Written evidence from the Community Security Trust (CST) (ISL0020)

Summary

• Political Islam (or Islamism) encompasses a range of groups and actors across Arab and Muslim countries, including the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates; Hizb ut-Tahrir; and Iran and its proxy Hizballah.
• The primary focus for these Islamist movements and political parties is national and local; however, anti-Jewish sentiments have been commonplace in traditional and contemporary Islamist public discourse for nearly a century.
• Islamist discourse often promotes antisemitic hatred and conspiracies, and Islamist terrorist organisations that target Jews use antisemitic language and imagery as part of their propaganda. This applies to nationally-focused Islamist organisations (e.g., Hamas and Hizballah), global Salafi Jihad movements (e.g., ISIL and al-Qaeda), and Iran has also engaged in state-sponsored international terrorism and antisemitic incitement.
• The FCO’s policy responses to political Islam will be multifaceted and need to balance UK national interests with other concerns. Chief among the FCO’s guiding principles vis-à-vis political Islamists should be a reaffirmation that antisemitism is inconsistent with UK values and interests; that antisemitism is often an indicator of extremism; and that the FCO and HMG should maintain a robust policy of countering antisemitism, hate speech and Holocaust denial/abuse.

Introduction

1. This submission is from the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that advises and supports the UK Jewish community in matters of antisemitism, extremism and terrorism. This submission will restrict itself to those areas of the Inquiry that relate to CST’s work and implications for the security of the UK Jewish community.

2. Since the 2011 uprisings across several Arab countries (often labelled the Arab Spring), Islamist movements and associated political parties have risen to prominence after decades in political opposition or repression.[1] Many of these which are branches or ideological affiliates of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB).

3. Political Islam, or Islamism, is not a monolithic phenomenon. The term encompasses a range of groups and actors, both Sunni and Shia, each with their individual nuances. Prominent examples include the Egyptian MB and its official branches and ideological affiliates; Hizb ut-Tahrir globally; and Iran and its proxy Hizballah, among others.

4. While the primary challenges and burdens for Islamist movements and political parties (especially once in power) are overwhelmingly national and local, anti-Jewish sentiments have been commonplace in traditional and contemporary Islamist public discourse for nearly a century. This submission will provide such examples.

5. CST submitted evidence to the Government’s Muslim Brotherhood Review and concentrated on the MB’s attitude towards Jews in Britain and around the world; its impact on community cohesion in the UK; and its attitude towards violent extremism.[2] CST has welcomed the review’s findings and its acknowledgment that, “Senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood routinely use virulent, anti-Semitic language.”[3]

6. The FCO’s policy responses to political Islam will be multifaceted and need to balance UK national interests with other concerns. Chief among the FCO’s guiding principles vis-à-vis political Islamists should be a reaffirmation that antisemitism is inconsistent with UK values and interests; that antisemitism is often an indicator of extremism; and that the FCO and HMG should maintain a robust policy of countering antisemitism, hate speech and Holocaust denial/abuse.

7. The FCO’s 2014 and 2015 Human Rights and Democracy reports rightly highlighted the UK’s work on countering antisemitism, including efforts “to develop and implement strategies to address rising antisemitism both in the UK and internationally.”[4] The 2014 report also stated that the FCO “encourage our Embassies and High Commissions across the world to remain vigilant to resurgent antisemitism and report to London on developing issues of concern.”[5] Such guidelines should continue to inform UK officials observing the activities and statements of leaders and activists in political Islamist movements abroad.

Political Islam, Antisemitism and Conspiracy Theories

8. Antisemitism is a core part of extremist ideology and is shared by violent and non-violent extremists. Indeed, it is important to recognise that antisemitism is an ideology, not a grievance against perceived Jewish or Israeli wrongdoing.

9. Antagonistic references to Israel and Israelis are often couched in anti-Jewish terms, thereby promoting the Israel-Palestinian conflict to the level of religious conflict, rather than a territorial dispute. Indeed, contemporary political grievances are used to fuel incitement against Jews. Most people who oppose Israeli policies, even those who feel anger towards Israel, do not express that opposition through violent antisemitism. Extremist ideology plays an essential role in converting such anger into attitudes that can justify calls for the murder of Jews worldwide.

