Rise of ISIS Read online

  Throughout mid-June 2014, ISIS carried out numerous executions in Iraq. Witnesses have testified that ISIS shot dozens of soldiers and policemen, concluding their gruesome killings by decapitating their victims and placing rows of decapitated heads along the road in Mosul.34 A refugee woman said that placing decapitated heads in a row has become “a trademark, trophy-style execution favored by ISIS militants.”35

  On June 16, 2014, ISIS reportedly captured Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman, the judge who sentenced Saddam Hussein to death in 2006.36 Although the Iraqi government did not confirm it at the time, it is believed that Judge Rahman was executed by ISIS militants two days after his capture in apparent retaliation for his role in Hussein’s death.37

  Simply put, ISIS attacks moderate Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, and Christians wherever it finds them. For example, when ISIS was asked why it was “not fighting Israel but instead shedding the blood of the sons of Iraq and Syria,”38 it replied as follows:

  The greater answer is in the noble Koran, when Allah Almighty speaks about the near enemy. In the majority of verses in the noble Koran, these are the hypocrites, for they pose a greater danger than the original infidels [born non-Muslims, e.g., Jews and Christians]. And the answer is found in Abu Bakr al-Sadiq, when he preferred fighting apostates over the conquest of Jerusalem [fath al-Quds], which was conquered by his successor, Omar al-Khattab.39

  ISIS also cited the example of Saladin, who dealt with Shias before the Crusaders:

  The answer is found in Salah ad-Din al-Ayubi [Saladin] and Nur ad-Din Zanki when they fought the Shia in Egypt and Syria before [addressing] Jerusalem. Salah ad-Din fought more than 50 battles before he reached Jerusalem. And it was said to Salah ad-Din al-Ayubi: “You fight the Shia and the Fatimids in Egypt and allow the Latin Crusaders to occupy Jerusalem?” And he responded: “I will not fight the Crusaders while my back is exposed to the Shia.”40

  As ISIS has moved into areas with larger Christian populations, it has continued and even escalated its brutal tactics. “Islamist insurgents have issued an ultimatum to northern Iraq’s dwindling Christian population to convert to Islam, pay a religious levy, or face death.”41 ISIS set Saturday, July 19, 2014, as the deadline for Christians to decide.42 Nearly fifty thousand Christians have also been displaced from Qaraqosh, a town twelve miles east of Mosul.43 The Christians were displaced because their water and electricity were cut off from neighboring ISIS-controlled Mosul.44 Christians were not the only ones affected by the attack: Yazidis, Shias, and liberal Muslims were also displaced from the region.45 ISIS views all four of these groups as “infidels without human rights.”46

  * * *

  Christians were not the only ones affected by the attack: Yazidis, Shias, and liberal Muslims were also displaced from the region.47 ISIS views all four of these groups as “infidels without human rights.”48

  * * *

  As Christians and Yazidis fled, ISIS pursued, trapping tens of thousands of Yazidis on a mountaintop and threatening horrific mass murder until the siege was lifted by emergency American air strikes. ISIS pursued Christians to the outskirts of the Kurdish capital, Erbil, where thousands had fled for refuge. The Peshmerga, brave but hopelessly outgunned by ISIS forces equipped with captured American-made weapons, were forced to retreat. Kurdistan faced a disaster until, once again, American air strikes temporarily halted ISIS advances.

  But ISIS is not content with spreading jihad in Iraq and Syria. It has set its sights on much larger targets. For example, ISIS has threatened to destroy the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.49 A tweet reportedly posted by an ISIS fighter stated: “If Allah wills, we will kill those who worship stones in Mecca and destroy the Kaaba. People go to Mecca to touch the stones, not for Allah.”50 This is consistent with ISIS’s practice of destroying shrines, tombs, mosques, and other religious sites in territory controlled by ISIS.51 ISIS believes that giving veneration to tombs or religious relics violates Islamic teachings.52 ISIS routinely threatens other Muslims who disagree with them, most notably Shia Muslims.53

