Israel's war is about religion, and it's headed to the West next- opinion

On November 8, 2023, one month and one day after the October 7 massacre, Austria’s popular daily Der Standard reported that the Austrian government declared Hamas equivalent to the Nazis.

Without waiting for the rest of Europe, Austria amended its law to state that publishing Hamas content is now the same as publishing Nazi content. This move was made to confront the country’s rising antisemitism. It means that anyone who publishes Hamas content or displays Hamas symbols in Austria is committing a crime, punishable with severe penalties—including, but not limited to, a fine of €20,000 and loss of employment in the public sector.

Citizens of Europe and the United States should be grateful to the State of Israel for fighting their battle against radical Islam, a movement that seeks to kill Christians as well as Jews. Israel serves as the iron wall protecting them. Should this wall, God forbid, fall, the path of radical Islamist terrorist organizations will be clear.

When Hamas terrorists turn mosques into headquarters, kindergartens into murder tunnels, schools into ammunition warehouses, and hospitals into bomb factories, they place civilians, including children, as human shields for their vile operations. Israel, a democratic state, is forced to strike these compounds to protect life. Under international law, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are permitted to do so because they are targeting terrorist compounds. According to international law, as established in the Geneva Conventions, the presence of civilians may not be used to render points or areas immune from military operations.

The law allows for the targeting of sites that double as hubs for military activity, as their destruction provides a clear military advantage.

Israel grieves for every Gaza resident killed, even though many celebrated the Oct. 7 massacre by handing out baklava and cheering on rooftops. The terrorists who committed those atrocities—murdering, raping, and desecrating hostages’ bodies—are subhuman.

Nevertheless, the IDF remains the most moral army in the world, taking extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians, often at the cost of its own soldiers’ lives. Hamas, on the other hand, aims to kill civilians because it serves their PR campaign. Afterward, they distributed inflated and falsified casualty figures and staged photos.

Islam is quietly conquering the West. Walking through central London or Amsterdam’s Dam Square, you’ll see most women in black garments, with only their eyes visible through slits in their veils. Walking ahead of them are bearded men with visible faces. This scene is repeated in Paris, Brussels, Oslo, Stockholm, and on many American campuses.

I am not generalizing. Many Muslim immigrants are honorable citizens who live peacefully without seeking to convert their European hosts. However, others represent fundamentalist, terrorist Islam and aim to convert innocent Europeans. Since Oct. 7, Europe has witnessed demonstrations led by Islamic immigrants where Israeli flags were burned, and calls were made for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Most people, including the police, stand by in silence.

Europeans must wake up to the reality taking place in their backyard. Radical Islam is already deeply entrenched in many of their countries, waiting for the right moment to strike. Politicians hesitate to act because they need Muslim votes to win elections. A prime example of this occurred last July in the UK, when Labour leader Keir Starmer, long seen as a Zionist and supporter of Israel due to his Jewish wife, was elected prime minister. Soon afterward, he issued problematic statements about an arms embargo on Israel.

He imposed restrictions on Israelis entering the UK—likely due to electoral considerations and the growing influence of Muslim voters. Similarly, French President Emmanuel Macron has called for an arms embargo on Israel.

Instead of rallying to support Israel—the only democracy in the Middle East, surrounded by the sea on one side and Islamist nations on the other—Western nations have supported the appointment of antisemitic figures to key international positions.

The UN Secretary-General and the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Karim Khan, are two such individuals. Khan, a Muslim, should be known by his full name: Karim Asad Ahmad Khan.

Europeans who join anti-Israel demonstrations and accuse it of genocide are confused, to say the least. For them, this is a passing trend, and hating Israel is fashionable today. Tomorrow, it will be someone else. But what would they do if they were in our shoes? What if, God forbid, 3,000 armed Argentinians invaded Southampton, killing 1,200 citizens in their homes and at a dance party, abducting 250 people to slaughter tunnels, raping women in front of their families, and murdering children before their parents' eyes? Would they demand their government—like the one that went to war over the distant Falkland Islands—stand down? How would they feel if the world then blamed them while calling the terrorists the victims?

This is what happened in Israel on Oct. 7. Just between you and me, Western citizens (not all of them) innocently lend a hand to the propaganda campaigns of terrorists backed by Iran—the great Satan—through Islamists who live among them, stealthily taking over their city streets.

It’s time to wake up. Some of the demonstrators who support Hamas and “Palestine” are potential terrorists. Despite the existence of 57 Muslim-majority nations—22 of which are Arab—many Islamic immigrants have chosen to settle in Western countries rather than those that reflect their customs and beliefs. Meanwhile, Israel, the only Jewish state, has no interest in Gaza or Lebanon. It shares a border with them but does not occupy their land. As for Iran, which has no direct territorial dispute with Israel, it has declared the destruction of the Jewish state its primary goal.

What is frustrating is the complete absence of effective Israeli PR. I have written before that to win a war, you need a strong army—and Israel has that. It would be best to have wise, courageous leadership focused solely on the nation’s security and economy. Sadly, we do not have such a leader today. Lastly, it would be best if you had smart, aggressive PR worldwide, particularly in the West. Unfortunately, Israel has failed in this area. As a result, many in the West are exposed only to images of dead Palestinian women and children, which are spread by a well-oiled propaganda machine designed to stoke hatred against the Jewish state.

This is not a war over territory. It is a religious war fueled by radical, Iranian-backed Islam, which seeks to destroy Israel “from the river to the sea” and kill Jews and Christians alike. The seeds of this destruction must be uprooted. Today, Western citizens—particularly in Europe and parts of the US—are confused and influenced by the aggressive actions of Islamic immigrants. Tomorrow, these same immigrants will turn against them. No one will ask them to show restraint or proportionality. Israel is fighting for its life, and it will never give up. The State of Israel has no other choice. The Nation of Israel lives and will live forever.

The author is a strategic communications consultant with Pe'er Levin Communications.