10. Islamist discourse often promotes antisemitic hatred and conspiracies in sermons, speeches and communiques on the Internet and social media. This has been apparent within various streams of political Islam. Terrorist organisations that target Jews use antisemitic language and imagery as part of their propaganda. This applies to more nationally-focused Islamist organisations, such as Hamas and Hizballah,[6] as well as to global Salafi Jihad movements such as ISIL and al-Qaeda.[7]

11. Conspiracy theories that Jews (or ‘Zionists’) control global media and politics, or dictate the foreign policy of the United States and other Western powers, or encourage anti-Muslim hatred in order to subvert Islam are commonly found in the writings of Islamist ideologues and in the propaganda of contemporary Islamist extremists. This includes those who deploy violence in pursuit of their aims and those who do not.

12. Antisemitic conspiracies influence their worldview and their modus operandi. Prof Christopher Andrew, the official historian of MI5, has explained that Western observers often fail to understand the mind-set of fanatics and dismiss their obsessive conspiracy theories as irrelevant: “All fanatics are necessarily conspiracy theorists…the most dangerous fanatics, despite their conspiracy theories, are calculating and often dangerously effective.”[8] It is important to note that conspiracy theories, however irrational, can inform and motivate political violence on the part of those who believe them.

13. Hassan al-Banna (the MB’s founder) and Sayyid Qutb (the post-WWII MB ideologue) all believed in a Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world. In Qutb’s Milestones, he formulated an ideology of Islamism and its violent jihadi derivative. For him, contemporary Islam had lapsed into a state of darkness that could only be overthrown by violence; and non-Islamic religions, particularly the Jews, for whom he reserved particular opprobrium, would be required to accept Islamic dominance.

14. Qutb’s essay Our Struggle with the Jews expounded the idea that the struggle between Islam and Judaism must continue due to his view that Jews would only be satisfied with the destruction of Islam. Therefore, Muslims must fight against Jewish treachery and subjugate the Jews:

“The Jews have confronted Islam with enmity from the moment the Islamic state was established in Medina…the Muslim community continues to suffer the same Jewish machinations and double dealing which discomforted the early Muslims…This is a war which has not been extinguished.”[9]

15. The Prevent Strategy has recognised that Sayyid Qutb played a significant role in developing contemporary principles of violent jihad that were later modified by global Salafi Jihad movements such as AQ.[10]
16. Leading MB thinker Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi typifies the combination of theological anti-Judaism, modern European antisemitism and conflict-driven Judeophobia that is commonly found in contemporary Islamist attitudes to Jews. Several examples are found in Fatawa on Palestine, a collection of his writings published in English by a publisher sympathetic to the MB. Qaradawi promotes the idea that Muslims should view Jews as their enemy:

“[W]e believe that the battle between us and the Jews is coming … Such a battle is not driven by nationalistic causes or patriotic belonging; it is rather driven by religious incentives. This battle is not going to happen between Arabs and Zionists, or between Jews and Palestinians, or between Jews or anybody else. It is between Muslims and Jews as is clearly stated in the hadith. This battle will occur between the collective body of Muslims and the collective body of Jews i.e. all Muslims and all Jews.”[11]

17. According to media reports, deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi described Jews as “bloodsuckers” and “the descendants of apes and pigs”; and when a delegation of US Senators challenged these comments, he compounded the offence by implying that the reports were smears by a Jewish-controlled media.[12]
18. Although the Jordanian MB is currently in public decline, it is worth noting the statement its Council of Scholars issued in July 2014 during the Israel-Hamas hostilities. Rather than only calling to fight against Israel, which it calls “the Zionist enemy,” the Jordanian MB couched much of its official communiqué in universal anti-Jewish terms:

“The Jews are the killers of prophets, peace be upon them. They are the staunchest enemies of Islam and Muslims. Our battle against the Jews is a battle of ideology and civilization. Our conflict with them is not a conflict of borders, but a conflict of existence…The so-called peace with the Jews is only an illusion. Those who have been deceived by it from among our Ummah have reaped nothing but mirage. ”[13]

19. Islamist leaders and movements that do not themselves use violence also use antisemitic rhetoric that has the potential to incite hatred of Jews. Sheikh Qaradawi’s views above are one example. Similarly, Hizb ut-Tahrir has written that, “The Jews are cowards, they are a people of money and not a people of fighting…Know that the Jews and their usurping state in Palestine will, by the Help and Mercy of Allah (swt), be destroyed.”[14] In another statement, hosted on a website that at the time was based in the UK, Hizb ut-Tahrir wrote: “O Muslim Armies! Teach the Jews a lesson after which they will need no further lessons. March forth to fight them, eradicate their entity and purify the earth of their filth.”[15]