  On June 25, 2014, ISIS began a campaign to threaten America by using social media to post warnings and pictures of executed victims, using the hashtag “#CalamityWillBefallUS.”54 ISIS circulated a picture of “a dozen armed masked-men standing around a body” while one ISIS fighter held the decapitated head of a Shia fighter.55 Tweets accompanied by the #CalamityWillBefallUS stated: “We will kill your people and transform America to a river of blood :)!”; “EACH and EVERY #American is targeted, whether he lives in or outside the #US!”; “THIS SCENE WILL BE SEEN BY #AMERICANS BUT WHERE? UNEXPECTED PLACE” (accompanied with a picture of the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack); and “Every American doctor working in any country will be slaughtered if America attack [sic] Iraq” on a picture.56

  ISIS’s hatred of America is long-standing. After all, American forces not only brought ISIS to the brink of extinction in 2008 and 2009, but we captured and held its current leader, al-Baghdadi. Upon his release from American custody, he ominously told his former captors, “I’ll see you guys in New York.”

  ISIS fighters have also declared their intention to destroy Israel and to make Jerusalem the capital of the new Caliphate.57 ISIS militants and ISIS media have threatened Israel on multiple occasions. A July 9, 2014, tweet by an ISIS media wing posted a picture of the Dome of the Rock superimposed in front of a picture of ISIS fighters with the words, “Patience, Jews, our appointment is at al-Quds [Jerusalem] tomorrow.”58 Another ISIS Twitter feed stated: “All our military operations till now are just [a] message for Israel.”59 Even before its recent territorial gains, ISIS maps regularly included Israel as a part of the eventual Caliphate.60 A recent video posted by ISIS states, “[w]herever our war goes, Jewish rabbis are humiliated,” and “[b]reak the crosses and destroy the lineage of the grandsons of monkeys,” undoubtedly references to Christians and Jews.61 ISIS threats against Israel are not new. In 2008, al-Baghdadi proposed to use Iraq as a launching pad for missile attacks against Israel.62

  In a video posted in early July 2014, two Spanish-speaking men stated that Spain is the land of their forefathers and that they are willing to die for the newly established Islamic State.63 One of the men stated, “We are going to die for it until we liberate all the occupied lands, from Jakarta to Andalusia.”64 Further, in an audio recording posted online, al-Baghdadi states:

  So to arms, to arms, soldiers of Islam, fight, fight. Rush O Muslims to your state. It is your state. Syria is not for Syrians and Iraq is not for Iraqis. The land is for the Muslims, all Muslims. This is my advice to you. If you hold to it you will conquer Rome and own the world, if Allah wills.65

  This statement is a direct threat to the historical center of the Catholic Church.66

  Grandiose threats are nothing new in the jihadist world, but what makes ISIS especially dangerous is its possession of both the means and will to carry out its threats. It’s the best-equipped, richest terrorist force in the world.

  * * *

  Grandiose threats are nothing new in the jihadist world, but what makes ISIS especially dangerous is its possession of both the means and will to carry out its threats. It’s the best-equipped, richest terrorist force in the world.

  * * *

  ISIS has a huge war chest of money, military equipment, and materials available to carry out its threats. ISIS has captured significant amounts of high-tech U.S. military equipment abandoned by the Iraqi armed forces. Fifty-two 155 mm M198 howitzers have been captured by ISIS.67 These American-made howitzers have a range of up to twenty miles and can incorporate GPS targeting systems.68 In addition to the howitzers, ISIS has captured 1,500 Humvees and 4,000 PKC machine guns that can fire close to 800 rounds per minute.69 These weapons make ISIS a formidable foe in the region. There are even reports that ISIS has captured main battle tanks, including potentially several M1 Abrams tanks, the American-made tank that is the most lethal armored vehicle in world history.70

  Ominously, ISIS also po
ssesses radiological material that could make dirty bombs. Dirty bombs are created by combining conventional explosives with low-level radioactive material.71 If a dirty bomb is detonated, in addition to the raw blast effect of the bomb, it can spread radiation in a wide area, potentially causing radiation sickness to those exposed and rendering the area uninhabitable for an extended time.

  ISIS has stolen eighty-eight pounds of uranium compounds from Mosul University and has the capacity to gain even more radioactive material.72 Waste recovered from universities and hospitals across northern Iraq has the potential to contribute radioactive material for a dirty bomb.73 Further, it is not beyond imagination that ISIS could also obtain chemical weapons from Syrian depots for its arsenal. In fact, it has already captured old stocks of Iraqi chemical weapons.74 Were ISIS to obtain increasing amounts of weapons of mass destruction, the global danger of this group would increase exponentially.

