Religion is a Mental Illness

You hear so much about Israel and Gaza in the news. But there are a few things that pro-Palestinians forget to tell you. Here is a quick summary of the things you need to know.

1) Why don’t the Palestinians have a state?

So you have the Jews and the Arabs fighting over the same piece of land. Why not divide it into two? This smart idea has been proposed a few times throughout history: in 1937, in 1947, in 2003 and in 2008. The British proposed it, the UN, and the Americans. And while the Israelis were willing to compromise and accept this solution, the Palestinians kept saying no to it. By the end of this video, you will understand why. Here is a hint. It is not about the land.

2) You are next

You may well be saying to yourself: Who cares? So the Jews and the Arabs are fighting over a piece of land and each thinks that God is on their side and it is all just stupid religious stuff. Well, you’re wrong, because you may well be next. Hamas and all their friends – ISIS, Hezbollah, the Taliban, the Muslim brotherhood – they all want a Muslim world. They see Spain as a Muslim land, and Rome as the capital of the Crusaders, the infidels. And London, and Paris, and Berlin, and Manhattan… They accuse the Jews of wanting to control the world, yet they themselves very clearly state that that’s what they want to do. I listen to them, and so should you. Ignoring reality and wishful thinking doesn’t make you morally superior. I urge you to go to one of the anti-Israel rallies happening near you and ask the young Muslims (who, by the way, are the fastest-growing community in Europe) whether they prefer European democracy or Sharia law. Or whether it should be illegal to be gay. Really, please just try it and see.

3) Why are there so many Palestinian refugees in the world? 

Hundreds of millions of people all over the world have become refugees as a result of war or other disasters from 1945 till today. A UN agency was set up to help all the refugees. And there is also another separate agency, called UNRWA, for the most privileged refugees in the world - the Palestinians. You’re probably asking yourself why the world needs two agencies? Well, the difference between these agencies is that UNRWA, the agency for the Palestinians, allows the Palestinians to pass their refugee status on to their sons and grandsons and great grandsons and so on. So instead of putting all the money into helping the real refugees in the world, the UN is pouring money into Gaza, whose people are using this money to finance Hamas.

4) Ethnic cleansing

Israel is accused of ethnic cleansing. Let’s check the numbers. In 1948 there were 160,000 Israeli Arabs; today there are two million. In 1967, there were around a million Palestinians; today there are 4.5 million. I am not very good at math, but I do know that two million is more than 160,000. Now let’s have a look at the number of Jews in neighboring countries. In Lebanon in 1948 there were 6,000 Jews; today there are about 100. In Syria, 80 years ago, there were more than 30,000 Jews. Today there are basically zero. In Egypt in 1940 there were 70,000 Jews. Today there are three. So yes, there is ethnic cleansing going on in the Middle East – but it’s the Muslims who are doing it to the Jews. My next video will be about this very topic. 

By the way, the two million Arabs living in Israel enjoy exactly the same rights as the Jews. Is it all perfect and uncomplicated? No. But if you ask Israeli Arabs where they want to live – in Israel or under Palestinian rule, most of them will choose Israel. Israeli Arabs enjoy more rights and a higher standard of living than any Arabs in the Middle East. Did you know that it was an Arab judge that sent the president of Israel to jail? I guess not. Most Israelis don’t know about this either. And do you know why? Because what does it matter if the judge is a Jew or an Arab or a Druze? The president was a criminal and so he was sent to jail.

5) Hamas doesn’t like gays

You will have seen lots of so-called progressives marching proudly with the Palestinians in pro-Hamas demonstrations. They didn’t get put on the streets when half a million died in the war in Syria; they didn’t demonstrate when Iran murdered girls who refused to cover their hair. Pakistan is about to deport 1.7 million Afghans. I wonder if a single progressive will come out and demonstrate for them… The progressives have apparently decided to team up with Hamas. Do you know what one of the first things Hamas did when it came to power in Gaza was? They rounded up gay men and took them up onto a roof. And not to enjoy a rooftop party but… Lesbians are not welcome either. Actually, no progressive ideas are welcome in Gaza.

6) Gaza is not a prison

Let’s talk about Gaza. Is Gaza really the biggest prison camp in the world? Gaza shares borders with Israel and Egypt. Israel doesn’t control the border with Egypt, so how can it be a prison? Moreover, Hamas, which was elected in 2007, very clearly states that it wants to destroy Israel. And yet Israel continues to provide water, electricity and aid to Gaza. Have you heard about any other countries that provide humanitarian aid to their enemies? And how about this: did you know that the daughter of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was treated in an Israeli hospital? Hamas is one of the richest terror organizations in the world, and Haniyeh has a net worth of 4 billion dollars. He resides in one of the most expensive hotels in Qatar while his people are suffering in Gaza. But unlike others who blame Hamas leaders who have billions in the bank and are now living in Qatar and Turkey, I don’t blame them. 

If Hamas enjoys the support of 65% of the people in Gaza, then what is happening is their fault. I will now say a crazy thing that has never been said before by the mainstream media. The people of Gaza are responsible for their situation. I know it’s shocking. They aren’t choosing terror because they are poor. They are poor because they are choosing terror. Money is not the problem. The people of Gaza get more money from the UN, the Arab countries, the European Union and the US than any other group, but instead of investing in education and infrastructure, they build tunnels and rockets. There is no shortage of that in Gaza.

7) Constitutions

I am sure you have noticed my heavy, yet beautiful, Israeli accent - and yes, this is the Israeli perspective. The thing is that after seeing this, you might switch to the BBC and see the other side, the Palestinian side. And you’ll be like: Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? To answer this question, I like to go to the source, rather than relying on he said, she said. Let’s look at the basics, at what each entity, Israel and Hamas, says about themselves. The Israeli Declaration of Independence says: WE EXTEND our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, Israel will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion or race; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; 

The Hamas constitution says: Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam obliterates it. There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.

This conflict is not about land; it is about values. Jihad, violence and death versus freedom, equal rights and peace. Which side are you on?

I want to thank my supporters. You keep me going! The success of this video is determined by you. Like it and share it. See you next week. Yalla bye.

Hamas Cheerleaders Are All Over Instagram

Since 10/7, young social-media users have been inundated with memes that present terrorists as social justice champions.