20. Dr Tareq Al-Suwaidan is an influential Islamist preacher, motivational speaker with a large social media following and has reportedly played an active role in the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood.[16] Although he has been described as a moderate Islamist, al-Suwaidan has made extremist remarks in his writings, speeches and on social media.[17] His book, The Jews, The Illus­trated Encyclopaedia, explains its intent as learning about Jews and “their wicked­ness, trea­son, and decep­tion which they prac­ticed with all nations so not to be deceived by them and by their promises of false peace.”[18] On 18 July 2014, al-Suwaidan tweeted a link to one of American neo-Nazi David Duke’s antisemitic videos in an attempt to explain media bias against Palestinians.[19] In November 2014, the Belgian government denied al-Suwaidan entry on the basis of extremist remarks he made in a speech.[20] He denied the allegations and also blamed the decision as coming from “pressure from the Zionist lobby.”[21]

Iran and Hizballah

21. This inquiry’s terms of reference relate to both groups and states, and Iran and Hizballah are embodiments of a particular interpretation of Shia political Islam. CST has made previous submissions on Iran, its hostile foreign policies and terrorist activities against Jewish communities worldwide.[22]

22. While current UK-Iran rapprochement may be a positive development in some policy areas, it is important that they do not undermine HMG’s policies on counter-extremism. This is based on at least three aspects:

• Iran continues to engage in state-sponsored terrorism against Jewish diaspora communities and Israeli citizens abroad.
• Iran’s leaders, especially Ayatollah Khamenei, espouse antisemitic conspiracy theories that influence Iran’s foreign policy decision-making.
• Iran’s senior leaders consider ISIL to be a conspiracy created by the West and “Zionists” to divide Muslims.

23. Prime Minister Cameron’s policy speech on extremism (July 2015) and HMG’s Counter-Extremism Strategy (October 2015) outline domestic priorities of working to prevent the diffusion of violent and non-violent extremist ideologies.[23] While the Strategy’s section on international engagement acknowledges that these policies focus on domestic extremism, the text clearly states that HMG seeks “to build a more robust international response to counter extremist ideology and propaganda” and to do so through the UK’s international networks and partners.[24] Friendlier UK-Iranian relations could compromise HMG’s counter-extremism policies, given that Iran’s leadership itself promotes extremist views and practices state-sponsored terrorism. 

24. At least since the late 1980s, Iran (primarily through its Qods Force) and Hizballah have been linked to several plots against Jewish and Israeli locations worldwide.[25] Iran makes little distinction between Israeli/Zionist and Jewish targets. The most devastating attack was the July 1994 car bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina that resulted in 85 fatalities. Since 2012, Iran and Hizballah have reportedly been responsible for a series of attacks.

25. During the March 2013 trial in a Cypriot court of Hizballah operative Hosem Taleb Yaacoub, it was revealed that he told police as follows: “I was just collecting information about the Jews. This is what my organization is doing, everywhere in the world.”[26] He was found guilty of planning to attack Israelis and holding membership of Hizballah, a criminal organisation. Another Hizballah operative was found guilty in Cyprus for a similar plot in June 2015. These events confirm Hizballah’s ongoing efforts to target Jews globally.

26. Iran also promotes antisemitism as a component of its foreign policy. Indeed, Ayatollah Khamenei has espoused antisemitic conspiracy theories on several occasions.  This includes his conspiratorial definition of Zionists:

“When we say “Zionists” we do not only mean the usurping Zionist government. That is only part of the Zionist entity. The Zionists form the major capitalists of some countries, including the United State (sic) of America, and dominate the politics of that country. Today, unfortunately, the United States, its Congress and its government, are under the spell of Zionism in different financial, economic, cultural, political and propaganda arenas. The bulk of the propaganda organs of the world mass media, furthermore, are controlled by the Zionists. Most of the famous news agencies which you know of are controlled by them.”[27]

27. Senior Iranian leaders have publically stated that ISIL and other Salafi Jihad organisations are creations of Zionism, Israel and Western governments, and that these powers support ISIL in order to divide and weaken Islam. These views appear to be commonplace public statements, drawing on classic antisemitic tropes of malign Jewish (or Zionist) power and control. Such views should not be considered purely as rhetoric disseminated for domestic consumption.

This notion has been publicly enunciated at the highest echelons of Iranian public discourse: President Rouhani described ISIL’s violence in Iraq as being “the mercenaries of Zionists”[28]; Ali Shamkhani, Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, described ISIL as “a political scam that is trying to cause a rift on religious grounds and protect the interests of the Zionist regime”[29]; and Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and one of Iran’s principal negotiators, stated that, “Takfiri terrorists are the child of the global arrogance and the International Zionism.”[30] 

April 2016