammuriyah from the Byzantines in 838, mentioning that many Palestinian and Syrian Arabs were killed fighting for the Turks in the 1915 Battle of Çanakkale. He declared that the entire Islamic ummah has a common cause and one enemy, and stated that "the danger of the Zionist entity threatens us all, and we must confront it together with all our capacities and capabilities." He praised the "heroic Turkish martyr" Saklanan as "a martyr of Palestine, Gaza, Al-Quds [Jerusalem], and the Al-Aqsa Mosque," asking Allah to accept him and grant him a place in Paradise with the prophets and righteous.[4]

Salafi-Jihadis Celebrate Stabbing As "Special," Praise Perpetrator As Martyr Who Made Hijrah

In addition, several Salafi-jihadis, many of them Palestinians or Syrians, praised Saklanan and his attack.

Gaza-based jihadi Ahmad Qanitah commented: "May Allah accept the martyr of Islam and lion of the ummah, who ascended on the soil of beloved Al-Quds advancing, not turning his back, supporting his religion and defending the site of its Prophet's Nighttime Journey [to Heaven], and avenging the blood and honor of his brothers the Muslims in Gaza of glory."[5]

In another post, he shared an image of the knife used in the attack, declaring it "heavier in Allah's scale than the weapons, ammunition, and missiles of the armies of the cowardly Arab and Islamic armies."[6]

Another Gazan jihadi, Al-Zubayr Abu 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Ghazzi, a Syria-based cleric who formerly served as a religious judge for HTS, praised the attacker, posting a video showing the stabbing and Saklanan being shot afterwards. He noted that the imam came to "the occupied land," where he "did what he could to wage jihad on the Jews … and excused himself to his Lord by offering himself as a sacrifice to Allah, plunging into the enemies of Allah." Al-Ghazzi quoted 14th-century Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyah, who ruled that fighting singlehanded against a much larger force of infidels is permitted and is not considered suicide.[7]

Syrian jihadi Abu Yahya Al-Shami posted an image of Saklanan's passport stamped by Israeli border control, commenting: "This stabbing operation is special, as it was perpetrated by a Turkish mujahid." Al-Shami noted that the stabber came to Jerusalem as a tourist and "with what he could he tried to kill a Zionist solider," but "the zealous mujahid who made hijrah [traveled for jihad] to Allah and the Prophet and to support his brothers" was shot in the process. He added: "Allah honored him with martyrdom in the Holy Land."[8]

Pro-Al-Qaeda Telegram bot Bariqat Amal posted a video clip showing the stabbing and its perpetrator's death, commenting: "And through those like you the ummah lives. May Allah have mercy on you and accept your hijrah and jihad."[9]