October 7, 2024
by Dr. Walid Phares
and Gazelle Sharmahd
On the morning of October 7 last year, the U.S. woke to shocking news: hundreds of Jihadis had crossed the Gaza-Israel border and launched a brutal mass murder attack not only at a rave in the desert but inside farms and residences scattered in the area. The reactions across America by midday reflected a déjà-vu from the shock of our 9/11, but worse. The violent killings in the Negev continued for hours, with men, women, and children raped, slaughtered, tortured, and burned alive- often recorded by the attackers.
By nightfall, the bulk of Hamas terrorists had retreated to Gaza, though small cells remained for another day before Israeli forces neutralized them.
The horror did not end on October 7. Hamas seized hundreds of hostages, dragging them into Gaza, where many were killed, tortured, and held in misery for a year. The brutality -often recorded on the jihadist phones on that day- and the torture and execution of many hostages over the following months- were eerily reminiscent of atrocities by other jihadist groups like ISIS, al Qaeda, Boku Haram, Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, and even echoed historical horrors under Pol Pot in Cambodia, Mao in China, Stalin in Russia, or the Nazi Holocaust during WWII—a grim reminder of humanity’s darkest moments.
But last year added a new layer of horror: Hamas and its ilk took pride in killing their victims often with a “serene Jihadi smile” filming and sharing the atrocities. Even more disturbing, they were welcomed as heroes among their folks and celebrated for the very horrors they perpetrated.
This raises a haunting question: What causes such sick behavior? What radicalization fuels this ultimate form of hatred that blends a Nazi-like culture of death with an open celebration of bloodshed?
For decades we have warned of an ideological machine, rooted in “Khomeinist and Salafi” ideologies, spreading a venomous doctrine that has poisoned the mindset of millions of people around the world. Like Bolshevism, Maoism, and Fascism in the 20th century, it drives genocidal ideologies across the globe.
The root causes of October 7’s savagery are found in the same atrocities committed in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, and Sudan -against both Muslims and non-Muslims. This is why we have warned for a long time that the Western education system is unfit to combat the factories of radicalization and jihadization.
The militiamen who stormed the northern Negev are no different from those, who highjacked planes on 9/11, who blew up the Madrid trains, the London buses, the clubs in Paris, or the schools and theatre in Russia. But the rapists and killers of the Nova Dance and Musical Festival in Israel took crimes against humanity to an even darker level. Their actions showed that no one is safe from this genocidal scourge, even surrender offers no protection.
That massacre on October 7th leaves us with vital lessons:
(1) Jihadists, whether Salafists or Khomeinists, cannot be trusted. Their ideology supersedes international law, ceasefires, or peace agreements. They can break any pact, accord, or treaty with no reason. On October 6, Hamas broke every law, despite an existing ceasefire agreement and no Gaza occupation. Such a terror organization cannot be part of any system anymore. They destroyed the system that was meant to enforce peace.
(2) The role of the Islamic Regime in Iran in directing Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis can no longer be ignored. The United States and the international community, including the Arab Coalition, must revive the 2019 international alliance, known as the Warsaw Coalition, to isolate the Khomeinists until the people of Iran can liberate themselves from the Islamic Regime’s illegal occupation.
(3) The so-called “protests” unleashed by Hamas and its jihadi axis in America reflect the dangerous jihadization and radicalization of our classrooms in America. It is time for civil society and lawmakers to expose and counter misinformation and disinformation and the harm it is causing at home and abroad.
We launched the #EducateAmerica platform to provide information and direction to American students and opinion makers to shed light, not only on the horrors of October 7 but on all similar tragedies the region has known for centuries and guide public policy in the right direction.
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Dr Walid Phares is former foreign policy advisor to Donald Trump, Newsmax contributor, and co-host of “War & Freedom” Podcast and co-President of #EducateAmerica platform.
Gazelle Sharmahd, daughter of German-American hostage in Iran, Jimmy Sharmahd, co-host of “War & Freedom” Podcast and co-President #EducateAmerica platform.