  But this book focuses on more than just ISIS. While there is not sufficient time and space to outline the threat of every jihadist group in every corner of the Muslim world, from Yemen to Lebanon, Nigeria to Mali, Libya (where al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists carried out the deadly Benghazi attacks on September 11, 2012) to Pakistan and Afghanistan, there is one other group that is not only vicious and deadly, but is engaged in constant, open warfare against our closest ally in the Middle East, Israel.

  That group is Hamas.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  HAMAS

  ARCHITECTS OF ETERNAL JIHAD

  Our battle with the Jews is long and dangerous, requiring all dedicated efforts. It is a phase which must be followed by succeeding phases, a battalion which must be supported by battalion after battalion of the divided Arab and Islamic world until the enemy is overcome, and the victory of Allah descends.

  —Hamas Charter, Preamble

  It would be hard to find an American who hasn’t at least seen a Sbarro restaurant. How many times have we walked on city streets or through an airport or mall and passed by a Sbarro, glancing at it without a thought as kids and families indulge their insatiable hunger for a good slice of pizza?

  On August 9, 2001, families and kids at a Sbarro in Jerusalem were doing exactly what families and kids love to do in America: eat pizza. School was out, so the restaurant was packed with teenagers. The atmosphere was festive.

  Until 2 p.m.

  That’s when a Hamas suicide bomber walked in, either wearing a suicide belt or carrying explosives in a guitar case. Regardless of where he kept his bomb, it was packed—like most suicide bombs are—with nails, bolts, and other small metal scraps, all designed to tear human flesh and maximize human agony.

  He self-detonated.

  When the smoke cleared, fifteen people lay dead—including seven children and one pregnant woman. One hundred thirty more were wounded, some with horrific injuries.

  Initially, Hamas denied responsibility, incredibly blaming Israel for murdering its own children. But it later praised the bomber, honoring him as a man who “gave the Zionists a taste of humiliation.”1

  This suicide bombing was hardly unusual for Hamas. In the so-called Second Intifada, Hamas carried out suicide bombing after suicide bombing, invariably targeting Israeli civilians—killing as many as it could, as often as it could. After much hard fighting, Israel defeated Hamas in the West Bank. But it was relatively unscathed in the Gaza Strip, where it consolidated control until it ruled the entire area with an iron grip, launching thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians.

  Its crimes are easy enough to chronicle, but who is Hamas? Why is it so relentless in its quest to kill Jews? A bit of history is necessary.

  The two principal Palestinian groups representing the Arabs of Palestine are Fatah,2 the political arm of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO),3 and Hamas,4 the Islamic Resistance Movement,5 an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.6 As of the last free Palestinian presidential election,7 Fatah’s candidate for president, Mahmoud Abbas, was elected president of the Palestinian Authority (PA),8 while Hamas candidates won a majority of the legislative seats in the 2006 parliamentary election.9 As a result, for the last several years, Fatah and Hamas have been competitors whose respective followers have attacked each other.10 In fact, in 2007, Hamas assumed total control in the Gaza Strip and has held total power there ever since.11 Moreover, while Fatah has publicly renounced resorting to violence in pursuit of an agreement with Israel,12 Hamas has refused to do so. In fact, the Hamas Charter declares violence to be a legitimate means to use against Israel.13

  * * *

  The Hamas Charter declares violence to be a legitimate means to use against Israel.14

  * * *

  The United States, Canada, and the European Union have all declared Hamas to be a terrorist organization.15

  Hamas “is one of the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood.”16 It was established on the eve of the intifada (also known as the “First Intifada”)17 in December 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Mahmoud Zahar with one specific purpose—to eliminate Israel and return all of Palestine to Islamic control, “rais[ing] the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.”18 Sheikh Yassin, a Muslim Brotherhood activist in Cairo, was a spiritual leader who founded the Islamic Center (al-Mujamma’ al-Islami) in 1973 “to coordinate the Brotherhood’s political activities in Gaza.”19 In December 1987, Yassin founded Hamas “as the Brotherhood’s local political arm.”20 Shortly after its founding, the group published its covenant (also called the Hamas Charter) in 1988, stating its purpose in chilling detail.

