Incite, attack, repeat – Hamas’ calculated strategy

Conspiracy theories work. Not just as clickbait but as political instruments. And when lies generate violence and reap rewards for their propagators, fanatics like the Hamas terrorist organisation deploy them again and again.

If anyone still wonders what the consequences of using lies to incite terrorism are, they need look no further than the horrific attacks that happened on 7 April 2023. Three London-born Israelis, 48-year-old Lucy Dee and her two daughters, 15-year-old Rina and 20-year-old Maia, were murdered when Palestinian terrorists sprayed the family’s car with bullets.

That evening, a ramming attack at Tel Aviv’s beachfront promenade killed Alessandro Parini, a 35-year-old lawyer from Rome, and injured seven pedestrians, all tourists from Italy and the United Kingdom.

Clearly, incitement by Hamas and other Palestinian sources can have consequences way beyond this tragic loss of innocent lives. Nowhere is the phenomenon more apparent than in Jerusalem, specifically in connection to the Temple Mount. A place holy for Jews and Muslims alike.

For more than a century, baseless allegations about the Temple Mount have been used as a pretext to spark anti-Jewish violence. An example is the recent events that took place during the night before Passover, when Hamas activists and supporters barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, trying to provoke Israelis to disrupt peaceful prayers.

Armed with fireworks and blunt instruments such as heavy rocks, they forced the police to react to pre-empt attacks on Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall below, and to allow peaceful Muslim worshippers to pray in the mosque.

Using the excuse that Al-Aqsa was in danger, when the only hazard was the one created by Islamic radicals shooting off massive amounts of fireworks inside the mosque itself, Hamas then expanded its offensive to additional fronts.

Thirty-four rockets were then launched from Lebanon, with the support of Iran-backed Hezbollah, toward Israeli communities in the Western Galilee. Then, after Israel’s measured response on Hamas military facilities, rockets from Gaza were fired at Israeli civilians living near the southern border. The frequency of fatal terrorist attacks then increased.

The invocations of a fictional Jewish menace to Al-Aqsa are a small, albeit very powerful, component of the wider incitement campaign being waged against Israel. As part of it, we have seen another component of Al-Aqsa-related incitement that aims to terminate visits by Jews to their holiest site. These are inevitably portrayed as “storming” and “defiling” the Temple Mount, and Palestinian youth are indoctrinated into believing that it is their religious duty to defend Al-Aqsa against invented Israeli aggressions.

In fact, visits by Jews are conducted in a respectful manner and in accordance with the limitations imposed on all non-Muslims. These limitations stem from a decision Israel made after the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967 to uphold the status quo on the Temple Mount and allow the Islamic Waqf to continue to administer the holy site.

Israel’s respect for Muslim and Christian beliefs is consistent with the Jewish state’s commitment to safeguard the sacred sites of every faith and uphold freedom of worship. These commitments are enshrined, inter alia, in Israel’s declaration of independence. Just this past weekend, thousands of Orthodox Christians participated peacefully in the Holy Fire Ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

An impartial and informed analysis of current and past incidents would undoubtedly establish that the rioting and other violence instigated by Hamas is an inherent part of a carefully calculated strategy. This strategy has largely proven successful, benefiting extremists internally in the Palestinian sphere and internationally in media and political circles.

Last week, a small group of protesters came to the Israeli embassy in Pretoria displaying images of the Iranian tyrant as well as Hezbollah flags, while burning the Israeli flag. Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy in Lebanon, has been described by political analysts around the world as one of the most lethal terrorist organisations in history. It’s sad to see that some organisation in South Africa would want to be associated with such terrorist groups. These events are becoming a normal occurrence in other parts of the country, yet no-one (other than the Jewish community) condemns these antisemitic actions.

This manifestation, albeit small and insignificant, should be a warning about the potential of Iranian propaganda to influence some fringe segments of the Muslim community in this country to adopt extreme opinions.

Israel wants nothing more than for calm to be maintained for the benefit of all those who wish to live and pray in peace. Nevertheless, as long as Israel is unfairly condemned and terrorists rewarded, we’re doomed to see the violence escalate now and recur in the future. Peace cannot be a hostage in the hands of extremists.

• Adi Cohen-Hazanov is deputy Israeli ambassador to South Africa.