Quillette

Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attacks represented the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. In the west, the most common reaction was grief and shock. Yet there’s also been no shortage of anti-Israel activists around the world who’ve taken to the streets, lauding the killers as “martyrs” and “freedom fighters.” Many of these events have been overtly antisemitic, with some even breaking out into chants of “gas the Jews.”

Young people, particularly those who self-identify as members of the progressive left, are disproportionately represented among those who’ve downplayed, dismissed, justified, or even celebrated Hamas’ actions. Claims of “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” are now casually lobbed not only at Israel, but Jews more generally. Not surprisingly, this has been accompanied by a substantial increase in antisemitic hate crimes.

A survey of 2,116 registered U.S. voters, conducted in mid-October by The Harris Poll and HarrisX, revealed a striking generational divide on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Approximately half of those respondents aged 18 to 34 expressed the belief that the mass killing of Israeli civilians could be justified by Palestinian grievances. As the age of respondents increased, support for this proposition declined significantly. A similar pattern was reflected in the responses to other questions about Israel.

This result cannot be blamed—at least not entirely—on the political atmosphere on U.S. campuses, as only about 35 percent of Americans aged 25 and older in the United States have a bachelor degree. Almost all Americans consume social media in some form, however. And these online spaces are where much of the pro-terror radicalization seems to be occurring.

Video is an especially effective propaganda medium. From October 7 onwards, social media channels have been flooded with clips posted by high-follower accounts linked to Hamas. Some of the individuals spreading this content present as “journalists,” even though they’re known to have ingratiated themselves with Hamas’ leadership. In one notorious case, a CNN freelancer posted a photo of himself holding a grenade while he accompanied Hamas on the 10/7 rampage. 

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Even mainstream media outlets trying to act in good faith have been caught repeating fake news that’s been fed to them, directly or indirectly, by Hamas. In other cases, online opportunists, some of them with purely financial motives, have exploited the 10/7 attacks for personal gain, using AI-generated imagery and pro-Hamas bots to flood the internet with clickbait.

Instagram has become a particularly active arena for pro-Hamas propaganda. At last count, the hashtag #freepalestine had appeared on over 5.8-million posts, exceeding #standwithisrael’s 220,000 by a geometric factor of more than 20. Similarly, #gazaunderattack has amassed 1.8 million instances, an order of magnitude more than #israelunderattack’s 134,000.

Israel may have the upper hand in the unfolding military conflict within Gaza. But it is evident that Hamas and its allies are winning over many youth by weaponizing the pre-existing idioms of social-justice advocacy. Since 2020, Instagram, like all social-media platforms, has been awash with dubious slideshows purporting to educate users about “systemic racism,” “decolonization,” and the need for non-white people to rise up and “disrupt” our supposedly white-supremacist western societies. The formula worked as a means to promote Black Lives Matter protests. And anti-Israel groups are now seeking to copy this formula in their campaign to support Hamas.

In particular, these groups seek to replicate the powerful public reaction set off by video of George Floyd’s murderous mistreatment by Minneapolis police. War is hell, as the expression goes. And so in Gaza, as in every other military conflict known to history, there are instances of civilians being caught in the crossfire, or victimized by attacks against nearby military targets—scenes that are played up incessantly as evidence of supposed genocide.

I recognize these propaganda techniques because back in 2020, I was responsible for curating and creating content for an influential progressive Instagram account with more than 730,000 followers. My role was to keep people engaged and enraged. Like many other old-fashioned liberals, I’d mistakenly perceived the social-justice phenomenon as a moral extrapolation of the civil-rights movement. In time, I realized that what I was really doing was signal-boosting the values of far-left academics seeking to destroy liberal values. Part of that Marxist-inspired academic movement involves slotting whole swathes of humanity into boxes marked either “oppressor” or “oppressed.” Having put the Palestinians in the second box, these ideologues are inclined to support any action, however monstrous, presented as a strategy of liberation.

As it turns out, being an anti-oppressive social-justice revolutionary can be quite lucrative. Among the most prolific disseminators of anti-Israel propaganda, for instance, is the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), a well-funded California-based nonprofit founded by “concerned Americans.” The IMEU Instagram account now has 700,000 followers, over 200,000 of these having been recruited since 10/7.

According to IMEU Communications Director Omar Baddar, who draws a $100,000 annual salary from the organization, the group has had the most “success” with young users. In a 2021 online workshop, he discussed his strategy of leveraging “social justice content” on Instagram, while citing studies that show Americans’ growing reliance on social media for news. He noted that, unlike mainstream outlets (which typically employ stringent fact-checking techniques and attempt to provide balanced reporting), social media allows him more direct control of a desired narrative. When it comes to the narrative surrounding violence, for instance, “Israel, as an occupying power, is inherently the initiator of [all] violence.”

As noted above, a key part of this strategy involves drawing linkages to pre-existing social-justice ideas and memes. “Jim Crow segregation is obviously something that every American understands, so explaining how the parallels between Israeli apartheid and that are very useful,” Baddar told his audience. He even hints at exploiting Americans’ feelings of guilt over slavery (and white guilt, more generally) as a useful tactic.

As the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values has noted, this type of approach can seduce even some Jewish groups, many of which now tend to prioritize trending social-justice slogans and buzzwords over the actual interests of Jewish people. This includes Jewish Voice for Peace, whose influential Instagram account is nearing the million-follower mark.

Sayf Abdeen, who made a name for himself as a “Diversity, Inclusion and Overseas officer” at the London School of Economics, is another well-heeled propagandist who’s become an expert at attracting the attention of young, low-information Instagram addicts. His popular account is called Let’s Talk Palestine, a nod to a popular 2020 social-justice slideshow page called So You Want to Talk About. He notes that “anger or frustration is really good at galvanizing people and attracting attention.” And once you’ve gotten them riled up, he advises, hit them with a “call to action” that transforms ordinary youth into activists.

In this regard, Baddar is particularly interested in getting his audience to enroll in Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaigns; and, of course, to donate money to the IMEU. The group has ramped up its Instagram activity to between four and eight posts daily, with each depicting Israel as the sole aggressor in an unprovoked attack on Palestinians (which the IMEU naturally characterizes as “genocide”). The strategy has proven effective, as the IMEU is gaining approximately 5,000 to 10,000 new followers every day.

As a means of sensationalizing its content, the IMEU often parrots the high casualty figures sourced from Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry, figures to which U.S. President Joe Biden assigns “no confidence.” (While any loss of civilian life is tragic, Hamas has a history of dramatically inflating casualty counts as a means to garner sympathy for its cause. Such figures are often debunked after follow-up investigations.)

