ISIS Echoes Palestinian Calls for Attacking Israelis

Terror group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (referred to variously as ISIS, ISIL or IS) joins several Palestinian Arab terror groups, including Hamas and factions of the Fatah movement, in calling for attacks against Israelis.

A report compiled by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) details ISIS propaganda efforts, including videos and social media,that recently have targeted Palestinian Arabs.

Some of the videos refer to Arabs residing in Jerusalem (referred to as Bayt al-Maqdis the “holy house in Arabic, following the Hebrew Bible’s reference to the Temple as “the most holy house,” but ha-Kodesh) as mujahideen (holy warriors). They encourage viewers to murder Jews using knives, cars, car bombs, stones, IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and other methods. Perhaps in case the message was somehow ambiguous, ISIS news agency A’maq created an infographic illustrating these and other recommended methods to murder Jews. Some ISIS members refer to the Banu Qurayza, a Jewish tribe accused of treason and subsequently beheaded or sold into slavery by followers of Muhammed in 627 CE.

In its appeals, ISIS claims that it will “liberate” the al-Aqsa mosque. One ISIS terrorist in southern Iraq, Abu Nour Al-Ansari, claimed:

“We will not enjoy our lives or take pleasure with a lavish abode until we liberate Al-Aqsa from the defilement of the sons of apes and pigs [Jews]. Here they are, the soldiers of the ISIS caliphate, fighting in Iraq and Syria, and advancing on Palestine. Your day approaches, oh community of Jews.”

“Liberate” by their definition and that of other Islamist terror groups like Hamas and Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, frequently means to kill or enslave those, such as Jews, Christians and other Middle Eastern minorities who do not share their doctrinal, Salafist interpretation of Islam.

Al-Ansari’s rhetoric is far from original.

PA state-run media periodically refers to Jews as the “sons of pigs and apes,” as a CAMERA monograph has noted (Indicting Israel: New York Times Coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, 2012).

Palestinian Authority President and Fatah party head Mahmoud Abbas has recently also called for shedding Jewish blood over al-Aqsa. In a August 1 speech Abbas employed a long-used libel, inciting anti-Jewish violence by falsely claiming Jews planned “to get rid of al-Aqsa and establish their so-called ‘Temple.’” On September 16, he exhorted, “The al-Aqsa is ours…and they [Jews] have no right to defile it with their filthy feet…We bless every drop of blood that has been spilled for Jerusalem.” Abbas adviser Sultan Aub Al-Einein has, like the ISIS terrorists in the video, praised Palestinian Arabs for attacking Jews.

Hamas also has called for murdering Jews. According to The Times of Israel, Hamas leaders are encouraging Palestinian Arabs living in Fatah-ruled West Bank (Judea and Samaria) to murder Israelis by suicide bombings (“Hamas said urging Palestinians to carry out suicide bombings,” Oct. 19, 2015). The MEMRI report notes that ISIS media, including those featuring a song called “Soon, Soon” and an eight-minute video entitled “The Slaughter of the Jews,” are popular in the Gaza Strip.

While the report shows ISIS encouraging Palestinian violence, it also may indicate that the Islamic State views other terror groups like Hamas as rivals. According to the MEMRI research fellows who produced the report, M. Shemesh and R. Green, ISIS is attempting to “insert itself” into the Palestinian issue and portray itself as “the force defending all the world’s Muslims.” Green and Shemesh write that these efforts by ISIS attempt to counter criticism by Islamist rivals that it doesn’t “devote sufficient attention” to fighting Israel. They write that “it should be stressed that except for statements of support and encouragement for the attackers, the videos include no ISIS statement of intent to actually join in the war on Israel in the foreseeable future” as the group is “busy with their wars in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere.”

With the recent and ongoing terror attacks by Palestinian Arabs, it could be said that while ISIS is “busy,” others are fighting the Islamic State’s declared war on Israel in almost exactly the manner ISIS prescribes and using remarkably similar language to describe it.

The MEMRI report on ISIS and Israel can be found here.