The false victory of jihadist ideology and the destruction of Gaza

Since I was a small child and until today, every time jihadist Islamists wage a war, I hear them talk about the victory they achieved in every battle they fight against the "infidels," as they call them. They constantly tell us about victory. Even in school, we studied their triumphs; we were taught that for 1,400 years up to this day, they have been the victors. 

But when we look at the results they’ve achieved, it seems they are the defeated ones — not just defeated, but they bring destruction to an entire people. Since I was born in this country and in their wars with Israel over the past 15 years, each time the jihadists are the ones defeated, bringing devastation and ruin to their own people. 

Yet, at the end of every war, they appear on media outlets and in the streets, bragging about their victory! Despite the destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, roads, and all the essentials of life, they come and tell us about their victory! Despite causing the deaths of thousands of children, women, elderly people, and entire families wiped from existence, they still come out and tell us about their victory! 

In this article, I want to tell you about the “Palestine” jihadists who deceive and speak of their false victory in every war they wage with Israel, exploiting the emotions and sentiments of an entire people. Using religion to achieve their fabricated triumph, they exploit naive, ignorant, blind minds living in the darkness of Islam. Despite the destruction they’ve brought upon them, these people still applaud the jihadists, call them "soldiers of God," and say they will bring victory, claiming they are the group spoken of by the Prophet Muhammad. 

These jihadist Islamic factions in Palestine belong to an Islam that was born as a violent religion; its founder was a violent figure, and his early companions were violent, both among themselves and against others. Islam was violent toward neighboring Christian and Jewish tribes and spread through violence to neighboring countries. This violent trait has persisted throughout 1,400 years of the Islamic caliphate. Even today, it manifests in organizations like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Iranian regime, and others. Islamic violence continues to pose a threat, particularly to the West and Israel.

In every war that Hamas and the so-called "resistance" factions enter with Israel, they emerge at the end celebrating, prostrating, thanking God for the victory they claim to have achieved — in the wars of 2014, 2021, and most recently in the war of October 7, 2023. 

Here’s the question: What victory are they talking about? Did you occupy a part of Israel? Did you destroy Israeli cities with your futile rockets? Did you kill a large number of Jews? Is sending people to shelters a victory? What is it that you achieved that makes you victorious? Or is the destruction you brought upon an entire people due to your reckless decision a victory in your eyes, something you celebrate? Or is the release of a few prisoners from jails in exchange for the deaths of thousands and the destruction of thousands of homes a victory?

Do Hamas leaders and these terrorist factions know that thousands of people are living in tents because their homes were destroyed due to October 7? Do they know that thousands are under the rubble, thousands have been killed, thousands are missing, and thousands of the injured have lost parts of their bodies? Do they know that thousands have lost their jobs, their families, their possessions, their dreams, and everything they owned because of this reckless decision that led an entire people to devastation and ruin? How could they care, when they follow a doctrine that brings nothing but destruction and ruin? In their ideology, killing is a victory, destruction is a victory, and death is a victory. And every time they come out to tell us about their victories, there are thousands of ignorant people applauding them despite the devastation they’ve caused, while the leaders and their families live safely, far away from this destruction.

Worse still, those who applaud them have suffered greatly because of them. Thousands in the West Bank have lost their livelihoods due to October 7, yet they still glorify them and celebrate their false victory because they share the same ideology. In their doctrine, they’ve managed to deceive an entire people—a people who have become blind, unable to see, rejoicing in fake victories that are really a catastrophe. 

Recently, during a ceasefire, I was speaking with a Gazan friend who lost much of his family in this war. He said, “I don’t want anyone to talk to me about any victory. We are the defeated, and Israel is the victor.” I asked him, “Would you like to tell me more about your family’s situation there in Gaza?”

He said, “My family lost a four-story house and has nowhere to go. Hamas has destroyed us. In every war they start with Israel, the Gazan citizen is the biggest loser, and no one cares! And in the end, they come out telling us about their fake victory. What victory are they talking about?” 

He also told me, “There are many Hamas supporters watching from afar on their TV screens in their nice homes, cheering for them without any idea of what the Gazan citizen is going through. If you say anything against Hamas, they’ll attack you immediately and accuse you of treason and Zionism.” Sadly, only one out of every ten people I’ve met realizes that what Hamas did was the destruction of Gaza and its people, not a victory.

Hamas didn’t stop at destroying Gaza. Wherever these terrorists are present, they turn the place into a hell, as is happening now in parts of the West Bank. There are groups of armed men who adopt Hamas’ ideology, wanting to destroy Israel, and every time they cause destruction in the places where they operate, they come out telling us about their victory. 

Unfortunately, there are still those who sing their praises, glorify them, and encourage their violence. Because Israel has every right to defend itself against those who seek to wipe it out, the life of the Palestinian citizen has become miserable due to this terrorist group they cheer for. In the West Bank, Palestinian citizens end up waiting at checkpoints for hours, unable to move freely. As a Palestinian, I have experienced the same suffering. I have a question for those citizens who still applaud them while suffering because of them: Why do you adopt their false narrative, fabricated by corrupt individuals for their own interests? What have they achieved for you except destruction and death, promising you a fake victory that never has and never will come true?

I know that many Arab responses, if you answer, will be aggressive, accusing me of treason and Zionism. But I hope you’ll think with your minds, not your emotions and sympathies, which these factions exploit to achieve their goals. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 30:19...

“19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,”

In all the wars waged by jihadist Islamists, they choose death over life. They choose death for their people, they choose destruction for their people, for they love death and ruin more than their own people. And God in the Holy Bible says, "If you choose life, I will give you life, but if you choose death, you will receive death." When Hamas’ men decided to attack Israel on October 7, they chose death for themselves and their people, and the consequences were dire! And now they celebrate these dire consequences that they brought upon themselves and their people. I hope that one day the Palestinians will wake up and choose life instead of death, that they will choose Jesus, who gives life.