At memorial ceremonies for Gazans killed in Operation Protective Edge, Mahmoud al-Zahar reiterated his vicious anti-Semitic theory, intended to justify attacks on Jews and the destruction of the State of Israel.

Overview

1.   In September 2014 Mahmoud al-Zahar, a member of Hamas' political bureau, gave speeches at two memorial ceremonies for Gazans killed in Operation Protective Edge, both broadcast by Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV. They had strong anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli themes. The first was given on September 18, 2014, at a ceremony held for Palestinian journalists, and the second on September 30, 2014, at a ceremony for Hamas-affiliated security operatives.

2.   Both speeches were anti-Semitic and included a pseudo-historical theory, according to which throughout history, the Jews were always responsible for the attacks against them and their expulsion from various countries. Mahmoud al-Zahar showed empathy for Hitler's killing of Jews, "because German Jews betrayed their country…and collaborated with the enemy." (See Appendix A).

3.   They were not Mahmoud al-Zahar's first anti-Semitic speeches. On November 5, 2010, he gave a speech broadcast live by Al-Aqsa TV in which he surveyed at length the so-called history of the murder and expulsion of Jews from various European countries, claiming they had been expelled because of their evil character traits, that is, they were inherently murders, thieves and traitors. He propounded the same theory in an anti-Semitic book published in 2008 called No Future [for the Jews] among the Nations (See Appendix B). His intention was to prove that the destruction of the State of Israel and the expulsion of the Jews from "all Palestine" were factual necessities that "would come to pass, with the aid of Allah, may he be praised."

4.   Mahmoud al-Zahar's theory that the Jews were responsible for the persecutions they suffered and even for the Holocaust is not original. Similar claims have been made by Arab-Muslim anti-Semites in the past. They are used to "prove" that the Arabs and Muslims are not to be blamed for hating and persecuting the Jews. The Jews themselves have been responsible for the treatment they receive, from the time of Muhammad down through the centuries, even to the present day. According to Mahmoud al-Zahar's claim, the Jews are not victims at all but rather criminals, and therefore it is legitimate to persecute them (and to attack the State of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people).^[1]

Appendix A

Speeches Given by Mahmoud al-Zahar

1.   Mahmoud al-Zahar's strongly anti-Semitic speeches present a pseudo-historical theory for the expulsion of the Jews from various countries. He shows empathy for the crimes committed against the Jews throughout the centuries, including the Holocaust, attributing them to "crimes" committed by the Jews and their "deviant character." His intention is to justify the "final casting out [of the Jews]" from Palestine as well.

The Speech at the Memorial Ceremony for Palestinian Journalists

2.   At the September 18, 2014 memorial ceremony Mahmoud al-Zahar claimed Hitler killed the Jews because they had betrayed their homeland, Germany, and collaborated with the enemy. He said the following:

"…All the false pretensions of [Israel as] being a moral country have disintegrated, the country that again helps every Jew in the world, every deprived Jew in the world, the country that would exist in Palestine at the expense of the people [of Palestine]. It was done to provide a safe haven for the Jews, who were oppressed and outcast and whom Hitler killed. However, we know that the only reason Hitler killed them was because they had betrayed their country, where they lived and which had fostered them, and they collaborated with the enemy. [You can] ask Einstein about that…"

The Speech at the Memorial Ceremony for Hamas-Affiliated Security Operatives

3.   In a speech given on September 30, 2014, Mahmoud al-Zahar said that there was not one single European country that had not cast out "the scum known as the Jews," and more than once in history. He said the following:

"…These remarks are directed at the historical center of evil hated by the entire world. The entire world. There is not one state, one people, that did not expel the scum known as the Jews. The first was France, in 1253, which cast them out entirely, and in 1253 from there they fled to Britain, where they were cast out [and expelled] in 1280, after 27 years. There is no country in Europe that did not cast them out, once, twice, three times. As for their final casting out, it will be carried out in 'the war of the end of days' by you, with the help of Allah, may he be blessed and exalted…"

Appendix B

Mahmoud al-Zahar's Anti-Semitic Book

1.   Mahmoud al-Zahar's speeches echo the theory he presented in his book No Future [for the Jews] among the Nations, issued by the Algerian publisher Dar al-Khaldunia in 2008.^[2] To a great extent it recalls 19^th century-early 20^th century European anti-Semitic literature. The book is dedicated to "the millions of shaheeds, wounded and cripples, the victims of Zionism and the colonialist occupation, to the millions of people exiled and expelled from their homeland by the crimes of the occupation and to all those who want to know the truth about Zionism and its agents…to all those who want to know about the role played by the Jews throughout history…"

2.   Mahmoud al-Zahar uses the book to develop the thesis that Judaism and Zionism have no future. He compares Judaism to a foreign object whose absorption is rejected by the human body. He represents Judaism and Zionism as responsible for anti-Semitism and the persecution of the Jews, the result, he claims, of the Jews' own actions and their hatred for the peoples among whom they live. Zionism, according to Mahmoud al-Zahar, has an important role in creating hatred for the Jews because of its programs.

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