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The war in Gaza was caused by Islamic messianism

Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Palestinian Authority are united against Israel for religious, not political reasons.

https://www.jns.org/the-war-in-gaza-was-caused-by-islamic-messianism/

Excerpt:

Much of the world is clamoring for the creation of a Palestinian state, including the United Kingdom, France, the European Union and Israel’s ally, the United States.

The assumption underlying this proposal is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is political. If the Palestinians are provided with a political horizon, it is believed, the conflict will come to an end.

This is incorrect. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is primarily religious, not political. Admittedly, the Palestinians and their supporters have successfully persuaded much of the world that this is a political conflict, to the extent that many non-Muslims feel that the Oct. 7 massacre was justified, but the claim remains untrue.

.....The genocidal goals of fundamentalist Islam were first expressed in then-Palestine by the Mufti of Jerusalem Amin al-Husseini, who in 1920 organized the first Arab riots against Jewish immigration to British Mandatory Palestine. Before this time, Jews under Muslim rule were second-class citizens (dhimmi) but had protected status.

Husseini was not a Palestinian nationalist. He was one of the founding members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supported the group’s goal of a global Islamic caliphate. As the Nazis’ spokesman for the Muslim world, Husseini was instrumental in organizing the planned genocide of the Palestinian Jews. This massacre was only prevented by the defeat of Germany’s Afrika Korps at the Battle of El Alamein. Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Iran’s majority Shiite sect’s messianic vision is that of the Twelvers. It holds that the twelfth imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, will remain hidden until the End of Days. His presence will be revealed when Allah decides to reveal it. Iran and its protégés—Hezbollah and the Houthis—are seeking to bring about this reappearance.

Israel’s existence is a challenge to this messianic ideology. Muslims believe that Judaism and Christianity are inferior to Islam. Thus, Muslim domination of “Palestine” would confirm the superiority of Islam over Judaism. For Hamas, it might also be a prelude to the Day of Judgement.

A particularly odious hadith is used to justify this genocidal hate. It is often attributed to Sahih Bukhari, a collection of sayings and actions of Muhammad, and is quoted in Hamas’s 1988 Covenant: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews when the Jews will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, “O Muslims, O Abdullah [servant of Allah], there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”

.....The difference between the religious views of Hamas, whose primary goal is the destruction of Israel, and the P.A. is between “active messianism” involving jihad or holy war and what one might call “patient messianism.” The latter does not promote jihad as a policy but pursues it by other means. The P.A.’s “pay-for-slay” policy is an example. It rewards terrorists and their families with payments according to the severity of their atrocities, thus supporting jihad without publicly advocating it.

This “patient messianism” is the reason the P.A. has consistently refused statehood during peace negotiations with Israel. Agreeing to a two-state solution would demand acceptance of Israel as a legitimate and permanent fixture in the Middle East.

Iran actively supports Hamas and the Palestinian cause in general because of its Shiite messianism. This fact is consistently suppressed by Hamas’s supporters in the West, for good reason. The goal of a tyrannical worldwide Islamic caliphate likely wouldn’t go down well with Western audiences.

This Islamic messianic vision is, of course, a pipe dream. Nevertheless, the pursuit of it has caused and will cause considerable damage. Iran is on the verge of a nuclear breakout and has forged alliances with Russia and China, both of which are determined to challenge Western power in the Middle East. The Houthis now threaten the entire global economy. Hamas and Iran also seek to open up another front against Israel in Judea and Samaria.

Israel, the United States, the West, and indeed, any nation threatened by Islamic violence cannot afford to ignore the religious implications of the war in Gaza. It is only one expression of a genocidal messianic vision that threatens all who do not subscribe to it. This fact should be first and foremost in Israel’s and the West’s strategic thinking.