(October 18, 2023 / JNS)

The Israel vs. Hamas war is an immensely important conflict between barbaric savagery and civilization. But it is only a battle in a larger war, a war of Islamism vs. the world. Today, Israel is on the front lines fighting against a worldwide jihad.

Islamism (not Islam) is Islamic supremacism and Islamic imperialism. Islamists believe in the subjugation of all non-Muslims through conversion, death or the imposition of an apartheid second-class status known as dhimmi. Their ultimate goal is a worldwide Islamist caliphate ruled by sharia law.

Sharia law is a medieval code, a violent and totalitarian system that imposes stoning, amputation, execution and beheading for various transgressions. It advocates capital punishment for apostasy or blasphemy.

Islamist tactics include savage pre-modern atrocities such as beheading, torture, hostage-taking, slavery and attacks on civilians. The use of human shields and suicide operatives is common and justified by the common Islamist refrain that “While our enemies love life, we love death for Allah.” Striking terror in the enemy is a key element in Islamists’ battle against non-believers.

By definition, Islamists oppose Western values of freedom, tolerance, pluralism, respect for the individual and equality.

Islamists are waging war throughout the world, including in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Indian subcontinent. They not only use direct violence, but also political war, immigration war, psychological war, lawfare and culture war. Some of their activity is overt, but much is covert or “stealth jihad.”

Islamists seek partners in their totalitarian pursuits. The “Red-Green Alliance” is a partnership between Western leftists and Islamists. Although they have many points of disagreement, these two groups agree on their hatred of Western values such as individual freedom and ideological debate, and both embrace antisemitism.

Their alliance provides both sides with funding, foot soldiers and publicity. The left-wing critical theory ideas of victim vs. oppressor are used to portray Muslims as victims and white people, capitalists, Jews and all the other usual suspects as oppressors. “Islamophobia” is the catchword, akin to “racism,” used to shut down all criticism of the Red-Green Alliance.

This alliance is especially active and effective on Western university campuses. Through groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and the BDS movement, they promote rallies, shout down opposing viewpoints, and intimidate conservative and Jewish students and faculty. They have garnered the support of faculty, administrators and progressive campus organizations by appealing to intersectional solidarity. They receive substantial funding from countries like Qatar, NGOs and leftist foundations.

Islamists have also found partners among far-right groups, including neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and other antisemites.

Modern Sunni Islamism derives much of its ideological foundation from the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and its principal theorist and founder Hassan al-Banna. MB is the inspiration and founding sponsor of groups like Hamas, Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Boko Haram. In addition, MB has spawned stealth jihad groups such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim American Society.

MB is banned by many governments and designated a terrorist group by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Russia and others. The United States, however, has not yet designated MB a terror group. Such a designation was proposed by members of the Trump administration, but was opposed by leftist Democrats and such left-wing groups as the ACLU, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and CAIR, as well as media outlets like The New York Times.

MB receives international support and funding from governments such as Qatar and Turkey. Both nations have given refuge to Hamas and other MB leaders and personnel who have been expelled from or were under threat in other countries. The Qatari propaganda outlet Al Jazeera has promoted, defended and amplified MB ideas and operatives. Qatar sponsors university and think tank departments, programs and faculty throughout the world that disseminate Islamist ideology.

The Shiite Islamist political center is the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian regime is totalitarian, revolutionary and virulently Islamist. It is founded on the ideology of the Ayatollah Khomeini and seeks to export its Islamist ideology and lead an eventual Muslim caliphate. As a result, however, the Islamist regime has alienated much of the Iranian population and is facing popular resistance.

The Iranian regime has established proxy militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Libya and other countries that destabilize governments, terrorize the people and forcibly convert populations to Shiite Islamism, as well as engaging in widespread criminal activity.

Sunni and Shiite Islamists cooperate when fighting common enemies. Some Islamists say that there should be no “ism” in Islamism because it is the original and authentic Islam. More moderate Muslims reject this idea.

Many people and governments are in denial of the war that Islamists are waging. They attribute individual battles to random, independent actors and not to an overarching ideology. They sometimes rationalize Islamist violence and claim Islamists have legitimate grievances. They even blame themselves for the violence Islamists commit against them. To a great extent, this is because they are cowards, intimidated by Islamist terrorism and the censorious pro-Islamist left.

Islamists make no secret of their goals. They are clearly spelled out in the voluminous writings of their theorists and the charters of individual groups, including Hamas. We must remember the dictum: “They have told us who they are and what they intend to do. We must believe them.”

The world must wake up and face the enormity of this problem. We must not lurch from one atrocity to the next and only express outrage at one group of Islamist terrorists while refusing to recognize the threat of the larger movement.

Unfortunately, after striking back against the specific perpetrators of atrocities and indulging in brief periods of outrage, most of the world and its leaders quickly return to business as usual and do not connect the dots that would allow them to understand the larger Islamist War.

Action must be taken. Key proponents of Islamism include the MB, Wahhabis, Iran, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan and others. They must be sanctioned, isolated and defeated.

Learn about Islamism. Teach about Islamism. Fight against Islamism. Support those who are on the front lines against Islamism. Support Israel, India, the Iranian people, moderate Muslims, Muslim apostates and other allies in this global war.

The opinions and facts presented in this article are those of the author, and neither JNS nor its partners assume any responsibility for them.