The IMEU has posted claims that deny or downplay the horrors of October 7, even in the face of forensic evidence confirming Hamas’ atrocities. Their posts sow distrust in more credible sources, including the White House, with the apparent goal of keeping users inside a propaganda cocoon. IMEU posts that spuriously blamed Israel for a deadly October 17 explosion on the grounds of Gaza’s al-Ahli Arab Hospital remain uncorrected on the group’s feed, even weeks after evidence revealed that the deaths—dozens, not hundreds, as Hamas had initially claimed—were the result of a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket. The fact that Palestinians killed their own people and then tried to blame Israel for it apparently isn’t part of the preferred IMEU narrative.

Numerous posts accuse Israel of targeting hospitals and civilian areas, while neglecting to mention that Hamas has long used these locations as headquarters and ammunition depots. The IMEU also passes over the fact that Hamas has instructed civilians to stay in the most dangerous areas; and in some cases has physically blocked non-combatants from heading to safer areas in the south of Gaza, as part of an apparent strategy of maximizing Palestinian civilian casualties for propaganda purposes. One might think that a group devoted to a proper “understanding” of the Middle East conflict—that’s the U in IMEU, remember—might see these facts as significant.

Despite the manipulative and deceptive nature of IMEU’s propaganda campaign, Instagram— which is owned by Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, Inc.—doesn’t seem to have taken measures to fact-check, correct, or contextualize any of its posts. By contrast, on X (formerly Twitter), users are better protected thanks to the new “Community Notes” feature. Earlier this year, the IMEU posted a video that, it claimed, showed “Israeli soldiers attack[ing] Palestinians,” which went viral after being shared by U.S. congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. In fact, the video showed Israeli police officers breaking up a fight among Palestinian teenagers. Embarrassed by the correction, the IMEU deleted the post. 

To be fair, the Instagram platform wasn’t designed for in-depth political discussions: Following its initial release in 2010, it was mostly used by users seeking to show off pictures of nature, vacations, fashion, pets, shopping “hauls,” and recipes. Unlike X, it doesn’t encourage users to embed clickable links and launch into multi-thread arguments. As a result, there’s been less public scrutiny of the role that Instagram plays in forming public attitudes on serious political issues, as compared to Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. As the IMEU example shows, that needs to change. 

A dominant conceit within the social-justice movement is that its leading activists are plucky, grass-roots figures powered by big hearts but small budgets. But the IMEU's financial statements indicate assets of over $3 million. In 2022 alone, the group received $1.49-million in donations, and held a gala event that netted $659,000. Prominent donors have included George Soros; and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (which has donated millions of dollars to dozens of anti-Israel causes and BDS campaigns).

What would a true “understanding” of the Middle East conflict look like? It might start with an acknowledgement of the fact that Israel’s military has repeatedly instructed Gazan civilians to evacuate areas in which it intends to conduct ground operations—the exact opposite of what one would expect from a “genocidal” military hegemon seeking to round up and exterminate a civilian population. Because Hamas hides its operatives in hospitals, schools, and civilian homes, and ignores the principle of distinction, it is the terrorist group, not the Israeli soldiers fighting it, that should be held responsible for civilian deaths, according to international law. Investigations into alleged crimes committed by Israel during past wars or conflicts haven’t resulted in formal charges or convictions, which says quite a lot given the enthusiasm that many international leaders have for turning the Jewish state into an international pariah.

Being a sovereign state and a member of the United Nations, Israel is bound by the laws of war, and has every incentive to minimize civilian casualties where possible, while Hamas has every incentive to maximize them: Indeed, for Hamas’ propaganda purposes, there is scant difference between a dead Jew and a dead Palestinian—the former being held up as purported evidence of Hamas’ military prowess and the latter being presented as evidence of Palestinian victimization.

Hamas, which became the dominant force in Gaza following Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza two decades ago, has operated as an Islamist kleptocracy, hoarding hundreds of millions of dollars while 80 percent of Gazans languish in poverty. How morally grotesque is it that western activists and hash-taggers who fly the banner of social justice have tied their cause to a terrorist group that steals humanitarian aid and uses women and children as human shields?

The group’s founding covenant, drafted in 1988, endorses the extermination of Jews and their state. And Hamas leaders have vowed to repeat the mass murders of October 7 until that goal is achieved. The idea that Israel must now grant a “ceasefire” to this same group, as many activists are demanding on social media, is absurd. The proper time for a ceasefire was October 6. The idea of Israel willfully calling off its military operations so that Hamas can have the chance to better redeploy its remaining forces in Gaza City is ludicrous.

* * *

“It’s just social media,” some may say. “You can just log off.” But it’s not that easy. Rightly or wrongly, many of us have come to see our socials as a window into what the rest of the world thinks. And the Jewish people I’ve spoken to on Instagram have told me that these last few weeks have been some of the worst of their lives—in part because every time they look at their phone, they see legions of users cheering on the same terrorists who murdered defenseless Israeli men, women, and children.

One Jewish man told me that he’d recently purchased a gun, and was now enrolled in firearms training. Others told me that they’ve upgraded their home security systems. One woman told me that she’s had talks with her daughter about not advertising her Jewish faith in public—“because I’m genuinely afraid of hateful people who’ve been brainwashed.” Meanwhile, efforts to fight back online can have unpredictable results. One woman I know, who’s employed in the progressive nonprofit sector, confided that her own colleagues attempted to have her fired after they saw her pro-Israel social media posts.

Calling out terrorist propaganda disguised as social-justice mantras shouldn’t be a lonely or professionally risky task: We should all be doing it. Not just because there’s inherent value in promoting truth, debunking falsehoods, and fighting antisemitism (in both letter and spirit); but also because some sizeable fraction of the young Instagram junkies who are now spreading Hamas propaganda will come to actually internalize the proposition that terrorism is justified in the name of social justice.

The 10/7 attacks won’t be the last mass-casualty Islamist terrorist massacre. And Israel is hardly the only country that Islamists target. If—god forbid—the United States suffers another 9/11-scale attack, will these same pro-Hamas meme peddlers similarly excuse it as the righteous fury of the world’s oppressed? As awful as post-10/7 Instagram has been, it has at least supplied us with a cautionary glimpse into the hive mind of the online social-justice community. If these repugnant attitudes spread and metastasize, none of us can say we weren’t put on notice.   

