The Iron Sword War and the murderous terrorist attack in the communities near the Gaza Strip have succeeded in clearly and polarly dividing the world's discourse regarding Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization, and placing the entire Muslim world almost on the side of the Palestinians in demanding an end to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. Worse, antisemitic discourse around the world supporting the Hamas terrorist organization and its actions is more widespread than ever, and has managed to alarmingly trickle down from social media to the media in the Western world – and from there to the streets.
The world continues to downplay October 7th - it was not a ' massacre' - it was a lethal genocide perpetrated on the Jewish people - #HamasISIS @IWF via @SkyNewsAust #October7 pic.twitter.com/oIubDGsKju
— Qanta Ahmed (@MissDiagnosis) October 30, 2023
But in the midst of this maelstrom, it is important to remember that even in the Muslim world there are those who are horrified by the barbarism of Hamas terrorists and the murderous ideology behind their actions. In fact, there are those around the world who have been struggling with this worldview for decades, and have been hated and criticized for it.
The Muslim world has paid a price
One of these people is Dr. Kanta Ahmed, a physician, Muslim and one of the world's most articulate social activists against the radical Islam that has struck the world, from Orlando to Karachi and from Moscow to Mozambique.
"I am a citizen of Britain and the United States, I grew up in Britain, I was born Muslim and I practice the Muslim religion. For the past two decades I have been active in the struggle against radical Islam, working to clarify the difference between Islamism and true and authentic Islam," says Dr. Ahmed, who is currently in Israel on a visit to familiarize herself with the murderous scope of Hamas' terrorist campaign.
"I work as an academic physician at New York University, where I live. For the past two decades, I have visited places deeply affected by Islamist terrorism, and as a physician I treat survivors of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks."
The murderous attacks that struck the United States were a turning point for Dr. Ahmed. "I saw the attacks taking place live when I was living in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia was under reactionary and puritanical rule at the time, and I saw very well the price paid by the world in general, and the Muslim world in particular, for this political phenomenon," she explains.
"Radical Islam sanctifies death." Hamas terrorist in Bari on 7 October, photo: Reuters
Dr. Ahmed traveled the world following the enormous damage caused by Islamist terrorist organizations. In northern Pakistan she met with survivors of Taliban rule, in Iraq she met Yazidis fleeing ISIS's genocide in Sinjar, and in Mosul she met with children recruited as fighters to the ranks of the ISIS terrorist organization. The face-to-face encounter with the victims strengthened and sharpened her perception of the difference between Islam as a religion and its use for murderous terrorism.
Non-religion ideology
"The Islamists are determined to present their worldview as a religious view, as a belief. But this is not Islam. Islam is a religion with very clear principles such as belief in one God, devotion to prayer, charity, fasting and visiting Mecca. The belief in the sanctity of life exists and is found in Islam, but it is completely cleansed of it in radical Islam, which sanctifies death. For example, the concept of jihad in Islam is that first and foremost it is an effort to improve oneself and repair the world, but it is deployed to serve as a perpetual state of warfare," explains Dr. Ahmed.
Dr. Kante Ahmed // Photo: Jonathan Shaul,
"It is this wrapping up in religious values that hides an ideology that is anything but religious or religious that appeals so much to the traditional societies of the Islamic world."
Dealing with the rising tide of radical Islam led Dr. Ahmed to become intimately familiar with the Israeli reality. "The more I deepened my knowledge of the phenomenon of radical Islam, the more I realized that Israel is one of the hardest hit points in the world as a result of it," she says. This is her 12th visit to Israel, and Israeli society and the volatile reality of the place are no stranger to her.
Joined the pathological autopsy
"My first reaction when I heard about the massacre on October 7 was to check on my friends and colleagues here. I was very worried about their well-being, but what was hardest for me was the sweeping and rapid denial of the atrocities that was broadcast in the Western media and echoed in the demonstrations against Israel." An invitation from a senior Israeli security official to see the horrors with her own eyes brought her here, less than two weeks after the massacre.
Dr. Ahmed walked around the Gaza envelope, saw the murder scenes and the sights that were etched in every soul, and even visited Abu Kabir and attended a pathological examination of the massacre victims. The horrific things she saw during her visit left her with a simple insight.
"These are acts of genocide, of genocide," she says sharply and clearly. "I'm not a sociologist or an expert on the exact definitions, but I have no doubt about it after the scenes I saw and the kind of injuries and violence that appeared on the bodies of the victims. The many testimonies I have seen indicate that this is not just a terrorist attack, but a planned and calculated act of genocide, even if on a small scale compared to other cases in the world," Ahmed says.
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