The president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Ali Mohiuddin Al-Qaradaghi, accused Israel of plotting to destabilize the Spanish government and punish its pro-Palestinian stance by orchestrating the illegal influx of thousands of Moroccans into Spain.
The idea that Israel is behind the Ceuta border busting is the latest in a long line of antisemitic conspiracy theories that are frankly insane.
“What is happening in Ceuta is an attempt to turn Europe against the Spanish Prime Minister [Pedro Sánchez] and topple his government, and the Zionist plan to punish him for his positions toward Palestine,” Al-Qaradaghi, an Islamist linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, declared on August 1, after over 49,000 Moroccans breached the Spanish border and entered Ceuta.
“Toppling Sánchez’s government means silencing a strong voice in Europe that defends Palestine,” the theologian posted in Arabic.
Analyst Sees Islamists’ Hand Behind Migrant Crisis
Responding to Al-Qaradaghi, Zineb Riboua, a research fellow with the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, explained that Islamist political parties engineered the migrant crisis as part of a campaign to destabilize the Moroccan government.
“Young Moroccans are urged toward jihad and a permanent stance of confrontation with the West,” Riboua wrote. “The same ideological current also pushes a claim that Morocco is trying to ‘reclaim Muslim land’ via Ceuta and Melilla.”
“Morocco’s ties with Israel and the US then get turned into a weapon as well, presented as proof that the government itself lacks legitimacy,” she added. “Many non-government organizations, including those in Europe with ties to Islamist groups, have amplified the falsehood by branding Morocco a ‘Zionist proxy.’”
Riboua noted that the timing of the migrant crisis proved significant, with Morocco’s general elections set for 23 September, and “Islamist operators” understanding that “border chaos, magnified on social media, can destabilize the incumbent narrative before the vote.”
Union of Muslim Scholars Linked to the Muslim Brotherhood
George Washington University’s Program on Extremism has identified the Doha-based International Union of Muslim Scholars as “an agitator in the Israel-Hamas war.” Founded in Dublin in 2004 by Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a long-term spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization has provided “religious legitimacy” to the actions undertaken by Hamas.
The report notes that a “substantial component” of the group’s “communication strategy during the conflict involves constant calls for mobilization and jihad, aligning with the organization’s interpretation of the concept of ‘defensive jihad’ as an obligation for all Muslims in the current context.”
After Hamas’ mass slaughter of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, Al-Qaradaghi “set the tone for what would characterize the organization’s discourse in successive days, pleading with God to help our mujahideen brothers and grant them victory,’ and ‘defeat and remove these evil enemies from our blessed land,’” the dossier records.
The report further documents Al-Qaradaghi’s rabid Jew-hatred. “The Jews did not control the world except through money, media, and thought,” states Al-Qaradaghi, and “jihad with the pen and tongue through books, articles, and various visual, audio, and print media are no less important (to combat them) than jihad with the sword.”
Following backlash on social media, Al-Qaradaghi deleted his post about the Zionist plot, clarifying that the material was not an official statement from the International Union of Muslim Scholars but a media report prepared by the Union’s media office based on the data available at the time.
Al-Qaradaghi insisted that the tweet did not reflect his personal position and said he deleted the post as soon as he became aware of the misinterpretations accompanying its publication. However, he confirmed he considers Ceuta and Melilla to be occupied Moroccan territories and stands by Morocco in its rightful claim to recover them, along with all occupied Islamic lands.
Antisemitic Conspiracy Goes Viral on Social Media
“The idea that Israel is behind the Ceuta border busting is the latest in a long line of antisemitic conspiracy theories that are frankly insane,” Jewish journalist and commentator Nicole Lampert told Focus on Western Islamism. “As usual, Jews are seen as the nefarious power behind an event that has nothing to do with them. And once again Muslims are given no agency in an event that has everything to do with them.”
“What is frightening is how quickly this theory spread. Fuel was given by thousands of social media accounts, and soon it was being repeated not only by celebrities and internet personalities but even politicians,” Lampert warned.
An analysis by the Antisemitism Research Center published on August 3 found that 173 posts from 119 influencer accounts on X recast the Morocco-Spain border emergency as a Jewish plot, reaching an estimated 103.1 million people in 72 hours.
“Within hours, the ARC found that the dominant explanation on X named the State of Israel and the Jewish people as the architects of European destabilization,” the analysis noted, stressing that the influencers were not bots or low-reach anonymous accounts but named and monetized.
-Spain condemns Israel
— Dan Bilzerian (@DanBilzerian) July 31, 2026
-Netanyahu says “Spain will pay the ultimate price.”
-Spain is flooded with thousands of Moroccan migrants
-Israel congratulates Morocco for the first time ever on social media https://t.co/cjvMDKygIJ
Influencers in the analysis include author Susan Abulhawa, who told her followers that the crossing was “completely engineered by the US, Israel, and Morocco” to force Spain back in line with “western imperial objectives.” Actor Dan Bilzerian told his followers Netanyahu had warned Spain would pay “the ultimate price” for condemning Israel. Oscar-winning Spanish actor Javier Bardem endorsed a post claiming Israel was behind the crisis to “destabilize” Spain.
Notorious Catholic antisemite Nick Fuentes declared on X that, “Israel & its Zionist accomplices in the United States supported the takeover of a Spanish city by Moroccan Muslims to punish Spain for their opposition to Israel,”. “These people are not and NEVER have been an ally of White people, European Civilization, or the United States.”
In Britain, pro-Palestinian Catholic politician George Galloway asserted that the surge of Moroccans into Ceuta was a calculated act of punishment orchestrated by the US and Israel.
“65,000 migrants don’t all climb over a fence at the same time,” he said, noting that the crisis was a “punishment of Spain for its stand with the Palestinian people, its opposition to the war on Iran, its refusal to allow Trump to use Spanish air bases for bombing raids in Iran and its refusal to pay, to pony up, 5% of its entire economy for NATO’s war drive against Russia and China.”
Meanwhile, open intelligence sources have uncovered WhatsApp messages in Arabic indicating that illegal aliens from Morocco are planning a second attempt to breach Ceuta on August 15, a national public holiday in honor of the Feast of the Assumption.
