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Gaza Islamic Leader Criticizes Hamas for Consequences of War — But Not for Atrocities During October 7 Attack
An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip lying on the ground in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, Oct. 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
Last week, the BBC published an article about an Islamic leader’s response to the Gaza war, which opened with the misleading headline: “Gaza’s top Islamic scholar issues fatwa criticizing 7 October attack.” It then continued to highlight his criticism of Hamas and the religious leaders prominence in Gaza, but never mentioning that he only criticized the devastating impact that the war had on Palestinians. His fatwa did not have one word of criticism of the rape, burning alive, and massacre of Israeli civilians.
This approach follows the Palestinian Authority’s policy that Palestinian Media Watch has reported on repeatedly, to defend and justify the Oct. 7 atrocities while criticizing Hamas for the destruction in Gaza.
The implication of the BBC headline, on the other hand, and opening paragraphs of the BBC article is clearly that he was criticizing what happened on Oct 7:
“The most prominent Islamic scholar in Gaza has issued a rare, powerful fatwa condemning Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the devastating war in the Palestinian territory… Dr Dayah’s fatwa, which was published in a detailed six-page document, criticises Hamas for what he calls ‘violating Islamic principles governing jihad’… Dr Dayah adds: ‘If the pillars, causes, or conditions of jihad are not met, it must be avoided in order to avoid destroying people’s lives. This is something that is easy to guess for our country’s politicians, so the attack must have been avoided.’ For Hamas, the fatwa represents an embarrassing and potentially damaging critique, particularly as the group often justifies its attacks on Israel through religious arguments to garner support from Arab and Muslim communities.”
The BBC quoted al-Dayeh that Jihad requires “to avoid destroying people’s lives,” and since the BBC wrote that he was “criticizing 7 October attack,” the implication is that he was critical of Israel’s civilian deaths.
The fatwa by Islamic scholar Salman al-Dayeh, has six parts, each critical of a statement made by a senior Hamas figure regarding the war in Gaza. The fatwa states that Hamas did not fulfill the conditions of jihad because it did not take into consideration the disastrous impact on civilian Palestinians.
The conditions for waging jihad, he writes, include waging the war far away from Muslim civilians and ensuring that they have enough food and water for the duration of the war:
The jihad must be “far from [the Muslim] population centers and safe shelter away from inhabited houses, populated towers, crowded schools, busy hospitals… and to store provisions that will last them longer than what opinion holders and advisors expect regarding the war.”
[Salman Daya, Facebook page]
He also insists that based on the “war people,” i.e., Israel’s past responses to Palestinian’s lesser attacks from Gaza and the West Bank, Hamas should have anticipated this counterattack and should not have attacked:
“This [the counterattack] is something that politicians and leaders in our country can easily assess if they examine the aggression of the war people [=Israelis] on the West Bank and Gaza in previous confrontations, which were much lighter than what happened on October 7th, and [Palestinians] were met with many martyrs and wounded, the explosion of houses and towers, the uprooting of people for days and months to schools and hospitals…. If the response of the war-people [Israelis, in the past] was causing severe damage for much more minor reasons than what happened on October 7th, this causes any rational person to understand that the extent of damage from their response in the case of a larger event than before would be many times greater.”
The Oct. 7 attack was a total failure because none of the jihad goals were achieved:
“None of the goals behind provoking the enemy, angering it and stirring up war with it, which the resistance [Hamas] declared at the time, were achieved.”
Moreover, Hamas’ goals were not realistic in the first place:
“When it is likely that the goals of jihad will not be achieved… it should be avoided.”
Finaly, the fatwa author criticizes Hamas for its self-satisfied attitude that implies victory but totally ignores the reality of its defeat and the destruction it caused:
“I see that [Hamas’] motivation is high, that faces are glowing, that cheeks are flushed, and that the tone of speech indicates satisfaction and contentment. This appears like the joy of a victor, over a victory that achieved security and peace for your people in their life domains, that freed the prisoners, that separated them from their enemy, and that put an end to injustice at Al-Aqsa Mosque. While the opposite is true: your entire people have become sick in soul or body, disabled, mentally impaired, sad at heart… This is in addition to frightening numbers of martyrs and amputees, widows and orphans. This is such a tragedy that even if the war ends tonight, its suffering will continue for decades.“
Later in its article, the BBC does point out his criticism of Hamas for the suffering of Palestinians:
“Al-Dayeh argues that the significant civilian casualties in Gaza, together with the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and humanitarian disaster that have followed the 7 October attack, means that it was in direct contradiction to the teachings of Islam.
Hamas, he says, has failed in its obligations of “keeping fighters away from the homes of defenceless [Palestinian] civilians and their shelters, and providing security and safety as much as possible in the various aspects of life… security, economic, health, and education, and saving enough supplies for them.”