The boundary between antisemitism and generic moral stupidity is a little hard to discern, and I’m not sure it’s always important to find it. I’m not sure it matters why a person can’t distinguish between collateral damage in a necessary war and conscious acts of genocidal sadism that are celebrated as religious sacrament by a death cult.

Our streets have been filled with people literally tripping over themselves in their eagerness to demonstrate that they cannot distinguish between those who intentionally kill babies and those who inadvertently kill them — having taken great pains to avoid killing them — while defending themselves against the very people who have just intentionally tortured and killed innocent men, women, and yes, babies. And who are committed to doing this again at any opportunity, and are using their own innocent non-combatants as human shields.

If you’re bothsidesing this situation, or worse, if you’re supporting the wrong side, if you’re waving the flag of people who murder non-combatants intentionally, killing parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents, burning people alive at a music festival devoted to peace, and decapitating others and dragging their dismembered bodies through the streets — all to shouts of ‘God is Great.’

If you’re recognizing the humanity of actual barbarians, while demonizing the people who worry about war crimes, and who drop leaflets and call cell phones for days, in an effort to get non-combatants to leave specific buildings before they are bombed, because those buildings sit on top of tunnels filled with genocidal lunatics, who again have just sedulously tortured and murdered families as though it were a religious sacrament, because for them it is a religious sacrament.

If you have landed, proudly and sanctimoniously on the wrong side of this asymmetry, this vast gulf between savagery and civilization, while marching through the quad of an Ivy League university, wearing yoga pants.

I’m not sure it matters that your moral confusion is due to the fact that you just happen to hate Jews — whether you’re an antisemite or just an apologist for atrocity is probably immaterial.

The crucial point is that you are dangerously confused about the moral norms and political sympathies that make life in this world worth living. What is more, you don’t even care about what you think you care about, because you have failed to see that Hamas and Jihadists generally are the principal cause of all the misery and dysfunction we see, not just in Gaza but throughout the Muslim world.

Dude, you wanna play "Mission Impossible: Israel Edition"?

Yeah, sure.

It's 1947 and the UN the land of Israel to a Jewish state and an Arab state. As a Jew, your mission is... survive!

That's it? Okay.

Let's draw the first card... War! Local Arabs attacking Jews all over the land, joined by the armies of Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan. Do you fight back or surrender?

If I surrender, do I survive?

No.

Then I fight back.

OK, let's draw another one... You lose a huge amount of your population but miraculously manage to win. Are you willing to give back some of the territories you gained in exchange for peace?

Of course, I just want to survive.

Great and now we have... Terror! Hundreds of Israelis killed by Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza. Do you wish to surrender, hunt the terrorists or give the Palestinians autonomy so they can form a peaceful and independent society alongside Israel?

Let's give them autonomy.

OK you get... More terror! Over a thousand Israelis die in countless attacks all over Israel.

Oh wow, I won't be able to survive like this. Let's fight the terrorists in the West Bank and withdraw from Gaza completely. I'll even give the Palestinians all the facilities we created over there. I'm sure they'll find a use for it.

Interesting... The people of Gaza elected Hamas as their ruler and it swore to destroy Israel and kill all the Jews. They also dismantled the infrastructure you gave them and used it to build rockets which they fire towards you. How do you respond?

Okay let's talk to Egypt and together we'll form a tight border around Gaza to control what goes in and out.

Okay... People are mad at you because you formed a blockade.

But they'll kill me if I won't... well then let's give Gaza electricity, fuel, supplies, and billions of dollars.

Okay you get... Even more terror! Hamas uses all the aid to develop terror infrastructure while the people of Gaza remain poor.

This game is not that easy...

You waited too long and now Hamas crossed the border, killed 1500 Israelis and kidnapped 240, all in one day!

OK enough is enough. I enter Gaza to destroy Hamas.

Let's see... Many of your soldiers die fighting in urban territory. You're having trouble because Hamas hides among civilians.

Oh man. Let's use the Air Force and target Hamas officials only.

Hamas uses civilians as human shields. Do you wish to proceed?

Look, I'll put tremendous efforts into targeting Hamas only with as few civilian casualties as possible.

Let's see... Hamas builds military bases inside residential areas, schools, and hospitals, so, unfortunately, civilians die.

OK let me think...

While you were thinking, 30 Israelis died.

Wait a second...

50 Israelis more. Your people fear for their lives.

OK I'll notify the people of Gaza before striking so they have time to evacuate.

Hamas blocks the roads so civilians can't leave.

What do you want me to do?

Now Hamas says that Israel is just the beginning and they want to take on all Western democracies.

OK now I'm sure the world will understand if I keep fighting Hamas while trying as hard as I can to avoid collateral damage.

Let's see... Most people accuse you of performing a genocide and demand you cease fire.

OK, happy to, but only if Hamas will surrender and return the hostages.

They refuse. You are now accused of ethnic cleansing and considered a war criminal.

I'm starting to think I cannot win this game.

"Israel is the only country in the world never allowed to win a war." -- Douglas Murray

"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it" "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." -- Hamas Covenant, 1988.

FATWA | Palestinian Human Rights in Gaza March 9, 2023

The Islamic Fatwa Council (IFC) deems the recently publicized audio and video material containing testimonies of Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip to be both alarming and concerning. It is the responsibility of the Islamic Seminaries to take a clear and firm stance in light of the inhumane actions of Hamas.

Based on the requests of countless believers, The Islamic Fatwa Council has reviewed extensive documentation of Hamas behavior towards Palestinians in Gaza, including their recently publicized testimonies. Our findings - which are also displayed in our jurisprudential reasoning - result in our ruling that:

1. Hamas bears responsibility for its own reign of corruption and terror against Palestinian civilians within Gaza; 2. It is prohibited to pray for, join, support, finance, or fight on behalf of Hamas - an entity that adheres to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Furthermore, The Islamic Fatwa Council joins The UAE Fatwa Council and the Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia in declaring the Muslim Brotherhood movement and all of its branches as terrorist organizations that defame Islam and operate in opposition to mainstream Islamic unity, theology and jurisprudence.

A: I was in the street, it wasn't fear but worry, that we had hands like this and our passports they (Israel) were shooting, but they didn't target us (the civilians). They didn't hurt us, so we kept walking.

Q: There was a large number of people?

A: Like a million, with people commuting from everywhere in the north. As for where I live, I'm from the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Q: How's the situation there?

