How Hamas Jihadis Worship Allah

Westerners tend to assume that all people think basically the same way and desire the same things. President George W. Bush expressed this assumption on Independence Day 2004, when he declared optimistically that “Afghanistan and Iraq now have responsible leaders. President Karzai of Afghanistan is a good, honest man who wants his people to be free. Prime Minister Allawi of Iraq — he’s a good, honest, courageous man, who will stand square in the face of these terrorists trying to stop the march of freedom. We’ve got an ally in these two leaders, because they understand what we know: Free men and women will be peaceful men and women. Free men and women will be able to realize their deep desires. Listen, moms and dads in Iraq want to be able to raise their children in a society where their children can have a bright future, just like the moms and dads in America do.”

It sounded great, but it was false on numerous counts. Karzai and Allawi were not responsible leaders; nor were they particularly good or honest. They were not all that interested in getting their people to participate in “the march of freedom” if that meant establishing a Western-style, secular democracy of the type that Bush envisioned. Their views, and those of “moms and dads in Iraq,” regarding what exactly made for peace and freedom differed sharply from Bush’s views in ways that neither he nor the American government ever acknowledged.

The differences in the definitions of so many words is the key to understanding much of the mindset of the jihadis Bush was trying to counter, but no one ever took any particular notice of the fact. Nevertheless, these different definitions remain important today. Take, for example, the word “worship.” Most non-Muslims in the West would define it as having to do with giving glory and praise to God. Indeed, there have been numerous outreach initiatives from Jews and Christians to Muslims that have been based on the idea that we all worship the same God. In this connection, Hamas’ idea of worship bears some scrutiny.

Hamas is an Arabic acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement; the group’s charter is full of quotations from the Qur’an and references to Islamic doctrine. Indeed, its entire opposition to Israel is based on Islam. The members of Hamas generally think of themselves as pious Muslims who are working to fulfill the will of Allah.

Some may assume that the religious aspects of Hamas’ outlook and beliefs are the most benign elements of the group. However, what Hamas jihadis have in mind when they speak of worship is positively chilling.

The indispensable Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported in mid-March that a Hamas Telegram channel exhorted Muslims to kill Jews, and said this was a good deed that would please Allah: “This is a special call to every free and revolutionary [Palestinian] and everyone who possesses a weapon: Do not let another day go by without carrying out a blessed jihad operation to avenge the blood spilled in Gaza and in response to the occupation’s crimes in the West Bank. May you let Allah see your good deeds during this noble month,” that is, Ramadan.

Hamas also posted on the same channel a number of graphics, one of which celebrated the jihad stabbing of an Israeli: “Today, on the morning of the third day of Ramadan, there was a heroic stabbing in the occupied city of Haifa, another show of sacrifice and bravery. A Palestinian resistance fighter ascended to heaven after managing to kill a settler and to seriously wound four others. This operation conveyed a firm message: that the resistance will not break, and that the blessed month of Ramadan is not just a time of worship but also a juncture where faith meets jihad and where the true meaning of sacrifice becomes manifest…”

That graphic spoke of Ramadan being “not just a time of worship,” but another spoke frankly about attacking Jews as being an act of worship in itself: “Stabbing the soldiers of the occupation is worship that brings us closer to Allah.”

Hamas said much the same thing some years ago, and Pamela Geller and I put statements on advertisements about the meaning of jihad. One of our ads contained a quote from a Hamas jihadi that was broadcast on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV in November 2011: “Praise be to you, our Lord. You have made our killing of the Jews an act of worship, through which we come closer to you.”

Numerous establishment media outlets and “fact-checkers” of the quality of NewsGuard implied, or stated outright, that we had fabricated the quote. And now here is Hamas all these years later, saying it again. Will Western leaders ever begin to notice such statements and take them seriously? Probably not.