"I condemn Hamas. So that everyone understands that I stand with civilians and innocents. The attacks on 7 October were barbaric... They were. How would I put it? They were horrifying, indiscriminate. They killed women, children, the elderly. It didn't matter. Hit civilian institutions and military targets. And on top of all that, it seems 'okay' to take abductees and talk about it as an act of war," Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa recently declared.
His words reverberated in the Arab world. Even if he called for an immediate ceasefire and strongly condemned the IDF's airstrikes, they were of great significance. Because while it is clear in Israel what happened on October 7 – the largest massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust – in the Arab world, denial of the event is mainstream. Even on the Arabic Wikipedia as we will see below. On October 24, it was Queen Rania of Jordan who denied the extent of the murder in an interview. "CNN reported at the beginning of the conflict that children were massacred on an Israeli kibbutz, and when you read the story you don't find independent verification," she said without batting an eyelid. This denial splits the Arab world in two.
This week, the Palestinian Authority joined the deniers. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry distorted an advertisement in Haaretz. A helicopter that attacked terrorists and "apparently killed" some of the party participants in Re'im (the matter is still under investigation) became "helicopters" for them. The "probably" and "some" were erased as nonexistent. In their place, a new element of the blood libel was invented: Air Force helicopters that attacked the "settlements" in the envelope. The message was later deleted. The ministry said the remarks were "misunderstood." They were excellently understood. The PA adopted the libel invented by senior Hamas figures in the first days of the massacre, when the atrocities in the Negev shocked the enlightened world and exposed the face of the terrorist movement. It was a blatant lie that it was soldiers who killed civilians, not Hamas terrorists.
, Photo: AP
Denying the massacre has a clear goal: to cleanse the image of Hamas and the Palestinians of the crimes they committed against humanity. After all, the atrocities they committed instantly ripped them from their comfortable position of victim. Their leaders are suddenly required to accept some responsibility for their situation, a decree they are unwilling to abide by. As far as they are concerned, the UN and Israel are responsible for the lives of Gazans.
Overseas
In this darkness, the lonely voices of Arab exiles echo. From the far west they face the massacre deniers. One of them is the "Green Prince," Mus'ab Hassan Yusuf, the son of the Hamas leader in Judea and Samaria. For years he was considered the source of the Shin Bet, and today he lives in the United States.
"There are more and more voices calling for a ceasefire, but the mission is not yet complete," he clarified in early November – remarks that resonate today against the backdrop of talks for a (temporary?) ceasefire. "Hamas has not yet lost its position of power. A ceasefire means letting Hamas escape punishment for its crimes. We can't stop now."
In the shadow of the Houthi terror organization's threats in Yemen, the voices of Yemeni exiles in Europe are also heard. Those who saw their country occupied by an Islamist and anti-Semitic militia that sprang up under Iranian sponsorship. "For 20 years, they taught me in Yemen that Israel is my enemy," says Louis Ahmed, who lives in Switzerland and is currently visiting Israel.
In one of his many films, he criticized Jordan's King Abdullah, who spoke in Cairo about the importance of Palestinian life and the limits of human rights. "Every time an Arab leader talks about human rights, I laugh. What do you know about human rights? If you visit King Abdullah in Jordan or mock him, then they will put you in jail (...). Why are these people pretending that October 7 didn't happen?" In response to Houthi missile launches, Louis expressed regret that they were more interested in "killing Jews" than in their starving population.
As far as the Egyptians are concerned, everything is more complicated, partly because of the fear of a mass flight of Gazans to northern Sinai. Nevertheless, Mohammed Saad Kharila, who lives in exile in Sweden, explains to me that while Hamas is as bad as ISIS, it is far more dangerous than it. After all, this is an organization that is popular in certain circles around the world and in Gaza itself. A movement that conducts foreign relations with Arab and Muslim countries such as Qatar, which have become its home base.
Like others, he clarifies: "Israel must eliminate Hamas, otherwise the events of October 7 will repeat. As far as I'm concerned, it goes without saying that Israel has the right to defend itself. What happened on 7 October is an act of terrorism. Hamas has made it clear that it is willing to carry out similar actions again and again – whenever it has the chance. Their goal is to eliminate Jews and erase the State of Israel." Kharila, who is often interviewed in the Swedish media and supports Israel, makes it clear to me that it is his duty in the campaign against those "who want to return us to the era of barbarism."