A: I swear to god, the situation is absolutely terrible on the ground.

Today, you could say that we reached a phase of deterrence, a phase in which we can defend the occupied land. When we speak about the Army of Jerusalem and the Battle of the Promise of the Hereafter, we are not talking about liberating our land alone – but we believe in what our Prophet Muhammad said:

"Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake, and I have seen its eastern and western ends. The dominion of my nation would reach those ends that have been drawn near me."

The entire 510 million square kilometers of Planet Earth will come under [a system] where there is no injustice, no oppression, no treachery, no Zionism, no treacherous Christianity, and no killings and crimes, like those being committed against the Palestinians, and against the Arabs in all the Arab countries – in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and other countries.

At this time, as a person living in the prison that is Gaza, my prime, immediate enemy is Hamas -- not the occupation. We're used to saying "occupation," because we've been saying it for a long time, but the real occupation is Hamas. It is a barrier I need to remove from my life.

If the Jews come and remove it, I will support them.

Who made us live in poverty in Gaza? Not the Jews -- Hamas.

Who made it impossible for me to get a job? Hamas.

Who killed my brother? Killed my brother right in front of me, understand? The Jews didn't kill my brother; Hamas did.

Every Gazan right now dreams that those people will go away, as we are paying the price for Hamas's idiotic decisions. For how long? If Hamas remains, there might for example be a truce, and in a year or two Hamas would repeat the same scenario.

In those two years, I'll go backwards 50 years -- and I need two good years just to get back on my feet. I have no house, no life, nothing. We're condemned to suffer because of this stupid organization. which I do not recognize as a government.

They took power through a coup and treachery -- and those who take power by treachery never rule justly.

Hamas cares only for its loyalists, the officials. It's like the ancient Roman empire, when the emperor and his elites made the people slaves. The Hamas government is the same.

We welcome any change that will save us from this indigation called Hamas, whether by Jews or non-Jews.

Anyone who does an act of good for us is my friend, whatever his nationality. As long as they get me out of this hell, I don't need heaven -- just a normal life.

That devastation and ruin was done by Hamas and not civilians. I'm absolutely sure it was not civilians.

If it were possible for me to go [to Israel], I'd simply go to see how they live, what life is like there. Naturally, I'd be curious to see what's behind the wall. If I or any civilian went behind the wall, we'd indulge in something as basic as eating ice cream. We've seen the videos: Israeli ice cream -- wow! Israeli cola.

When I saw what happened, I got very angry. There was an Israeli peace activist who defends our rights more than their own, and she was kidnapped barbarically.

If I saw a hostage or knew where they were, and I were able to get them, I'd take them and hide them in my home. I'd bring them back home. Let people live in safety. We want to see peace. We want to see a white dove, not blood.

My older brother was murdered by Hamas in front of our eyes. 54 gunshots all over his body, his blood spilling in front of his children. My mother prays: "God relieve us of Hamas. God take vengeance on Hamas."

Ending Hamas is the demand of young and old alike in Gaza. Destroying Hamas and its infrastructure is an absolute, broad-based Gazan demand.

That's also my expectation, and I'm certain what will happen in the future: Hamas will be eliminated and annihilated, and we, the young generation, will govern our country.

I'd rather tell you who's responsible for making people need to go to the hospital in the first place.

Isn't it because of the war? Isn't it because of Hamas? Hamas bears responsibility for all the wars, but we're the ones who pay the price.

You launched an attack and took all these hostages, but did you think about how Israel would respond? Did you think they'd simply say, "Hey, whatever, OK, just give us back the hostages and we'll do a prisoner exchange right away?"

Now we're in a situation of death and destruction. People are dying and being displaced. I've lost my house. Hamas doesn't bear all this. We do: our homes, our future, everything.

Yet the killing belongs to the Hamas political leadership, who live in Qatar and Turkey, in palaces and villas, with their business ventures and investments in the billions of dollars. After they plundered the people and moved abroad, they surface now to spout a few slogans -- and that's it, end of story.

You robbed the people, displaced them, and left them to bear the consequences.

And by the way, if the people ever wanted to say no -- like in the protest movement "We Want to Live," which many joined -- they were thrown in prison, abducted, beaten and taken to God knows where. You're forbidden to say no, forbidden to express your opinion, forbidden to say that you oppose what is being done.

The Gazans who went to Israel as guest workers before all this came home and built houses. They got married. They started building a future, and business ventures. Israel was about to grow the number by 10,000 workers, to a total of 20,000. Why did we have to ruin our situation like this?

"At this time, as a person living in the prison that is Gaza, my prime, immediate enemy is Hamas. It is a barrier I need to remove from my life. If the Jews come and remove it, I will support them." -- "Ashraf," 28, recent evacuee from Gaza City

"Regarding humanitarian aid that arrives and is administered by Hamas, unfortunately, this aid isn't distributed fairly. It is distributed in a partisan way: only Hamas members get the aid." -- Anonymous Gaza resident

"Hamas bears responsibility for all the wars, but we're the ones who pay the price. You launched an attack and took all these hostages, but did you think about how Israel would respond? Did you think they'd simply say, 'Hey, whatever. Okay, just give us back the hostages and we'll do a prisoner exchange right away?'… Hamas doesn't bear this: we all do." -- Anonymous Gaza resident

Regarding humanitarian aid that arrives and is administered by Hamas, unfortunately, this aid isn't distributed fairly. It's distributed in a partisan way: only Hamas members get the aid.

We've even witnessed this aid being sold in the market - though it arrives in boxes marked "not for sale." This aid comes to us for free from sources that want to help the Palestinian people. How can you put it up for sale?

When you ask the shopkeepers, they say, "No, we bought it from Hamas. We paid them for it. We're just trying to recoup the money we paid Hamas."

With respect to healthcare, Hamas families get preferential treatment. They get medical attention before everyone else. If someone else needs an operation, it could be delayed for a long time so that Hamas loyalists are treated first. A lot of people suffer from this.

To be candid, Hamas has utterly wrecked the Palestinian people. They even practice extortion.

So we call on the outside world: if you want to help the Palestinian people, do so through international channels that do not in any way run through Hamas, which caused our people to be besieged and deeply troubled.

I hope our voice will reach the outside world.

Opinion | Hamas’s Second-Stage Strategy

It wants Israel to kill civilians in Gaza so it can use their deaths in the propaganda war.