  The Hamas Charter opens with verses from the Quran, proclaiming the superiority of Islam,21 with Hamas’s stated motto in Articles 5 and 8: “Allah is its goal, the Prophet its model to be followed, the Koran its constitution, Jihad its way, and death for the sake of Allah its loftiest desire.”22 The Charter proclaims: “Israel will exist, and will continue to exist, until Islam abolishes it.”23 The entire Hamas Charter, from its preamble to the last article, pursues only one purpose: the violent elimination of Israel.

  The Charter proclaims that “Palestine is an Islamic land. In it is the first of the two qiblas [directions of prayer] and the third most holy mosque, after the mosques of Mecca and Medina. It is the destination of the Prophet’s nocturnal journey.”24 Further, consistent with Sharia law, the Charter states that

  [T]he land of Palestine is Waqf land given as endowment for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. One should not neglect it or [even] a part of it, nor should one relinquish it or [even] a part of it. . . . This is the legal status of the land of Palestine according to Islamic law. In this respect, it is like any other land that the Muslims have conquered by force, because the Muslims consecrated it at the time of the conquest as religious endowment for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. . . . This Waqf will exist as long as the heaven and earth exist. Any measure which does not conform to this Islamic law regarding Palestine is null and void.25

  Accordingly, the Hamas Charter calls the existence of the state of Israel on the land that was formerly held by Muslims a “Zionist invasion.”26 It therefore pledges to wage “jihad in the face of the oppressors, in order to deliver the land and the believers from their filth, impurity, and evil”27 in order to “[return the homeland to its rightful owner] and “to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine”28 no matter how long it takes.29

  Hamas does not want “peace” with Israel, and it will not negotiate a permanent peace agreement with Israel. Instead, it will only agree to intermittent “truces” when its military capabilities have been so degraded that it needs time to recuperate and rearm.

  * * *

  Hamas does not want “peace” with Israel, and it will not negotiate a permanent peace agreement with Israel. Instead, it will only agree to intermittent “truces” when its military capabilities have been so degraded that it needs time to recuperate and rearm.

  * * *

  Its Charter states that “so-called peace solutions” an
d “conferences are nothing but a way to give the infidels power of arbitration over Muslim land.”30 The Charter declares that “[t]here is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by jihad.”31 As reflected in Hamas’s Charter and actions, jihad here does not mean spiritual struggle. In the preamble, Hamas commits to “join arms with all those who wage jihad for the liberation of Palestine.”32 It states, “our fight with the Jews is very extensive and very grave, and it requires all the sincere efforts. . . . [B]rigades upon brigades from this vast Islamic world [must be reinforced], until the enemies are defeated and Allah’s victory is revealed.”33 The Charter declares that “neglect[ing] any part of Palestine [means] neglect[ing] part of the Islamic faith.”34

  Accordingly, from its inception, Hamas has relentlessly waged jihad and attacked Israel in accordance with its stated purpose and Islamic teachings.35 Through its military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades, Hamas has conducted numerous suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and shootings against Israeli targets.36

  Western entities, including the United States, the European Union, and Canada, have declared Hamas to be a terrorist organization.37 The United States officially designated Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 8, 1997.38 On December 21, 2001, the European Union adopted a measure to combat terrorism that listed Hamas’s military wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassem, among its recognized terrorist groups.39 In 2003, the European Union designated Hamas’s political wing as a terrorist group.40

  Despite Hamas’s terrorist reputation, it maintains significant popular support because of its involvement in a “broad network of ‘Dawa’ or ministry activities.”41 Hamas donates a significant portion “of its estimated $70 million annual budget” to social establishments as varied as food banks, schools, medical clinics, and sports leagues.42 According to Israeli scholar Reuven Paz, “approximately 90 percent of its work is in social, welfare, cultural, and educational activities.”43 Hamas uses these social programs to spread its doctrine of hatred toward Israel, for example by publishing textbooks that refuse to recognize Israel’s existence and by calling “Zionism a racist movement” bent on driving Islam from the Middle East.44