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On the morning of October 7, 2023, the terrorist group Hamas, also known by the designation Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement), launched a barrage of rockets toward southern Israel, signaling the start of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. As the Israeli population awoke to this harrowing reality, the death toll had already surpassed seven hundred.

Supporting Palestinians does not equate to endorsing terrorism

A week later, as Israel laid siege to the Gaza Strip, a global discord surfaced on social media platforms. The question of expressing support on our Instagram accounts — either in favor of the Palestinians or the Israelis (as it appears inconceivable to support victims from both sides) — became a widespread concern. The triviality of such a dilemma won’t be elaborated upon. Amid this, a false narrative proliferates online: that supporting Palestine is tantamount to supporting and defending the perpetrators of the November 2015 attacks.

Besides the outrageous conflation of Palestinian civilians with Hamas terrorists, equating Hamas with other terrorist organizations like ISIS only perpetuates the disinformation promoted by far-right pro-Israel advocates. Recently, on BFMTV, Éric Zemmour claimed that France has “imported Hamas to Arras.” However, Mohammed Mogouchkov, who murdered Dominique Bernard while inspired by the Israel-Palestine situation, has no ties with Hamas. The terrorist group is also not behind the Bataclan massacre. ISIS was responsible for both of these attacks, as well as the one in Brussels that killed two Swedish football supporters.

Some may argue that at such a time, when over 250 civilians were brutally slaughtered at a music festival in the name of an ideology aligned with that of ISIS, quibbling over such details seems inappropriate. Yet, failing to debunk these myths creates a climate of fear in the West, potentially leading to further tragedies. The blood of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six-year-old child stabbed to death in Chicago for being Muslim, now stains our collective conscience.

Hamas and ISIS: Deceptive Convergences, Genuine Divergences

Both Hamas and ISIS, jihadist and salafist organizations, appear to work towards a common cause: countering Western imperialism and Zionism while aiming to establish an Islamic state — in Palestine for the former, and more globally for the latter. However, their motivations fundamentally differ. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details.

Established in late 1987 in the Gaza Strip, Hamas arose in opposition to the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), perceived as too secular, adopting Islam as its foundation and jihad as its tool. Yet, as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, originally set up to provide healthcare and education to Palestinians, Hamas did not originate as a terrorist organization. It spent its initial years engaged in civil disobedience, organizing protests, and disseminating pro-Palestinian propaganda. It was only in 1993 that Hamas embraced terrorism and, much like Al-Qaeda, began using suicide bombers and car bombs to achieve its objectives.

Although its origins were marked by a kind of “fanatical pacifism,” this doesn’t lessen the brutality of its attacks, but it does underscore its political dimension. Killing innocents can never be justified, regardless of the cause. However, distinguishing between Hamas’ “political” nature and its “religious” motivations helps better understand this adversary, where jihad becomes a means, not an end.

In 1987, Hamas emerged in response to the “First Intifada,” a series of violent protests initiated by Palestinian youth against the State of Israel, protesting the occupation of Gaza since the Six-Day War. The group called for resistance, not religious proselytism. Hamas’ political trajectory was further confirmed when it participated in legislative elections in the mid-2000s. By backing a political party that acted on its behalf (the Change and Reform Party), Hamas secured 76 out of the 132 seats in the Palestinian parliament in 2006. Similar to Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front, the group aimed for legitimacy through the ballot, advocating dialogue and negotiation. At one point, the organization even discussed “peace.” This was evidenced by Khalid Mish’al’s 2006 visit to Moscow, where he confirmed that if Israel committed to the pre-1967 UN-defined borders and vacated the Gaza Strip, Hamas was willing to “take necessary measures to ensure peace.” According to Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of the group’s leaders, it was Israel’s consistent attacks and obstructions that pushed Hamas back into terrorism. While one can question Hamas’ “noble” intentions, it is evident that they are not driven by the blind jihadism of ISIS.

Hamas does not threaten our European cities, unlike ISIS

ISIS’s ambition to establish a global caliphate is deeply rooted in religious narratives and fantasies that guide its policies and strategies and pervade its propaganda. Enamored by apocalyptic tales, ISIS challenges Western powers by capturing journalists and broadcasting their beheadings live on the internet, thereby provoking these countries to deploy their forces in Syria. According to their interpretation, once Rome (and by extension, the Church) rallies eighty banners to its cause, the caliphate’s fighters will confront these imperialist Western foes, brandishing swords, in the Syrian city of Dabiq. Such fantasies form the bedrock of ISIS’ military strategy, attesting to its religious nature and glaring political incompetence — a deficit that allowed Syrian and American forces to decimate the caliphate in March 2019.

So, which group is more dangerous? For Europe, the answer is clear: Hamas will not strike our cities. Contrary to Éric Zemmour’s claims, we have not imported Hamas to Arras. Unlike ISIS, whose fighters seem poised to hit France and its neighboring countries at the slightest opportunity, Hamas’ ambitions are confined within Palestinian and Israeli borders. Israel, on the other hand, has much to fear from Hamas. And as with all political wars, it’s the blood of civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, that will be shed.

In a way, Hamas has already won this battle. By besieging Gaza, starving its people, and denying them their basic rights, Israel almost overshadows the horrors of Hamas attacks. One cannot kill innocents in the name of other innocents, and the tragic deaths of hundreds of Israelis brutally murdered by Hamas should not be used to justify attacks on Palestinian men, women, and children. Today, the State of Israel is playing a perilous game that, in return, only harms both the Israeli and Palestinian people and their overseas diasporas, who are now victims of both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.