Most Muslims believe that Hamas’ October 7 wanton actions go against Muslim values. This is the time for Muslim Arab governments interested in development and peace and in resolving the Palestinian conflict to stand up against Hamas and save the Gaza Palestinians. They must decouple Hamas from the fate of the Palestinian population.
Hamas made unmistakably clear its genocidal intentions toward Israel and the Jewish people. It also presented itself as even more depraved and evil than ISIS – and proud of it.
Hamas’ struggle is not about a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its call for jihad (holy war) to Muslims worldwide against Jews, Christians, and moderate Muslims shows Hamas to be a terrorist organization with a supremacist agenda that is a global danger.
Arab and Muslim countries must stand up to save Palestinians from Hamas
Arab and Muslim governments sincerely interested in the development of their countries and the resolution of Palestinian suffering must separate the Palestinian cause from Hamas and its genocidal input. They must have courage and stand up against Hamas and Iran’s malevolence. They understand that radical Islam (Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran) is using the Palestinian conflict to radicalize the Arab street not only against Israel but also against them. The caliphate these radical groups want has no place for all the existing Arab nations. The radicals want one ummah, ruled by Sharia law under one force.
Arab governments know it, and they are not willing to accept Gaza’s refugees. But it is urgent to rise up against Hamas and its sponsors and explain to their populations – the so-called Arab street – that they want to defend their moral Islamic values and protect the Palestinian people. They must demand that Hamas give back the hostages and leave Gaza.
The task is immense. To better accomplish it, governments must ask for the help of the international media, the West, and the rest of the world. Because Hamas has succeeded in overlapping/folding its genocidal (and suicidal) agenda with the cause of Palestinian lack of military autonomy; it has seduced many non-antisemitic naïve people committed to human rights.
Hamas presented itself as the prototype of the underdog at a time in history when the well-thinking world assumed that a militarily weaker group is, by definition, a worthy underdog, independent of its intentions (this is especially true if Israel is involved).
October 7 should herald the beginning of the end of the sentimental attachment to Hamas by a world that thinks of itself as compassionate and moral. This world can no longer allow itself to conflate the fate of the Palestinian people with the genocidal agenda of their leaders. It is murderously costly to the Palestinians first, to the Israelis and Jews, and the rest of the world.
Most Arab countries and most Muslims are beyond the rhetoric of “the evil, irremediable Jew” and want a peaceful environment where they can develop their economies and uplift their Muslim populations. Most of them understand that Israel is no longer the enemy but a potential partner for development, progress, and innovation. Indeed, this is not what it looks like at this moment, with media manipulation of the rallies (ironically, mainly in the West). And that is precisely why this moment is so crucial to decouple Hamas from the Palestinian people in the eyes of the Arab street and to resist media manipulation. The Arab countries will have to do it all together.
It is imperative to pay attention to who is stirring the pot and who is an accomplice to its being stirred. The much more significant danger the world faces is the alliance of China, Russia, and Iran. This alliance aims to take over the Arab nations, especially the Gulf nations. Eventually, these partners will also compete among themselves, as they are essentially incompatible and are only united in the face of a common enemy.
The Hamas attack has already halted the normalization talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel as Iran clearly intended. The mainstream media is already speculating that even the Abraham Accords may suffer.
Hopefully, Hamas’ monstrosity has woken up many people, including governments. Radical Islam is a significant threat to them, too, and it is not hypothetical anymore. It is not a small, weak gang of terrorists that the mighty IDF can contain whenever it wants. It is a cruel and difficult reality Israelis face every day of a growing monster empowered by an even more genocidal religious autocracy and the incomprehensible complicity of the world.
The West, the Muslim world, and the international media must not allow any further manipulation. It is too late for denial or avoidance. Now it is time for either victory or catastrophic defeat. ■
Gina Ross is founder and president of the International Trauma-Healing Institute in Los Angeles.