Still, alongside the anger at Hamas, the scenes of devastation from the war arouse harsh criticism of Israel. Egyptian exile Wael Ghonaim was one of the most prominent spokesmen for the 2011 Arab Spring protests. Based in the United States, he accuses Israel of "losing conscience" and "killing thousands of children in Gaza," based on information published by Hamas.
However, most of his films are devoted to mocking the leaders of the terrorist movement. When Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Mashaal and Khalil al-Haya visited Cairo for a meeting with Egyptian intelligence, Ghanaim suggested they enter Gaza to prove how heroic they are. In one of his tweets on Network X, he heralded "good news" in light of the (apparently) killing of Ahmed Ghandour, Hamas' northern Gaza brigade commander, a man he claimed was responsible for the torture of hundreds of Palestinians and Fatah members.
During the past two weeks, Ghonaim announced the establishment of the Shahid Anwar Sadat Brigades (the late Egyptian president), which operate on behalf of the "Peace Army" online. To his 2.9 million followers, he writes: "Hamas is terrorists. The Prophet of God Muhammad (peace be upon him) is ashamed of them. God's prophet forbade the killing of children, the abduction of children, the killing of the elderly, the abduction of the elderly. He forbade rape. Sinwar is a criminal who must be punished."
The spokesman for the Abu Obeida terrorist organization also grilled Ghonaim, who wondered why this man still hides his face in the keffiyeh, when in Israel and Gaza they know his face and know that he is called Hajifa Kahlot.
"Gaza is not Vietnam"
Criticism of Hamas is not heard only overseas. Kuwaiti commentator Fahd al-Shalami makes sure to send daily bites to the terror movement: "This is my message to Hamas - have you liberated Al-Aqsa? Have you liberated Palestine? Did you guard Gaza? These adventures have been repeated since 2008. You staged a coup against the legitimate Palestinian Authority to establish your state." Al-Shalami was referring to an interview by Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas abroad, in which he claimed that they were willing to sacrifice their people as they were in Vietnam. The commentator, it turns out, was not convinced that this was the same situation.
, Photo: Arab Networks
"Gaza has an area of 360 square kilometers," explains al-Shalami, "They say Vietnam, but the area of North Vietnam in the war with the U.S. was 157,7 square kilometers! You have turned Gaza into a land of killing. Do you protect hospitals? Do you protect schools? Are you protecting the Palestinians? You asked for missiles and hid in tunnels. I don't think you achieved a great victory after the events of October <>. You destroyed the Palestinian people, and you destroyed Gaza."
Like others, al-Shalimi attacks Israel equally. This duality is evident in the Saudi press. The editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, for example, Ghassan Sharbel, wrote in the article: "When Hamas launched the 'Al-Aqsa Flood' offensive on October 7, it quickly became clear that it had gone to war, and not just for military action. This was confirmed in the initial news regarding the scene of the attack and the number of victims and hostages. The offensive was broader and more dangerous than confrontations between Israel and Hamas over the past two decades. It was expected that Israel would respond to the war with a war, especially when the blow exposed the negligence of the security apparatuses and the slow response of the army."
The editor also hints at foreign involvement, perhaps Iranian, and criticizes Hamas indirectly. "Faced with the new Nakba on Gaza soil, the bystander finds himself facing painful questions. Who created the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, which required years of training, information, techniques and deception of Israeli apparatuses and aircraft in the Gaza area? Can Hamas separately decide to go to war of this magnitude? Were Hamas allies really surprised by the operation or only by the date of its execution? Did Hamas bet that the operation would automatically lead to a "big strike" and a "winter of missiles"? Did Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif imagine that the Israeli response would be less cruel? Did they expect the West Bank to burn more than it did and a regional war would break out? Will Hamas agree to pay the price of its military presence in Gaza in order to renew the two-state solution?"
