The Centrality of Anti-Semitism in the Islamic State’s Ideology and Its Connection to Anti-Shiism

Daniel Rickenbacher

doi:10.3390/rel10080483

Abstract

The Islamic State (ISIS) has repeatedly targeted Jews in terrorist attacks and incited against Jews in its propaganda. Anti-Semitism and the belief that Jews are engaged in a war against Islam has been central to Islamist thought since its inception. Islamist anti-Semitism exposes the influence of both Western conspiracy theories and Islamic traditions. This article studies the anti-Semitic themes propagated by ISIS and investigates their ideological foundations. It bases itself on an analysis of articles published in Dabiq, ISIS’ English language online magazine in the period 2014–2016. This study shows that ISIS’ relationship with Western-inspired anti-Semitic conspiracy theories is inconsistent, vacillating between rejection and acceptance. ISIS holds an apocalyptic, anti-Semitic worldview, which claims that the Shia denomination is a Jewish invention to sow disunity among Muslims and that Shia and Jews are working together to destroy Islam. ISIS’ anti-Semitism and anti-Shiism are thus inherently connected. It is vital to correctly assess the anti-Semitic ideological foundations of contemporary Islamism and Jihadism to best understand the movement. Learning about this will help lawmakers, scholars and practitioners develop strategies to deal with these movements and counter their message.

Highlights

Since 2014, Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists and sympathizers, who pledged allegiance to the group, have repeatedly targeted Jews in Western countries
An ISIS sympathizer shot at a free speech event and later at a synagogue, murdering two, including the synagogue’s security guard (Ellis 2015)
Most victims were killed in the Bataclan theatre

Summary

Introduction

Since 2014, Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists and sympathizers, who pledged allegiance to the group, have repeatedly targeted Jews in Western countries. The indiscriminate targeting of Westerners, Jews, and non-Sunni-Muslims can be rationalized by the belief that they are part of a global war to destroy Islam, which Islamists and Jihadists tend to maintain (Rickenbacher 2019). Terrorizing these groups serves the purpose of undermining their morale and deterring them from continuing their war against Islam.. In addition to Western conspiracy thought and the traditional Islamic political conception of continued warfare with the non-Muslim world, is another important source for the contemporary ‘War against Islam’ narrative It is the most important influence on ISIS’. On the evolution of individual jihad in Islamist thought, see (McGregor 2003; Hegghammer 2010)

Is Conspiracy Theory Shirk?

The Role of Israel in ISIS’ Thought

The Connection between Anti-Shiism and Anti-Semitism

Conclusions