Nowhere, however, does the BBC mention that the fatwa author does not have any criticism of the October 7 atrocities against Israelis, which was the overt message of its headline and opening sentence: “Gaza’s top Islamic scholar issues fatwa criticizing 7 October attack. The most prominent Islamic scholar in Gaza has issued a rare, powerful fatwa condemning Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel…”
Much has been written and publicized accusing the BBC of significant misrepresentation and anti-Israel bias. Headlining an article to give the readers the impression that the Oct. 7 atrocities were criticized by a leading Gazan religious figure can now be added to that list.
Nonetheless, the fatwa is very significant as it shows that even today after all the atrocities are well known, when a top Gazan religious figure criticizes Hamas, he is not critical of the murder and rape of Israelis.
The following is the screenshot of the BBC article:
Itamar Marcus is Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
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Wife of Former Maccabi Tel Aviv Manager Says Her Family Isn’t Safe Living in Ireland Because of His Ties to Israel
Robbie Keane during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Leeds United at the London Stadium, London, England on 21 May 2023. Photo: IMAGO/Pro Sports Images via Reuters Connect
Claudine Keane, wife of former Irish soccer player and previous Maccabi Tel Aviv manager Robbie Keane, opened up on Wednesday in a series of posts on X about feeling unsafe living in Ireland with her family and the harassment her husband has received for formerly leading an Israeli soccer team.
Robbie, Ireland’s record goalscorer Robbie Kean, resigned as manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv in June after leading the club for only a year. He helped the team win the Israeli club title as well as the qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League. “The club agreed to Robbie Keane’s request not to activate the extension of his contract,” Maccabi Tel Aviv said at the time.
Robbie was criticized by anti-Israel supporters in Ireland for staying on with the Israeli team following the start of Israel’s war with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip – a war that was launched in response to the Hamas-led deadly terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Robbie recently faced intense backlash again for his ties to Israel when he was invited earlier this week to present caps to soccer players at an international training camp for Ireland’s national team. Critics in Ireland claimed Robbie is “a disgrace to the country and happy to support an apartheid state,” accused him of taking “blood money to work for genociders” in Israel and was described as a “Zionist rat.”
The Keane family is now living in Dublin since Robbie left Maccabi Tel Aviv. In a number of lengthy posts on X, Claudine said that since her family has moved to Ireland, “I feel extremely uncomfortable and sometimes intimidated by some messages again from a small group that are hurtful, threatening and dangerous.”
“They not only put genuinely our safety and wellbeing as a family at risk they are using a sportsperson as a political pawn and in doing so inciting hated by making absolutely outrageous accusations,” she added. “I always felt safe in Ireland until now. I always wanted to move home being my kids up here and enjoy the Ireland that both me and my husband love. They are taking every bit of enjoyment and safety away from me and my family.”
The abuse targeting Robbie comes after Maccabi Tel Aviv fans faced violent antisemitic attacks in Amsterdam last week, in what appeared to be a coordinated attack following a match between the Israeli team and their Dutch rivals Ajax. Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv who were visiting Amsterdam to watch the game were run over by cars, beaten, chased with knives and sticks and tormented by anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups of men, some of whom forced their victims to say “Free Palestine” in order to be spared from abuse.
Also last week, the Irish Parliament passed a non-binding motion that accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Robbie faced intense condemnation from pro-Palestinian activists for not resigning as manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv when the war broke out. However, Claudine insisted on X: “We love our country, we are not politician’s we have never done any wrong.” She also revealed that Robbie resigned as manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv for the safety of his family.
She said her husband “resigned from a job he loved and did well to protect us his family in Ireland & Because none of us signed up to this situation that happened months into his role, it was a nightmare!” She also called for the hatred to end against her husband said, “Please stop this absolute witch hunt … We all want peace!!”
“It seems to be trendy in media in Ireland to absolutely try to assassinate my husbands character very maliciously,” she added, saying that the “absolute bias, malice and defamation over the years it’s nothing short of a disgrace.”
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Neo-Nazi Found Guilty of Vandalizing Oregon Synagogue
An American flag waves outside the US Department of Justice Building in Washington, DC. Photo: Al Drago via Reuters Connect
Federal law enforcement officials conbicted a white supremacist who repeatedly vandalized a synagogue in Eugene, Oregon during spree of hate in 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday.
Motivated by antisemitism, Adam Edward Braun, 34, graffitied the Temple Beth Israel synagogue twice in Sept. 23, spraying “1377” for its resemblance to “1488,” a reference to Adolf Hitler and a white nationalist slogan. He came back several months later, that time to vandalize the glazing of the synagogue’s entrance. However, he abandoned that activity after spotting a surveillance camera and opted to graffiti “white power” elsewhere on the grounds.
A search of Braun’s home in Jan. yielded copious evidence of his guilt. Authorities also found “several items and writings” that were antisemitic, further implicating him in the crimes.
