(Los Angeles – May 11, 2021) - Hamas has been inciting and organizing violent protests in Jerusalem for the last several weeks, the newest development in their ongoing terror campaign that has included setting fire to swathes of Israeli land, shooting 19-year old Israeli teenager Yehuda Guetta, to death and perpetrating several recent terror attacks. One senior Hamas leader, Fathi Hammad, was televised on May 7 inciting to murder, saying, “People of Jerusalem, we want you to cut off the heads of the Jews with knives. With your hand, cut their artery from here.”
Sadly, this is not new. For a century, long before the establishment of Israel, extremists from the Nazi collaborator, Palestinian Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, have been promoting conspiracy theories about “the Jews” threatening to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque. This weaponized rhetoric of “Al Aqsa is in danger” lie has been used repeatedly by Palestinian and Arab leaders to incite violence against Israelis and Jews in general. Inevitably people have died as a result. The truth is, of course, that only since Israel has overseen Jerusalem is there equal and free access to people of all backgrounds to pray at their respective holy sites.
Hamas, its allies and supporters – the Islamic Republic of Iran, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah – explicitly call for the destruction of the State of Israel and the subjugation of all its Jewish citizens. Those who support this agenda are partners in hate and are adversaries of peace.
Hamas’s heavy-fisted misrule of Gaza is a travesty of justice. Named by Forbes Magazine as the third richest terror group in the world, Hamas does not use its resources to build a peaceful future for their people by investing in civilian infrastructure. Instead Hamas has spent billions of dollars turning the Gaza Strip into a militarized armed camp. Hamas has built a network of sophisticated tunnels under Gaza and cross-border attack tunnels designed to send terror squads to kidnap and attack Israeli civilians. Hamas uses its millions on weapons factories and to purchase missiles from Iran, anti-tank weapons, assault rifles, mortars, grenades, anti-personnel mines and much more.
Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO StandWithUs stated, “People of the Middle East and around the world can contrast the success of the Abraham Accords and the warm relations now enjoyed between Gulf Arab States and Israel with the failures of Hamas and Palestinian Authority leaders to accept the Jewish State, normalize relations with it and make any credible moves towards peace. Instead, Hamas is attempting to escalate conflict, to perpetrate terror attacks and massacre Israelis. All leaders and people of goodwill should condemn Hamas and radical leaders who are an obstacle for a better future for all people in the region.”
About StandWithUs
StandWithUs (SWU) is an international, non-profit and non-partisan Israel education organization that works to inspire and educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism.
Through university fellowships, high school internships, middle school curricula, conferences, materials, social media, educational films and missions to Israel, StandWithUs supports people around the world who want to educate their schools and communities about Israel.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters and programs on 5 continents, including the U.S., Israel, UK, Canada, South Africa and Brazil.
For the last 8 years, SWU has consistently received the highest possible ratings from Charity Navigator (4 stars) and Guidestar (Platinum).
