Hamas vs. IS [formerly ISIS] - Two Sides of the Same Coin, according to Netanyahu ?

Submitted by Ludvikus (United States), Aug 23, 2014 at 10:08

Dear Daniel Pipes,

As you can read in the link below, Netanyahu got in trouble for equating Hamas and IS; however, the controversy appears to be rooted in the use of the image of Foley and his grusome death, rather than in the veracity of the comparison at issue.

We know that Hamas attempted to distance itself from the Muslim Brotherhood ("MS") because of Sisi's animosity to the MB, having toppled the regime of "Muslim Brother Morsi."

Hamas purports to be a National Liberation Movement, and that's supposed to mark the difference; however, we also know that other factions are permitted to exist, ans are tolerated, within Gaza.

Appart from such co-existence, we know that there is an aversion in other Sunni and Shia countries, the most powerful of which are Saudi Arabia and Iran, who are opposed to vehemently opposed IS - by stigmatizing IS as Terrorists."

So in fact the differences which exist among the diverse divisions of Islamist organizations and regimes are more like the differences among political parties. It seems that the comparison that Netanyahu makes between Hamas and IS is only disturbed by a need to be sensitive to the family of American journalist Foley; Islamism hasn't yet sufficiently set, and neither have its two particular branches, Hamas and IS, for the equating of the two by Netanyahu to be illegitimate. "The Clash of Civilizations" continues, and Israel is on the Front Line, whereas IS is in the Heartland - Damascus and Bagdhad were once flourishing Capitals of the Caliphate as it moved out in Conquest out of its Womb in the Arabian Peninsula after Muhammad had converted the prime cities of Medina and Mecca. Who is to say whether the Hamas and IS "split" or division is as significant as that first great split in Islam where the Sunni and Shia permanently and violently split from one another; for the time being the difference is merely geographical: Hamas dominates Gaza while IS dominants substantial chunks of Syria and Iraq. And, incidentally, until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine (including Jordan) and Jerusalem were merely parts of Greater Syria, and even these distinctions among the Arabs were only administratively developed when the "Sick Man of Europe" in the 19th Century started adopting European/Western distinctions. And today, there less talk of Pan-Arabism, or Arab Nationalism. It is true that there are diverse "Arab" countries with Patriotism within them, reflecting the European notion of Nationalism. However, both the Muslim Brotherhood (of which Hamas is an offshoot) and the Islamic State (IS, which proclaims itself to be the Caliphate) are reversions to the Glorious Past of Islam which, incidentally, even attempts to supercede the 500 hundred years or so when the non-Arab Turks ruled as Caliphs and Islam changed. And even Turkey itself is currently in the process of repudiating Secularism.

So, Daniel Pipes, should we not defend Netanyahu in his effort to put Hamas and IS "in the same bag," so to speak?

"Israel Does About-Face Over Hamas-ISIS Tweet; Social Media Storm Over James Foley Photo Prompts Change of Images" by Joshua Mitnick, August 22, 2014

http://online.wsj.com/articles/israel-does-about-face-over-hamas-isis-tweet-1408724928#printMode

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