WSJ

“I just want to remind the world, Palestinian mothers love their children just as much as any other mother in the world,” Jordan’s Queen Rania said on CNN last week. “For them to have to go through this is just unbelievable. And equally, I think that people all around the Middle East, including in Jordan, we are just shocked and disappointed by the world’s reaction to this catastrophe that is unfolding. In the last couple of weeks we have seen, you know, a glaring double standard. . . . Are we being told that it is wrong to kill a family, an entire family, at gunpoint, but it’s OK to shell them to death?”

Suddenly the talk of Israeli grandmothers and babies being butchered by Hamas has given way to reports of Palestinian children killed by the Israel Defense Forces. And so Queen Rania asks: Aren’t Palestinian lives as precious as Israeli ones?

Of course they are. But to focus on death counts alone—without looking to how and why people were killed—is to reduce this war to a grim PR battle of photos and numbers.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday said this war has entered its second stage. He was talking about Israel, but it applies equally to Hamas. The barbarism of Oct. 7 was only the first stage of the Hamas war plan. The second stage was to force an Israeli response in Gaza that Hamas knew would mean the killing of innocent Palestinians—which boosts the terrorist group’s propaganda.

Whether the IDF is taking the right steps to minimize the loss of Palestinian civilian lives can be argued. But nothing Hamas does is to protect the Palestinian people. Look at how Hamas prevented Palestinians from leaving northern Gaza in accord with Israeli warnings.

Hamas has built a sophisticated tunnel network to protect its members from Israeli bombs and missiles. Has anyone seen a comparable network of shelters to safeguard the Palestinians Hamas claims to be fighting for? Hamas locates its ammunition caches and command centers in these tunnels beneath schools, hospitals and mosques, so that any Israeli fire necessarily will mean more civilian casualties.

The disturbing truth about Hamas’s second stage is this: Palestinian deaths are more useful to Hamas even than Israeli deaths.

Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and the author of “Just and Unjust Wars.” He is a self-described social democrat. He is no fan of Mr. Netanyahu.

In an article for the New Republic, Mr. Walzer makes clear that like Queen Rania, he holds Palestinian life precious—and he believes that the IDF has an obligation to act to protect Palestinians, even if it means greater risk for Israeli soldiers. But Mr. Walzer recognizes something Queen Rania doesn’t: “A just victory requires the defeat of Hamas.”

Mr. Walzer considers the creation of a viable Palestinian state part of a just victory. Agree with him or not—I believe Palestinians need the possibility of a decent life more than a state—he is saying that any just resolution requires the destruction of Hamas first.

This becomes easier to understand once the essence of a terrorist is recognized: a war criminal who rejects any limit, including deliberately targeting civilians. This differs from the IDF, which kills civilians as a consequence of its effort to get at Hamas. In just-war teaching this is known as double effect.

It’s a fine distinction that represents a fundamental moral divide. Tel Aviv University historian Martin Kramer, a fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, notes that the argument that there’s no difference between the killing of civilians by Hamas and those by the IDF has a precedent in the so-called Dresden defense.

This was the argument advanced by commanders of paramilitary Nazi death squads, who claimed that what they did up close and on the ground was no different morally from what Allied bombers did from thousands of feet in the air. The Nuremberg judges vehemently disagreed, pointing out that the actions differ “both in fact and in law.” The innocent people killed by Allied bombs were incidental to the military objective. To the Nazis, killing innocent people was the objective.

That’s what makes Hamas members war criminals. On Oct. 7, they executed a plan to target, attack and murder innocent Israelis. Now that they have the Israeli counterattack they counted on, they are trying to use the Palestinian dead to claim victimhood. It isn’t just Queen Rania, either: We hear the same argument at the United Nations, in Congress and on elite American college campuses.

Yes, Palestinian mothers love their children no less than anyone else. But with horrible images from Israel and Gaza now filling our TV screens, moral judgment begins with making the obvious distinctions, not erasing them.

The Islamic Fatwa Council has issued a fatwa explicitly banning Hamas and supporting the rights of Palestinians that are being violated in Gaza.

The first of its kind, the fatwa condemns Hamas and blames it directly for the violations and oppression in Gaza.

The fatwa forbids joining or praying for Hamas, as well as funding or fighting for it. It judges Hamas unequivocally responsible for its own corrupt rule and affirms that the Muslim Brotherhood in all its branches is a terror organization violating the tenets of the Islamic faith.

The fatwa, released recently, was issued by three renowned Muslim jurists from Iraq and Pakistan, led by Grand Ayatollah Fadhel al-Budairi; Sheikh Abdallah al-Dheeban, the Sunni Grand Mufti of Wasit Governorate; and Pakistan's Peer Syed Mudassir Nazar Shah, from the International Sufi Council.

We have seen what Gaza is subjected to under Hamas's rule, and the atrocities, in our view, which it has perpetrated against Palestinians faithful, unarmed [civilians] who have neither strength nor recourse. And so we believed it was our Islamic obligation to aid the oppressed. Our faith, in its wisdom, enjoins us to be "an enemy to the oppressor and an aid to the oppressed." That is why the fatwa was issued against Hamas. -- Sheikh Muhammad Ali al-Maqdisi, Spokesman for the Islamic Fatwa Council

The Islamic authority Grand Ayatollah al-Budairi stressed that no one is beyond blame for the harm done to the Palestinian people - even those who think of themselves as "leaders" claiming to represent the Palestinians.

We, as an Islamic authority, stand with the oppressed Palestinian people, and we do not accept that any harm be done to them, whether by Israel or Palestinian governing elements, be they from Hamas or others. These officials are supposed to bear responsibility to protect the Palestinian people. -- Grand Ayatollah Fadhil al-Budairi, Chairman, Islamic Fatwa Council

Fatwa Council spokesman Muhammad Ali al-Maqdisi, a scholar and lecturer at the Islamic seminary in Najaf, explained in an interview with the French magazine L'Obs that one of the motivations for issuing this fatwa was the suffering of the people of Gaza as exposed in the video series "Whispered in Gaza."

