There are a variety of things we can draw from the polling results on international support for the radical Muslim group, ISIS. While it is alarming that 27% of young French people support the group, it is also instructive that 85% of Gazans have an unfavorable view of ISIS. What this shows is that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is completely distinct from al-Qaeda or from the lunatics who are overrunning parts of Syria and Iraq.
It should be remembered that both ISIS and Hamas are Sunni organizations, which is why ISIS is fighting the Alawite regime in Syria and the Shiite-dominated government in Iraq, and why Hamas was expelled from Syria. But Gazans are not showing any sectarian affinity for ISIS. Hamas is most associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is also a Sunni organization. The Brotherhood can properly be considered a radical organization. They are certainly quite religiously conservative. But we can see that they are actually quite distinct from more Saudi-inspired groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS.
I know this is all quite complicated, but it actually matters a lot, because the threat from Hamas is often overstated but the threat from ISIS is not. If you are an Israeli who has to run to a bomb shelter several times a day, the distinction might be easy to miss, but it is nonetheless a huge distinction. While it is difficult and painful, you can negotiate with Hamas. You cannot negotiate with ISIS. They are as big of a threat to the Sunni community as they are to Shiites, Christians, Jews, and other religious minorities.
I am beginning to be very confused about the state of contemporary Islam, and the various factions in the various countries. Is anyone aware of a contemporary book or in-depth discussion of the situation with Sunni, Shi’ite, militant factions, and governments in the various parts where Islam is the dominant religion? Of course, ISIS is quite recent, so such a book might not yet exist. If so, there may be a huge opening….
Someone else can recommend a book.
The basics are that most Muslims are Sunnis. There are Shiite majorities in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan. They have large populations in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Lebanon (where Hizbollah represents them). There are also a lot of Shiites on the Subcontinent and South Asia.
Syria is run by Alawites, who are more closely associated with Shiites than with Sunnis.
Other than Hizbollah, all the well-known Muslim terrorist groups are Sunni. But that hasn’t prevented Iran and Syria from supporting groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the past. It is only now that Syria has broken down into sectarian civil war that support for those groups has stopped.
The Muslim Brotherhood has been around for almost 100 years now and it is opposed by all the Sunni regimes, although they briefly ran Egypt under Morsi before the army took over. The reason Gaza is getting pounded without much complaint by the Sunni regimes is because Hamas is considered to be basically a part of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Al-Qaeda was a merger of Sunnis opposed to Mubarak’s rule in Egypt (Zawahiri) and Sunnis opposed to the House of Saud (bin-Laden). ISIS is focused on the governments in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
The Saudis are an interesting case because they are opposed by these groups, but also funded by them. Their strategy is to export their radicals. This began with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but is had continued without ceasing ever since.
You forgot Turkey…they are playing the same support both sides like the Saudis.
MB is supported by Qatar; has a major militia in Syria, Jaish Al-Islam; a large portion in the expatriot Syrian SNC; a compassionate ear in Turkey’s ruling party, AKP; an unbanned significant branch in Jordan; and sort of spin off called Ennahda in Tunisia that holds a lot if not the majority of the seats in their parliament.
Saudi Arabia exports their extremist ideology but are small minority in the Islamic world and their educational system produces willing jihadis but wealthy Gulfies willing to finance extremist groups funnel much of their money through Kuwaiti charities.
This is a good synopsis. I recommend http://juancole.com and Juan Cole’s book “the New Arabs”.
I would add that I think there is an overemphasis on religion and sect as the origin of things. I think politics and economics are more the drivers.
Considering Hamas and ISIS, they are very different. But why? True, you could call both of them fundamentalist Islamic political movements, but Hamas exists in the context of a urban, relatively well-educated population. Hamas has never attacked or kidnapped an American citizen that I know of. Palestinians, in the territories, are used to Americans there in the role of aid workers and Palestinian rights activists. They understand nuance. Also Hamas is popular with a minority of Gazans even, and largely have come to power due to PA decrepitude and corruption.
ISIS on the other hand has had a fertile environment to grow its current strain of extremism. The Iraq upheaval made space for criminal and violent minded people to operate, and religion is oh-so commonly recruited as and excuse for this sort of thing. The Syrian war brought yet more scope, recruits and financial backers, and here we are.
I think ISIS is much closer kin to The Lords Army, the Bosnian Serb Republic, Sendero Luminoso, Khmer Rouge and the like than it is to other political islamic movements. Its there because all around us are people who would partake in this kind of brutality against their fellow man if given the chance, and thanks to Saddam, Dick and George, Bashar, Bibi and the like, they have found a paradise on earth. Unlike in Gaza the human terrain is already divided by sect and tribe, easily preyed upon and set against the other. And awash in military hardware.
Finally a distinctive feature of some of these societies is a huge rich-poor divide. We americans might complain about the growing disparity in this country, but in e.g. Egypt, where I lived for a number of years, you would be amazed. A super-rich class basically runs the place, and always has, and has much to protect from the underclass, using institutions of the state to do so (interior ministry, army, civil services, state schools and accreditation of preachers, etc). Meanwhile, the underclass makes do with what it has, and in this political environment Islam has been found to have the most traction. Given the events of the last year we’ll see going forward if that continues to be the case.
27% of young French people are probably North African Muslims.
perhaps, by why so radicalized?
Try growing up in a country that considers you to be inferior, at best a second class citizen. Radicalization is not hard to imagine at all.
+1 (also can extend this reasoning to much of the continent not just France)
And where your employment chances are minimal at best.
And then there’s this:
Remember Max Cleland?
The August vacation again comes back to bite. And every attempt by the administration to hype war hysteria over the Islamic State and Syria comes back to disadvantage Democratic candidates.
Democrats cannot take advantage of the war president game the way that Republicans do.
Whatever happened to “peace and prosperity”?
Not all extremists are alike. Then there are the ones running for office in this country. Where’s the attack on them?
The opposition movement of Syria [outsiders brought in by the West for regime change] was divided between the MB states and the Salafist/Wahhabist nations. Infighting made it impossible for Secretary Clinton to start negotiations with Russia/Syria for a political solution. As time passed, the civil war became sectarian when traveling jihadists entered the fray. Saudi Prince Bandar became the architect of the war when the House of Assad didn’t crumble as predicted by President Obama. Prince Bandar emptied the Saudi prisons and death row inmates for redemption and a ticket to paradise to fight in Syria. Indeed, cut-throats.
○ How ISIS Was Nurtured In Syria and Matured in Iraq
○ Quite Depressing Really, Obama and the ISIS Crisis
BTW Egypt and UAE, ally nations in the overthrow of Gaddafi, have send fighter jets into Libya for bombing raids. If the US can, why can’t other nations bomb, invade and terrorize?
I’m not sure why the actions of Egypt and UAE need be an indictment of the US. It’s certainly true that these countries can use our bombings and invasions as a justification but you should recognize that they also have their own separate national interests that led them to take these actions. I will say that it’s a bit much for the West to be criticizing foreign interference in Libya.
○ 5 Ironies of US Reaction to Egypt/UAE Bombing of Libya
○ US says UAE bombed Libya Islamists as turmoil deepens