Relative of Israeli Muslim Bedouin hostages challenges narrative that Hamas members are 'good Muslims'

The terrorist organization Hamas is responsible for launching an attack against southern Israeli communities on Oct, 7, massacring 1,200 men, women and children and kidnapping at least 250 people.

The victims of the Oct. 7 attack and atrocities, including rape and torture, were Jewish, Christian and Muslim citizens of Israel, as well as foreign nationals.

Bashir Ziyadna, a 28-year-old Muslim Bedouin Israeli from the Negev, has been campaigning for months for the release of two relatives who were brutally kidnapped by Hamas on the day of the attack.

His second cousin Youssef Ziyadna and Youssef’s son Hamza were kidnapped from their place of work on Kibbutz Holit, adjacent to Gaza. In addition, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza abducted Youssef’s children, Bilal and Aisha, who were both released as part of a hostage deal in late November.

Ziyadne says he and other like-minded Muslims challenge the popular media narrative in the Middle East that Hamas members are “good Muslims.”

"Al Jazeera did not want to speak with us, because we challenge their narrative that Hamas is the resistance, that they’re good Muslims," Ziyadna said in an interview with the Times of Israel. "Some Muslim viewers would be okay with the fact that Hamas killed Jews in Israel because they think every one of them is a soldier or a potential soldier. Hamas always says that there are no real civilians in Israel, including children."

"Some think that each [Israeli] is eventually going to join the army, so it’s okay to kill them. By the way, nobody from my family served in the IDF,” he added.

Ziyadna stressed the importance of informing the Muslim world about Hamas' atrocities against other Muslims, including his relatives.

“People really like this polarization where Israel is portrayed as the occupier and Palestinians as freedom fighters, but it’s not true. We [Bedouins] show that Hamas captured Muslims and even killed 17 from our community. Hamas does not really want peace or prosperity. It is a terrorist group run by fundamentalists who will destroy everyone and everything in order to achieve its goal, which is unrealistic, and quite horrifying as well,” Ziyadna assessed.

Like many Israeli citizens, he criticized the Israeli government’s failure to prevent the Oct. 7 attack.

“On October 7, like countless families in the south and the north, my family and I woke up to a nightmare that, in my opinion, a responsible government could have easily prevented.”

Israeli Bedouins played a prominent role in defending Israel during Hamas' Oct. 7 invasion.

Muslim IDF soldiers from the Bedouin community were among the first to join the fight against the large number of Hamas terrorists who infiltrated Israel. Their heroism and sacrifice prevented an even larger number of casualties. In addition, Muslim Israeli citizens played an active role in assisting victims of the attack.