When these videos appeared, nearly everyone who follows Palestinian affairs saw them. I'm referring to the series "Whispered in Gaza." In these videos, numerous inhabitants of Gaza - men, women and children - describe what they've been subjected to because of Hamas's corruption. They testified before the world to the many forms of extortion and intimidation they've suffered. Every human being should heed this testimony. As complaints about Hamas's behavior toward the unarmed and poor Palestinian people increased, this gave us the impetus and clarity to issue a fatwa against Hamas. -- Sheikh Muhammad Ali al-Maqdisi, Spokesman for the Islamic Fatwa Council

Beyond reflecting a religious view or position, the fatwa heralds a new, courageous approach calling on other fatwa councils, institutions and leaders in the Islamic world to reinforce the fatwa - and build on its accompanying juridical findings as well as Shari'ah and Islamic law overall.

We expect that society writ large will support the oppressed in Gaza. We believe that all Muslim clerics who adhere to their true responsibilities must take the same position. This is what we believe. -- Sheikh Muhammad Ali al-Maqdisi, Spokesman for the Islamic Fatwa Council

The fatwa is in accord with Islamic organizations in the Arab Gulf - including the UAE Fatwa Council and the Council of Senior Scholars in Saudi Arabia - which have designated the Muslim Brotherhood in all its branches a terror organization.

Of note, Sheikh al-Budairi met with Sheikh Dr. Mohammad al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League, in Mecca at the beginning of this year - an indication that the views of the two organizations and their leaders are aligning.

Whispered in Gaza - English

Whispered in Gaza is an animated series by the Center for Peace Communications featuring actual voices of Palestinians residing in the Gaza

YouTube

The Untold Stories of Gazans

What do ordinary Palestinians think about Hamas? The war? How are they surviving amid cascading tragedies? We spoke to them. Listen.

https://www.thefp.com/

What do ordinary Palestinians think about Hamas? The war? How are they surviving amid cascading tragedies? We spoke to them. Listen.

Watch this video of a grieving woman in Gaza cry out. She says: “All this is because of the dogs of Hamas.” She’s immediately—literally—silenced.

Why?

Since taking power in a 2007 coup, Hamas has violently repressed all opposition to its rule. There is much to repress: recent Palestinian survey data shows most Gazans distrust Hamas, want an alternative government, and prefer economic development over war. But their individual voices are rarely heard. Those who speak out face prison and torture.

Some foreign journalists try to cover these voices but face deportation for doing so, while others show little interest in Palestinian grievances unrelated to the conflict with Israel.

My organization, the Center for Peace Communications, has been helping the population breach this communications blackout by interviewing Palestinians across the Strip, from all walks of life, about their travails and aspirations. A mother who dreams of her children getting a proper education. A photojournalist punished for taking pictures. A young couple who hopes to start a family, outside of Gaza. 

Earlier this year, we released their testimony in a series called Whispered in Gaza: 25 short segments, using video animation to protect their identities, accompanied by Gazan polling, rights reports, and reportage.

Following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, we reconnected with these and other Gazans to gather new testimony. We sought to understand their reaction to the Hamas assault and their views of the developing war, and to document their struggle to survive amid cascading tragedies. 

We are partnering with The Free Press to showcase their voices in a new series called Voices from Gaza, which you can watch below. 

* * *

In the first episode, a resident of Gaza City shares widespread Palestinian anxiety that international humanitarian aid for Gaza will not reach the people who need it. In Gazans’ experience, he says, “When Hamas distributes the aid, only Hamas members get the aid.” The same applies to Gaza’s healthcare system, where “Hamas families get preferential treatment” and even the most urgent needs of others “could be delayed for a long time so that Hamas loyalists are treated first.”

When the October 17 explosion in a Gaza hospital triggered an international debate over who was to blame, Gazans we spoke with felt the terms of the debate were wrong. “I’d rather tell you who’s responsible for making people need to go to the hospital in the first place,” a speaker says in Episode Two. “Hamas bears responsibility for all the wars, but we’re the ones who pay the price.”

The same rejection of Hamas’s war footing was shared by a woman we spoke with who took umbrage at Hamas claims that Gazan civilians, not Hamas fighters, had perpetrated the October 7 atrocities targeting Israeli civilian men, women, and children. “If I saw a hostage or knew where they were,” she explains in Episode Three, “I’d take them and hide them in my home. I’d bring them back home [to Israel].”

Contrary to Hamas propaganda, she says, “Ending Hamas is the demand of young and old alike in Gaza.” For her family, the demand is deeply personal: “My older brother was murdered by Hamas in front of our eyes,” she says. “Fifty-four gunshots all over his body, his blood spilling in front of his children.”

“Ashraf,” a 28-year-old evacuee from Gaza City now residing in Khan Younis, saw his brother murdered by Hamas as well. Both had been involved in peaceful demonstrations against Hamas. We wanted to know whether such activists would support the toppling of the regime if it came with the heavy human toll of an Israeli ground assault.

“We welcome any change that will save us from this indignation called Hamas,” Ashraf says in Episode Four, “whether by Jews or non-Jews.” But he also worries that the war will end with Hamas in place: “If Hamas remains, there might, for example, be a truce, and in a year or two Hamas would repeat the same scenario. In those two years, I’ll go backwards 50 years—and I need two good years just to get back on my feet. I have no house, no life, nothing.”

Hamas’s grip on portions of Gaza is already slipping away, however. In Episode Five, “Fadi,” a youth activist from Gaza City who has also fled south, describes growing chaos in Khan Younis as the remnants of Hamas’s security apparatus vanish into the ground. He also explains how some civilians are stepping up to fill the vacuum. “We’re forming youth councils and defense committees to organize people in the bread lines, or other stations,” he says.

* * *

When the present war ends, hopes for reconstruction and a decent government in Gaza will rest largely on the Palestinians who join a post-Hamas administration of the territory. In the past, Gazans have shown great courage in trying to bring change on their own. Veterans of Gaza’s 2019 anti-Hamas street demonstrations, for example, braved gunfire and prison to make their voices heard, but received neither support nor solidarity from the outside world. 

In drawing attention to Gazan voices opposed to Hamas, we aim to show that a different, brighter, and more peaceful future is possible—one that merits international support—because of the Palestinians in Gaza who yearn and strive for it. As one of the speakers, who you can hear below, in our original series put it, “The makings of our dream are all here.” 

It's just amazing to me that the American left, so much of it, throws their lot in with people whose values... I hope they don't share, but let's go through them. Cause values and customs make a difference, okay, and the people of Gaza -- by the way, if the Israelis did get rid of Hamas, they'd be doing a giant favor to the people of Gaza who hate Hamas too.

But let's go through the list. Because the Israelis look like us in most ways, values-wise. Maybe we're not doing it the right way. I don't know.

