Hamas terror group shares ideological origins with ISIS

FPI / October 12, 2023

Geostrategy-Direct

Following the Hamas terror attacks initiated on Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,000 Israelis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “They are savages. Hamas is ISIS.”

“Hamas terrorists bound, burned, and executed children,” Netanyahu said.

But is Hamas really ISIS?

Dr. Harel Chorev of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University said that Hamas and ISIS share ideological foundations and revere the same philosophical figures that developed them: Abdullah Azzam and Sayyid Qutb, the Jerusalem Post reported.

“Azzam, born in the Palestinian West Bank during the 1950s under Jordanian rule, is often regarded as pivotal in developing contemporary global jihadism. A deep-seated hatred towards Israel marked his early years, particularly intensified when his family was compelled to flee across the Jordan River following Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day War,” the report noted.

Azzam’s writings and lectures on “Al Qaida al-Sulba” (the Firm Foundation) laid the groundwork for the emergence of the Al Qaida terrorist organization. He recruited Osama Bin Laden to run the organization.

Azzam was a central figure in Hamas’s genesis, contributing to its founding charter’s authorship, the report continued.

Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian ideologue who established the theoretical basis for radical Islamism.

Centered on these philosophers’ ideologies, Hamas and ISIS propagate the belief that “Crusaders and Zionists” were conspiring for centuries to destroy Islam.

“They are running a holy war against their enemies,” explained Chorev.

Other areas where Hamas and ISIS are similar include:

• Dehumanization of non-Muslims: Chorey noted that both ISIS and Hamas employ dehumanizing rhetoric against individuals who do not adhere to their interpretation of Islam.

“You can see it in their incitement on social networking,” Chorev said, illustrating his point by referencing an incident following the tragic murder of Alter Shlomo Lederman, a 20-year-old yeshiva student who was deliberately targeted at a Ramot bus stop earlier this year. He noted that Hamas had released a cartoon depicting Lederman’s face, complete with his fur hat, portrayed as part of a Palestinian maqluba dish, with a family gathered around, consuming it.

• Treatment of women: Both ISIS and Hamas are known to treat non-Muslim women as “sex toys,” said Chorev.

Following the recent attacks, videos circulated of the terrorists glorifying Allah for sending them “sex slaves.” Israeli actress and advocate Noa Tishby shared footage released online by Hamas in which you can see several girls paraded through Gaza’s city streets, some half-naked.

Similar stories have been shared by Yazidi women and girls who were abducted by ISIS and often sold into sexual slavery. . . .

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