Charbel offers no answers to these questions. He does later blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Hamas would not have succeeded in releasing the 'flood' if other elements had not participated in its production – and of course without intending to do so (...) It can also be said that Israel is happy about the split between Gaza and the West Bank. It saw weakening President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority as a strategic goal – even if it led to strengthening the influence of the factions in Gaza. Perhaps the most prominent contribution to the atmosphere of the 'flood' was made by Benjamin Netanyahu, and especially by his stupid government, which walked the path of suicidal options."
Rewriting the past
Hamas's propaganda mouthpieces do not remain indifferent to criticism. In discussions on social networks, propagandists from Gaza wonder why the "electronic flies" attack the "Palestinian resistance." The answers are painfully joking: "They envy the resistance fighters," "They try to compensate for their masculinity." Others imagine plots about "the Israeli Mossad that spreads electronic flies and advertises on fake accounts in order to provoke fitna (civil war)." Some of them understand between the ranks that Hamas is left alone, despite Hezbollah's northern front and Houthi launches.
The motif of denial runs through every statement or sentence. They deny the massacre, deny the presence of Hamas headquarters under hospitals, deny the advance of IDF forces in the heart of Gaza City. Their fingerprint is visible even on the Arabic Wikipedia - the most widely available source of information on the web. Articles about the massacres in Bari and Kfar Gaza, for example, do not have Arabic pages. And this is on a platform that is supposed to be objective and impartial.
The article page about the attack, along with extensive quotes by the head of Hamas' military-terrorist wing, Mohammed Deif, and the organization's spokesman Kahlot, make no mention of the massacres in the south. The number of Israeli fatalities is shown aside without context. It was as if the earth had swallowed them. On the other hand, it is Israel that is accused of a series of "massacres" in the Gaza Strip.
The feeling is of a parallel dimension. Every half fact becomes the truth. This happened this week when former Prime Minister Ehud Barak told CNN that several decades ago Israel built "bunkers" under Shifa Hospital. Barak was probably referring to an underground floor, built in the 80s as part of the renovation work. He also noted that the site served as a "junction for tunnels," but Arab networks turned his remarks into an admission that it was Israel that built tunnels under the medical compound.
This echo chamber is not limited to social media. It is fed and fed by Al Jazeera, which mediates the war to most of the Arab world. "Most identify with the Palestinians because of the graphic scenes they watch on Al Jazeera 24/7," a Moroccan told me. Indeed, anyone who enters the live broadcast on the Internet will encounter horrifying scenes of wounded and dead in Gaza, some of them children. In the studio, slick emcees usually speak and shed crocodile tears. After all, Qatar, which operates the channel, fattened the Hamas monster that led to this destruction.
Moroccans vs. Khaled Mashaal
It is important to note that only a few in the kingdom chose to take to the streets: "The demonstrations are controlled by friends and followers of Islamist organizations and the radical left. They are very vocal, but represent only a few percent." One way or another, it seems that the enormous poison machine used against Israel arouses identification with the population of Gaza and hatred towards Israel, but does not succeed in its main mission: to create chaos in the Middle East in the style of the "Arab Spring."
, Photo: Arabio Networks
This trend is leading to events that it is doubtful would have happened in years past. Just earlier this week, a video call by senior Hamas official Khaled Mashaal with a Moroccan audience turned on the head of the terrorist movement. The event was organized by one of the bodies of the Islamist Justice and Development Party, which in the last elections was defeated and sent to the opposition. However, Mashaal's appeal to the Moroccans and his call to sever relations with Israel sparked a wave of anger on social media. His remarks were interpreted as a grave insult, and even incitement to revolt against the Moroccan royal family.
One user commented: "Do you see this man? Head of the snake! Morocco is a red line. The King of Morocco is a red line. The royal family is a red line." They denounced his audacity, and the hashtag "Only the king addresses the Moroccans" scorched the net. After all, the royal family in Rabat has long had a clear interest in preserving relations: recognition of Western Sahara.
It is no coincidence that just a few weeks ago, a Moroccan journalist estimated in an interview with the i24News channel that Rabat does not intend to cancel relations. "I believe that relations are different from what they were before the second intifada (when he established contact for the first). Today, ties are much stronger, because Morocco and Israel have agreed to strengthen their military and security relations. So as soon as the war ends, Morocco's relations with Israel will return to normal."
However, Morocco is also excellent evidence of the dilemma of the Arab states. The sentiment with Gaza, the interest with Israel.
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