Religious tolerance. That doesn't exist in Gaza. You're either Muslim or an infidel, and you better be a Muslim.

Female freedom.

Free and fair elections.

Free speech.

Gay rights. I see these "Queers for Palestine" banners.

James Kirchick: Did you hear their sister organization, "Blacks for the KKK"? I'm a gay man, I've lived in Berlin. This is a level of masochism that even I cannot comprehend.

Pedophilia. I'll put that under "don't ask." Child brides and so forth.

Equality of the sexes. I'll categorize that under "don't make me fucking laugh."

The fact that these people think that this is where they should be aligned with, that these are the values that you support?

FATWA | Palestinian Human Rights in Gaza March 9, 2023 The Islamic Fatwa Council (IFC) deems the recently publicized audio and video material containing testimonies of Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip to be both alarming and concerning. It is the responsibility of the Islamic Seminaries to take a clear and firm stance in light of the inhumane actions of Hamas. Based on the requests of countless believers, The Islamic Fatwa Council has reviewed extensive documentation of Hamas behavior towards Palestinians in Gaza, including their recently publicized testimonies. Our findings - which are also displayed in our jurisprudential reasoning - result in our ruling that: A) Hamas bears responsibility for its own reign of corruption and terror against Palestinian civilians within Gaza; B) It is prohibited to pray for, join, support, finance, or fight on behalf of Hamas - an entity that adheres to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Furthermore, The Islamic Fatwa Council joins The UAE Fatwa Council and the Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia in declaring the Muslim Brotherhood movement and all of its branches as terrorist organizations that defame Islam and operate in opposition to mainstream Islamic unity, theology and jurisprudence.

Islamic group issues fatwa against Hamas for oppressing Gazans - JNS.org

The Iraq-based Islamic Fatwa Council slammed the terrorist organization for its treatment of Palestinians.

JNS.org

A major Islamic organization has issued a legal ruling against the Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas, saying that its treatment of the millions of Palestinians under its rule goes against the religion.

The Iraqi-based Islamic Fatwa Council issued the fatwa, or legal opinion, last Thursday. The non-governmental body of Sunni, Shi’ite and Sufi clerics said that the fatwa was issued in response to testimonies from Gaza residents published last month in a series of video clips by the U.S.-based Center for Peace Communications.

In the video series, titled “Whispered in Gaza,” Palestinians (whose identities are protected) are shown blaming not neighboring Israel for their plight, but their autocratic rulers Hamas, who have been in power in the Strip since 2007 following a violent takeover.

The Center for Peace Communications says that it “works through media, schools, and centers of spiritual and moral leadership in the Middle East and North Africa to roll back divisive ideologies and foster a mindset of inclusion and engagement.”

Hamas is charged by the Islamic Fatwa Council with violating the laws of the Koran and the prophet Mohammad for its “reign of corruption and terror against Palestinian citizens within Gaza,” more than 2 million of whom are crammed into an area of some 141 square miles surrounded by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.

“It is prohibited to pray for, join, support, finance, or fight on behalf of Hamas—an entity that adheres to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood movement,” the fatwa continues. The Islamic Fatwa Council also said that it joins the UAE Fatwa Council and the Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia in “declaring the Muslim Brotherhood and all of its branches as terrorist organizations that defame Islam and operate in opposition to mainstream Islamic unity, theology and jurisprudence.”

While the ruling is non-binding, the Islamic Fatwa Council is considered to be highly influential in the Muslim world as this is the first fatwa against Hamas from an Islamic legislative body.

Senior Muslim Clerics Issue Fatwa Against Hamas

The Islamic Fatwa Council — a non-governmental clerical body headquartered in Najaf, Iraq — issued a fatwa, or religious edict, last week co

FDD

The Islamic Fatwa Council — a non-governmental clerical body headquartered in Najaf, Iraq — issued a fatwa, or religious edict, last week condemning Hamas’ repression of Palestinians in Gaza and calling on the terrorist group to make peace with Israel. The council stated that Hamas was responsible for racketeering, extortion, the use of child soldiers, and falsely accusing Palestinians of treason. The fatwa dictates that Muslims should not “pray for, support, finance or fight on behalf of Hamas.” An animated series of videos released in January detailing harsh living conditions in Gaza under Hamas rule — produced by the U.S.-based Center for Peace Communications and titled “Whispered in Gaza” — spurred the religious ruling.

The Islamic Fatwa Council is a judicial body that specializes in Islamic law, represents both Sunnis and Shiites, and is chaired by Grand Ayatollah Shaikh Fadhil al-Budairi. Among several key mission objectives, the council says it strives to “reclaim the Islamic legal system from extremists, Islamists, and supporters of terrorism.” The fatwa is the first against Hamas by an accredited Islamic legal body.

Expert Analysis

“Since its brutal takeover of the Gaza Strip, Hamas has trained child soldiers, jailed activists who dare expose its corrupt authority, and stolen aid money to fund its military activities. The fatwa is welcome news, as it demonstrates increasing recognition among some Muslims in the region that Hamas’ extremism and repression are key drivers of Palestinian conflict with Israel.” — Joe Truzman, Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal

A Call to Respond

“Our faith, in its wisdom, enjoins us to be an enemy to the oppressor and an aid to the oppressed,” said Muhammed Ali al-Maqdisi, the council’s spokesperson. “That is why the fatwa was issued against Hamas.”

Noting the public outcry after the release of “Whispered in Gaza,” al-Maqdisi added, “Nearly everyone who follows Palestinian affairs saw these videos in which numerous inhabitants of Gaza — men, women, and children — described what they had been subjected to by Hamas’ corruption. They testified before the world to the many forms of extortion and intimidation they have suffered.”

A History of Human Rights Abuses

Hamas has a long record of repression. In a report on human rights practices in Gaza in 2021, the U.S. State Department notes that Hamas’ human rights abuses include, among others, “credible reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings by Hamas personnel; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by Hamas personnel; unjust detention; political prisoners or detainees; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; [and] arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious restrictions on free expression and media, including violence, threats of violence, unjustified arrests and prosecutions against journalists, censorship, and the existence of criminal libel and slander laws.”

In one prominent case, on November 1, 2021, Hamas arrested peace activist Rami Aman for holding a Zoom call with Israelis. The terrorist group criticized Aman for “holding a normalization activity,” a charge Hamas official Iyad al-Bozom described as a crime.