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By Stephen M. Astrachan
Israel fights for its life against a genocidal adversary, yet stands accused of genocide. The charge, demonstrably false and frankly obscene, ignores the plain facts of the war and the Nazi history and dynamic of Hamas.
The October 7, 2023 attack against Israel and its subsequent defensive response has stimulated anti-Jewish mob violence dramatically in such places as Amsterdam and Montreal and on lesser scales across much of the globe.
Let’s consider the conduct of the war. John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point, provides an expert assessment of Israel’s and Hamas’ respective policies in the current conflict.
Innocent civilians, i.e. noncombatants, Spencer explains, often constitute 90% of the casualties in urban warfare. However, such tragic consequences are not, themselves, crimes of war.
The Israel Defense Forces adhere to or exceed the requirements of international law. Calling residents to warn of impending strikes, requesting civilians to evacuate, and providing safe routes for escape demonstrate a clear commitment to minimize harm to civilians.
By contrast Hamas “committed numerous war crimes on 10/7 such as hostage taking, rape, torture, direct targeting of civilians, and launching rocket attacks against Israel’s population.” Their subsequent use of Gazans as human shields and placing military resources in civilian areas also violate the accepted laws and customs of war.
Our own campaigns in Mosul and Raffa caused billions in property damage and the killing and uprooting of hundreds of thousand civilians.[i]
Spencer is clear that “Israel Implemented More Measures to Prevent Civilian Casualties Than Any Other Nation in History.” [ii]
Yet the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister and former Defense Minister.
The genocidal party to this conflict is Hamas, the Palestinian branch of The Muslim Brotherhood whose philosophy developed from the racial theories of Adolf Hitler.
The Muslim Brotherhood originated in Cairo in 1928 with the charismatic teacher Hassan al-Banna, a follower of Hitler who had Mein Kampf translated into Arabic calling it My Jihad. He also had the viciously anti-Semitic Nazi Der Stürmer adapted for use in the Arab world. [iii]
The Muslim Brotherhood’s leader in Palestine was Haj Amin al-Husseini, a World War I veteran of the Turkish Army. In an act of gross incompetence the British High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel appointed al-Husseini the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. He would go on to form a mutual support pact with Adolf Hitler at their (in)famous meeting of November 28, 1941.[iv] Among his many services to the Third Reich al Husseini assisted in the recruitment of Bosnian Muslims to form the 13th Waffen SS Mountain Division. [v]
The movement’s great ideological leader was Sayyid Qutb. Having evolved from a liberal nationalist into an Islamist, Qutb showed a deep hatred for Western Civilization which he described as wanting “to destroy all that humanity has produced in the way of spiritual values, human creeds, and noble traditions.” His particular animus toward the United States seems to have resulted from his year as a student here in 1949. As with al Banna, Qutb was also deeply influenced by Nazi propaganda. As he explained in his “Our Battle with the Jews”:
. . . this is an enduring war that will never end, because the Jews want no more, no less than to exterminate the religion of Islam . . . since Islam subdued them they are unforgiving and fight furiously through conspiracies, intrigues, and also through proxies who act in the darkness against all what Islam incorporates.” [vi]
The Muslim Brotherhood’s more recent prominent spokesperson was Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a disciple of al Banna. Al Jazeera described him in a 2022 obituary as “one of the world’s most influential Muslim scholars, and a vocal advocate for Palestinian liberation as well as for the Arab revolutions of 2011.” [vii]
He condemned the al Qaeda attacks of 9/11 and the subsequent rise of the Islamic State, but supported the use of suicide bombings against Israeli civilian targets. Sheik al-Qaradawi ultimately developed a pathological Jew hatred saying in 2009:
. . . Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. . . . Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers.[viii]
The events of 10/7 were not a reaction to an occupation, in which, if it existed in a legal sense, Hamas was the governing authority. Rather the atrocities resulted from a long line of Islamist thinkers, Hassan al Banna, Said Qutb, Haj Amin al-Husseini, and Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, all of whom were deeply influenced by the Nazi racial theories of Adolf Hitler.
Hopefully, understanding the relevant history will help to bring a better future for the people of Israel, Gaza, and beyond.
[i] Spencer, John, Opinion: I’m an expert in urban warfare. Israel is upholding the laws of war CNN 11.7.2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/07/opinions/israel-hamas-gaza-not-war-crimes-spencer/index.html
[ii] Spencer, John, Memo to the ‘Experts’: Stop Comparing Israel’s War in Gaza to Anything . It Has No Precedent | Opinion, Newsweek 2.12.2024 https://www.newsweek.com/memo-experts-stop-comparing-israels-war-gaza-anything-it-has-no-precedent-opinion-1868891
[iii] Duheaume, Tony , The Nazi roots of Muslim Brotherhood, Al Arabia News, 27 June ,2018: 12:00 AM GST Updated: 20 May, https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2018/06/27/ANALYSIS-The-Nazi-roots-of-Muslim-Brotherhood
[iv] “Full official record: What the mufti said to Hitler”, Times of Israel (TOI) Staff 21 October 2015, https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-official-record-what-the-mufti-said-to-hitler/
[v] Nazi SS Handar Division, Warfare History Network, December 2010, https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/nazi-ss-handar-division/
[vi] Tibi, Bassem, “From Sayid Qutb to Hamas The Middle East Conflict and the Islamization of Antisemitism”, ” Working Paper, 2010 , https://isgap.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Tibi.pdf
[vii] al-Azami, Usaama, “Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim scholar who influenced millions”, Aljazeera, 9.27.2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/27/yusuf-al-qaradawi-the-muslim-scholar-who-influenced-millions
[viii] Amb. Fernandez, Alberto M., “Al-Qaradawi: Qatar’s Islamist Empire Builder”, MEMRI, 10.3.2022, https://www.memri.org/reports/al-qaradawi-qatars-islamist-empire-builder
