European Islamists Ignore — or Celebrate — Hamas’s October 7 Massacre
Islamists in Europe have overwhelmingly come out in support of Hamas’s October 7 brutal massacre of more than 1,400 Israelis.
European Islamists Ignore — or Celebrate — Hamas’s October 7 Massacre
Soeren Kern | Focus on Western Islamism | November 22, 2023
Islamists in Europe have overwhelmingly come out in support of Hamas’s October 7 massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis. That support has been expressed in different ways: explicitly approving of Hamas’s murder, rape and abduction of Israeli civilians; justifying the crimes by blaming Israel; and by remaining silent and refusing to condemn Hamas publicly.
Some Islamist groups, especially Muslim umbrella groups that benefit from public funding and are official interlocutors between Muslim communities and European governments, have flatly refused to distance themselves from Hamas and resorted to moral equivalency by staking out equidistant positions between the aggressor and the attacked. Others have spread antisemitic propaganda by attempting to relativize or “contextualize” Hamas’s murderous rampage as a response to Israel’s existence. Still others have issued carefully contrived and often anodyne statements that use linguistic gymnastics to claim they have condemned Hamas when they have not.
Following is a country-by-country roundup of the responses Islamists have offered since Hamas’s October 7 attack.
