Most Muslim political figures in India have kept a conspiratorial silence on the outrageous actions of Hamas and Hezbollah, betraying their underlying sympathy for the terrorists as well as their guilt over it. Pan-Islamism is at work here, overriding all logical and ethical considerations. – Pradeep Bajpai
Crowds of jubilant Muslims across the globe celebrated as the Hamas horror unfolded. Even in cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic London, the Metropolitan Police received reports of street celebrations by “people”, as one politically prim and proper British newspaper put it. What is happening in the unseen confines of Muslim drawing rooms is an easy guess. Why such misplaced, unbecoming celebrations of barbarism by educated, intelligent, prosperous individuals and groups, instead of the expected, even warranted, revulsion and criticism? Let us turn to the past for light on this.
In the Yom Kippur War of 1973, almost the entire Muslim world had come together in support of the surprise attack on Israel by Egypt and Syria. Pakistani pilots flew Syrian aircraft in raids on Israel, Algeria provided fighter aircraft and tanks, and Saudi Arabia and Libya sent light armoured battalions. Smaller Islamic countries like Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Sudan also contributed arms or soldiers. Israel was fighting not one country but the entire Muslim Ummah.
Even now in the ongoing crisis, Pakistan and Iran have come out strongly in support of Hamas and the Palestinian cause, with the Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, even congratulating Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, on the attack’s initial success. Given the large scale of Hamas attacks and the well-coordinated military planning, it is quite likely that it has funds, weaponry, and defence advisors from some Muslim nations. The barbarism of Hamas is religion-driven, reminiscent of medieval crusades, and morality does not come anywhere in determining the motivations of its sponsors.
The other day, Mehbooba Mufti, an outspoken sympathizer of Islamist terrorism in Kashmir, remarked with a satisfied smirk, that the shoe pinches when on the other foot. Hyderabad’s Owaisi too voiced his support for Hamas. Most other Muslim political figures in India have kept a conspiratorial silence on the outrageous actions of Hamas and Hezbollah, betraying their underlying sympathy for the terrorists as well as their guilt over it. Pan-Islamism is at work here, overriding all logical and ethical considerations.
Even predominantly non-Muslim political parties in India have been reticent and ambivalent for fear of alienating the large, community-committed Muslim vote-bank. In refreshing contrast, Indian PM Narendra Modi has been quick and clear in his condemnation of the Hamas attack and his assurance of the Indian government’s support for Israel. No other past Indian Prime Minister could have done this.
That religious bigotry should determine the political attitudes of some of us in the 21st century is an insult to human intelligence. One would expect humanity to have left such impassioned mediaeval bigotry far behind; sadly, that does not hold good for some of us. It repudiates the notion of evolution and growth of human society if innocent lives are taken by religion-driven hate and this becomes a cause of celebration.
What needs to be done to put humanity back on the track of pluralism and peace? For that to happen, religion has to retreat to the temple, mosque, church or synagogue, and to our homes and personal spaces, away from the temporal, public world of politics, commerce, and ideology that is today globalised, multi-ethnic, and civilized. For that happy state of affairs to come about, we must call out the mediaeval bigotry, the distortions of religion and its misuse by vested interests. We must not let the unvarnished truth be obscured in humanity’s discourse, even at the risk of appearing unfashionably impolitic.
Inexplicably, truth is diffident today and fanaticism is strident. The BBC refrains from calling Hamas a terror organisation; it prefers instead the less obnoxious expression “militant group”. There has to be a limit to this penchant for softening the harsh realities of our world to appear neutral. It is downright timid for the BBC to do so to avoid upsetting British Muslims. One cannot help wondering, with all this talk of paid fake news doing the rounds, whether filthy lucre is behind such patent hypocrisy.
Scribes prefer “one community”, “a particular group”, and other such euphemisms to refer to Muslim groups involved in violence. Politicians in Islamic countries inflame Islamic passions, those in secular countries like India appease them for votes.
In our interactions, we avoid frank inter-religious discussions. The press shies away from publishing articles that portray the uncamouflaged reality. This will not do. If humanity is to wipe away the accumulated scars from its fair face, the incorrigible, bullying fanatics must be called out. – The Pioneer, 12 October 2023
› Pradeep Bajpai, a former banker, is a columnist with an interest in social harmony.
Filed under: india | Tagged: anti-semitism, civilian hostages, hamas, israel-palestine conflict, terrorism |
BHARATA BHARATI 
ISIS flag found in Hamas equipment as Netanyahu makes direct connection between terror groups: ‘Hamas is ISIS’ – Lawrence Richard – Fox News – October 12, 2023
Israeli soldiers said they found an ISIS flag among the belongings of a Hamas operative, drawing a connection between the two terrorist groups.
ISIS, also ISIL or the Islamic State, is a terror group that rose to prominence in 2014 when it declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. It also claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in different parts of the Middle East, including Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.
“Hamas brought ISIS flags to massacre Israeli children, women and men,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a post on X, with a photo of the flag.
The IDF added: “Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization. Hamas is worse than ISIS.”
A connection between the two terror groups was also made during a news conference in Israel with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu made a direct connection between the two terror groups, saying: “Hamas is ISIS.”
“Just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed and Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated,” Netanyahu said. “They should be spit out from the community of nations. No leaders should meet them. No country should harbor them. And those that do should be sanctioned
And, “There will be many difficult days ahead, but I have no doubt that the forces of civilization will win.”
Blinken highlighted the brutality of Hamas, including beheadings and the burning of victims, which the world also saw during ISIS’s rise to power.
“Hamas has only one agenda: to destroy Israel and to murder. No country can or would tolerate the slaughter of its citizens or simply return to the conditions that allowed it to take place,” he said. “Israel has the right, indeed, the obligation to defend itself and to ensure that this never happens. So the prime minister and I discussed how Israel does this matters. Our humanity, the value that we place on human life and human dignity. That’s what makes us who we are. And we count them among our greatest strength.”
Blinken followed up these remarks by underscoring U.S. support for Israel amid its conflict with Hamas.
“My message to Israel is this: You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself but as long as America exists, you’ll never have to,” he said.
The U.S. State Department has designated both ISIS and Hamas foreign terrorist organizations.
> The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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