“Braun…pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally defacing a synagogue and one count of attempting to intentionally damage the synagogue because the synagogue was a place of religious worship for Jewish people,” the Justice Department said in a press release issued on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon added that Braun has agreed to “pay restitution in full to the victim.” In addition to prison, Braun also faces a maximum $100,000 fine, the total amount of which will be determined when he is sentenced in Feb. by US District Court Judge Michael J. McShane, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama (D) in 2013.
In October federal prosecutors helped convict a gunman who shot two Jewish men as they exited a synagogue in Los Angeles.
Jaime Tran, 30 — an affiliate of the “Goyim Defense League” hate group — had went on an antisemitic shooting spree in Feb. 2023, attempting to murder two Jewish men in the Pico-Robertson section of Los Angeles. Prior to the crimes, Tran called Jews “primitive” and told a former classmate, “Someone is going to kill you, Jew” and “I want you dead, Jew.” According to the Justice Department, he even described himself as a “ticking time bomb,” broadcasting his murderous ideations to all who knew him.
After declining to fight the federal government’s case against him, Tran pled guilty in June to four charges the DOJ described as “hate crimes with intent to kill” and “using, carrying, and discharging a firearm” in the commission of an act of violence. His sentencing of 35 years ensures that he will not again be free until the year 2059.
“After two years of spewing antisemitic vitriol, the defendant planned and carried out a two-day attack attempting to murder Jews leaving synagogue in Los Angeles,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time. “Vile acts of antisemitic hatred endanger the safety of individuals and entire communities, and allowing such crimes to go unchecked endangers the foundation of our democracy itself.”
In August, DOJ arrested and charged a Jordanian national who allegedly attacked an energy facility and threatened to bomb businesses that he deemed supportive of Israel. According to federal prosecutors, the alleged crimes of Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, 43, began in early summer, with his vandalizing small businesses in Orange County, Florida, and leaving “Warning Letters” addressed to the US government in which he vowed to “destroy or explode everything here in America. Especially the companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel.”
In late June, DOJ said , Hnaihen breached an energy facility in Wedgefield, Florida, where he “smashed” scores of solar panels and damaged other “electronic equipment.” The spree of infrastructure sabotage lasted “for hours,” the department added, destroying $700,000 worth of technology. In his last alleged act, in early July, Hnaihen left a final warning letter at an industrial propane gas distribution depot located in the city of Orlando. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department arrested him on July 11.
Hnaihen faces five charges, four related to his threatening letters and one for wreaking havoc on the energy facility, crimes for which he may, if convicted, spend the rest of his natural life in prison. His “Warning Letters” alone, each of which carries 10-year maximum sentences, would keep him behind bars for 40 years, at which time he will be an octogenarian. His fifth charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Controversial Israel-France Soccer Match in Paris Attracts Extremely Low Turnout of Fans
Fans display a Palestinian flag and an Israel flag during the France v Israel soccer match at Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France on Nov. 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
A tense match that took place in Paris on Thursday between Israel and France’s national soccer teams drew weak attendance against the backdrop of heightened security surrounding the stadium, recent violent attacks against Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam, and an anti-Israel protest in Paris.
Stade de France was barely a fifth full and only 16,611 fans were in the stands, which is nowhere near the stadium’s 80,000-person capacity, according to Reuters. In the stands were some 100 Israel soccer fans, who watched their home country and France end the UEFA Nations League match with a 0-0 draw in the French team’s first game at the Stade de France in 17 month. The Israeli soccer fans ignored a warning from the Israeli government against attending international sporting events, specifically Thursday’s game.
“We had to play this game in a context that we would like not to have. It’s obviously weird to play in front of such a [small] crowd,” France manager Didier Deschamps said after the match, as reported by ESPN.
Thursday’s match took place despite pressure from pro-Palestinian activists last week to cancel the game and following a pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel rally that took place in Paris on Thursday night near the soccer stadium. Several hundred people at the protest condemned France for hosting the soccer game and criticized French leaders, such as President Emmanuel Macron for attending the match, according to EuroNews.
Thursday’s match was also attended by former Presidents of France Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, former president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France Xavier Bertrand and former Minister Manuel Valls. “We will not give in to antisemitism, anywhere. And violence, including in the French Republic, will never prevail, nor will intimidation,” Macron told BFM TV channel before the game.
Hoping to prevent a repeat of the violent antisemitic attacks that took place in Amsterdam last week targeting Israeli soccer fans who attended a Europa League game involving Maccabi Tel Aviv, 4,000 French security personnel were deployed inside and outside Stade de France and on public transport on Thursday. Despite the increased security, there was a brief scuffle between a small number of fans shortly after kickoff. The clashes, in which some punches were thrown, involved some fans who had oversized Israeli flags draped over their backs and though it was not clear what caused the altercation, security intervened and quickly restored calm in the stands, according to ESPN. Some anti-Israel fans in the stands also booed and whistled when Israel’s national anthem “Hatikvah” played before the start of the game.
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