The problem of jihadism is much bigger than Israel, or even global anti-Semitism, says American philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris, citing the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks of 2008. In the case of Israel and Palestine, he says, until the Palestinians rid themselves of their jihadists, a stable peace isn’t possible.
“Look at the history of terrorism in Pakistan or India. If you want a totally painless way to do this, watch ‘Hotel Mumbai’—it’s a great film that depicts the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008, by the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba. If you’ve forgotten, around a dozen jihadists killed over 160 people in Mumbai, many at the Taj Hotel, and the film shows this with brutal realism," Harris says in his podcast, The Bright Line Between Good And Evil. “And while they killed some Jews too, at a Jewish centre, this attack had nothing to do with Israel, or America, or race, or so-called ‘settler colonialism’, or any of the other factors that Leftist fellow travelers have been fixated on since October 7th. Really, this is the least boring piece of homework you will ever be given. Go watch ‘Hotel Mumbai’, and once the killing starts, ask yourself how anyone, East or West, Muslim or non-Muslim, can live with these people."
Collateral damage in Gaza has convinced much of the world that Israel is the real aggressor here, says Harris. “The fact that millions of people can’t do the moral arithmetic here, or have confidently produced the wrong answer, is itself an enormous problem for open societies everywhere—because this should not have been confusing," he says. “Hamas took a sadistic pleasure in torturing and killing noncombatants that should have made it instantly clear, to everyone, certainly everyone on a college campus, that jihadist groups like Hamas are the permanent enemies of civilisation."
Most people in the West still don’t understand the problem of jihadism, says the public intellectual. “We often speak about ‘terrorism’ and ‘violent extremism’ generically. And we are told that any linkage between these evils and the doctrine of Islam is spurious, and nothing more than an expression ‘Islamophobia’," he says. “Incidentally, the term ‘Islamophobia’ was invented in the 1970s by Iranian theocrats, to do just this: prevent any criticism of Islam and to cast secularism itself as a form of bigotry."
Israel’s behaviour is not what explains the suicidal and genocidal inclinations of a group like Hamas, but the Islamic doctrines of martyrdom and jihad do, Harris says.
“These are religious beliefs, sincerely held. They are beliefs about the moral structure of the universe. And they explain how normal people—even good ones—can commit horrific acts of violence against innocent civilians—on purpose, not as collateral damage—and still consider themselves good," he says. “When you believe that life in this world has no value, apart from deciding who goes to hell and who goes to Paradise, it becomes possible to feel perfectly at ease killing noncombatants, or even using your own women and children as human shields, because you know that any Muslims who get killed will go to Paradise for eternity."
According to Harris, it really is possible to be critical of Israel, and to be committed to the political rights of the Palestinian people, without being confused about the reality of Islamic religious fanaticism—or the threat that it poses not just to Israel, but to open societies everywhere.
“If there is a stable political settlement to ever be reached between Israel and the Palestinians, it will entail a full untangling of the facts from all the propaganda that obscures them, while keeping the problem of jihadism in view," Harris says.
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