Surging extremism in the wake of the Gaza War is no coincidence

As the war over Gaza rages, it has inspired a wave of hate crimes and terrorist attacks and deepened political divisions across the United States and Europe. 

Seventy-one-year-old Joseph Czuba has been charged with murdering a 6-year-old Palestinian boy and attempting to murder his mother. He allegedly blamed them for the Hamas attack on Israel and reportedly yelled, “All Muslims must die,” while stabbing the boy more than 26 times. 

In France, a Muslim man of Chechen descent allegedly stabbed a teacher to death and wounded others, while yelling “Allahu Akbar” (God is great!). 

A Tunisian man is accused of shooting dead two Swedish soccer fans at a match in Brussels.  

Authorities have not been able to link any of these murders directly to Hamas or establish that the accused killers were motivated by events in the Middle East. However, since the deadly attacks occurred in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas invasion and Israeli response, an inspirational connection seems likely. 

London has seen a dramatic spike in both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents.  

The city has experienced a 1,350 percent increase in hate crimes against Jews since the outbreak of the Israel-Palestine crisis. The Metropolitan police investigated 218 antisemitic offenses between Oct. 1-18 compared to 15 during the same period last year. 

Islamophobic offenses in the city increased 140 percent from 42 in 2022 to 103 this year.  

The U.S. has been on heightened alert since the beginning of the conflict. 

“Here in the U.S., we cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or other foreign terrorist organizations could exploit the conflict to call on their supporters to conduct attacks on our own soil,” FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Oct. 15.  

The extremist threat does not, however, come exclusively from international groups. 

“As the Israel-Hamas conflict continues, we have seen an increase in reports of threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities and institutions,” the Department of Homeland Security warned Oct. 18. “Lone offenders, motivated by a range of violent ideologies, pose the most likely threat.” 

Jewish and Muslim communities face a double threat. They may be attacked by people who blame them for the current crisis, as was the case with the murdered Palestinian boy in Plainfield. But they may also be targeted by white supremacists who hate both groups.  

Lone wolves may be motivated by a particular incident or inspired by the general rise in tension that accompanies a crisis to go after members of a community they already despise.

A man in Lombard, Ill., has been arrested for threatening two Muslim men. He told one of them to “return to his country,” suggesting that generic xenophobia rather than the current crisis motivated him. 

The NYPD is looking for a man who punched a woman in Grand Central Station, telling her he did it because “you are Jewish.” 

On the evening of Oct. 13, the beginning of Shabat, multiple synagogues in Pennsylvania received bomb threats as have Jewish houses of worship across the country. 

The current spike in hate crimes occurs amid an alarming rise in antisemitism in recent years. The Anti-Defamation League recorded 3,697 incidents including vandalism, harassment, threats and assault in 2022, a 36 percent increase from the previous year.  

Across the U.S. and in many countries around the world, large demonstrations in support of Palestinians have been taking place. The vast majority have been peaceful, but some of the slogans being shouted are dangerous. 

“Free Palestine” is a legitimate statement of solidarity. “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” echoes Hamas’s goal of destroying the Jewish state, and “death to Israel” is a call to commit genocide.

Pro-Israel demonstrations have been fewer, generally much smaller, and more subdued, with participants expressing solidarity with what they see as their historic homeland. 

However, there has been a disturbing tendency among some groups to equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.  

A few years ago, journalist Abraham Gutman criticized Benjamin Netanyahu for claiming to represent not merely Israel but “the entire Jewish people,” thus creating a “problematic tautology . . . criticism of Israel must be criticism of all Jewish people — and hence antisemitic.”  

Then there was the ugly episode last spring when Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir joined a Jerusalem day procession during which far-right youths marched through the Old City, some of them chanting “death to Arabs.” 

“Truth,” it has often been said, “is the first casualty of war.” Tolerance and empathy also fall soon after the first shots are fired. 

With few exceptions, the Gaza War has pushed supporters of both Israelis and Palestinians into opposing corners like boxers preparing for a bout. 

I am struck by how often I have seen the phrases “I stand with Israel,” and “I stand with Palestine” plastered on banners and social media posts as though they are mutually exclusive articles of faith.  

A person can unequivocally support Israel’s right to exist within safe and secure borders while recognizing that its government has violated the rights of Palestinians who are just as deserving of a homeland. 

There are, however, signs of hope. While American campuses have been rocked by demonstrations and counterdemonstrations, there have also been prayer vigils and dialogue in which students reach across the ethnic/religious divide. 

American Jewish activist groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow are protesting using the slogan, “Not in our name” and calling for a ceasefire. In Israel, the peace group “Standing Together” struggles against overwhelming odds to find a way out of the endless cycle of violence. 

The United Nations is also calling for an immediate cease-fire to end the humanitarian suffering in Gaza, the vast majority of whose people had nothing to do with Hamas’s murderous attack.  

The only alternative is for Israel to fight a grueling street-by-street battle to occupy Gaza and destroy Hamas. That would be the easy part. They would then have to govern it themselves or find a suitable Palestinian group to do so. Neither option seems very likely. 

Stopping the killing seems like the only option even when no one has a plan for a lasting settlement. But then as Ben Franklin, wisely said, “There never was a good war or a bad peace.” 

Tom Mockaitis is a professor of history at DePaul University and the author of “Violent Extremists: Understanding the Domestic and International Terrorist Threat.”