Jihad is a call for a just war in accordance with international law

The Israeli Response

The purpose of Jihad is to spread Islam in the world through violent warfare and terror attacks.

Key Points

Jihad in a nutshell (European Parliament, 2015)

Jihad is often equated with holy war.

This is inaccurate - it generally refers to a religiously inspired effort or struggle towards a spiritual, personal, political or military goal

Armed Jihad also traditionally has temporal and territorial restrictions, as opposed to a war at all costs.

Islamic tradition distinguishes between two types of jihad:

'Greater Jihad' - the struggle to improve one's own character

'Lesser Jihad' - just warfare for the sake of Islam and its adherents, often in order to widen the influence of Islam through conquest

As a consequence of frequent usage of the term in warfare, Muslim and non-Muslim audiences have gradually come to understand jihad as a religiously sanctioned armed struggle.

Governments and revolutionaries have called for jihad in order to claim religious legitimacy for their military endeavours.

From Jihad to Jihadism: What is the modern interpretation of Jihad?

The origins of modern jihadism began with the fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979):

The struggle was initially based on the Mujahidin's conservative views of jihad - defending a Muslim country against invaders.

However, it transformed into a proxy war with significant external involvement of Pakistan and the United States.

The conflict's goals evolved beyond the scope of traditional Jihad, yet maintained a claim to religious legitimacy.

Islam, according to the Jihadi narrative, is forever at war with enemies it must defeat by any means necessary.

Jihadism enabled the removal of Jihad's restrictions, promoting an eternal conflict against Islam's enemies.

Due to the way Jihad was implemented in Afghanistan, in modern times, the term 'jihad' has accrued both violent and non-violent interpretations.

According to John Esposito, a professor for Middle Eastern studies, Jihad can simply mean striving to live a moral life and defending Islam.

On the other hand Rudoph Peters, a scholar of Islamic law, explains that moderate Muslim view Jihad as a just war in international law and fundamentalists view it as an expansion of Islam.

The face of Jihad today - What are the actual beliefs and actions of people who promote Jihad?

Pro-Hamas supporters have been calling for outright violence against Jews under the mask of Jihad.

Protesters also held signs calling for “Intifada,” a reference to periods of deadly Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli civilians in the late 1980s and early 1990s and again in the early 2000s.

Masked demonstrators in the White House chanted slogans urging Hamas to “kill another soldier now” and calling on Hezbollah to “kill another Zionist now.”

In June 2024, pro-Hamas activists protesting near the White House called for "jihad"and criticizing US President Joe Biden's handling of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. In the same rally, protesters chanted "From DC to Palestine, we are the red line," holding a banner scribbled with the names of Palestinians killed due to the actions of Hamas.

On June 24th 2024, violent clashes erupted between pro- and anti-Israel protesters outside the Adas Torah synagoguein Los Angeles.

According to the LA Times, one person was arrested for allegedly carrying a “spiked flag.”

Anti-Israel protesters attempted to block the entrance to the synagogue on Pico Boulevard, where an event on real estate investment in Israel was being held.

In a video on social media, anti-Israel protesters can be heard chanting “There is only one solution, intifada revolution.”

The face of Jihad in the future

Jihadist ideology encourages perpetual war around the world, spreading from poor, unstable regions to the rest of the world.

According to FBI special agent Ali Soufan, over the past two decades, groups like al Qaeda and ISIS have evolved, forming regional affiliates that continue to inspire and conduct terror attacks globally. The decentralization of jihadist activities and the potential use of emerging technologies for attacks pose significant threats.

Jihadist groups may find fertile ground in unstable regions, particularly in South Asia and Africa, where they can establish bases and recruit new members, maintaining the global jihadist movement's momentum.

From the Media

Photo of bus explosions from the second Intifada

Pro-Hamas protestors holding a banner that reads 'Globalise the Intifada'

A Pro-Hamas protestors writing 'Intifada Revolution' on a cloth

Photo of another bus explosions from the second Intifada

Resources

↗Understanding jihad and jihadism - European Parliament, 2015 ↗The Future of the Global Jihadist Movement After the Collapse of the Caliphate - RAND, 2018 ↗The many meanings of Jihad ↗What Is Jihad and What Does Hamas Say About It? - Lisa Beyer, 2023 ↗How ISIS Really Recruits its Members - Columbia magazine, 2019

Conclusions

The concept of Jihad, which originally had various spiritual and practical meanings, has evolved over time into Jihadism, now understood as an eternal, unconditional war against the enemies of Islam. Anyone using the term Jihad to mean something else is either severely misguided and misinformed, or is deliberately using it for harmful and violent purposes.

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