Incitement and Delegitimization

Antisemitism has been at the core of Hamas' ideology since its establishment in 1988, reflected both in the Hamas Charter (1988) and in the movement's education system; One of the leading representatives of Hamas' antisemitism is Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of the movement's founders and its senior spokesmen, who is Hamas' self-styled "expert on Jewish affairs." Over the years, he has referred to the Jews in his writings and statements using antisemitic motifs to justify the need to expel the Jews from "Palestine."; The book Hatred of the Jews – A Historical Legacy, which al-Zahar published in 2020 and copies of which were found by IDF forces during the war in the Gaza Strip, summarizes the core elements of his antisemitic doctrine. He described the Jews as a base, greedy, immoral, cruel, corrupt and treacherous, using blood libels and conspiracies based on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion; Al-Zahar also justified the Holocaust, while claiming that close ties existed between Nazi Germany and the "Zionists," stemming from their "identical interests."; Since Hamas is aware that making antisemitic remarks harms it in the international arena, the movement seeks to downplay its views when dealing with foreigners, especially Western foreigners. A document the IDF brought back from the Gaza Strip had instructions for the "Palestinian spokesperson in the world," one of which was a prohibition against the use of anti-Jewish expressions and an emphasis on the struggle against the "Zionist occupier" and not against Judaism or the Jews; Despite the attempt to market a different face to the international community, the doctrine presented by Mahmoud al-Zahar over the years, and published only in Arabic, is evidence of the Hamas leadership's antisemitism. It dehumanizes Jews and provided inspiration for the atrocities committed during the Hamas terrorist attack and massacre on October 7, 2023. Read more...