The pro-Israel movement cannot defeat Islamist extremism by embracing hatred of Muslims.
asserted
movement → defeat → Muslims
Yet as the Abraham Accords approach their sixth anniversary, a loud faction within the movement is doing precisely that and threatening one of the most consequential achievements it claims to defend.
uncertain
it → approach → achievements
This faction insists it is protecting Israel.
asserted
it → insist → Israel
But when its rhetoric stops targeting Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other extremist movements and begins targeting Muslims as a people, it is not protecting Israel.
asserted
it → stop → Israel
It is isolating Israel, alienating potential allies, and handing Islamist propagandists exactly the narrative they want.
asserted
they → isolate → narrative
That warning came through with unusual force in my recent conversation with Loay Alshareef, an Abraham Accords peace advocate, historian, and Middle East affairs speaker.
asserted
warning → come → Alshareef
He has challenged radical Islamists, often at personal cost, without renouncing his faith.
asserted
He → challenge → faith
“I fight this battle as a Muslim, not as an ex-Muslim; as a proud Arab and a proud Muslim,” he told me.
asserted
he → fight → me
That is precisely why his message matters.
asserted
message → matter → ?
Alshareef is not asking anyone to soften the fight against terrorism or conceal the ideology that fuels it.
asserted
that → ask → it
He is demanding that Israel’s supporters preserve the distinction between Muslims and the extremists who weaponize Islam.
asserted
who → demand → Islam
Refusing to make that distinction is both morally indefensible and strategically reckless.
asserted
Refusing → refuse → distinction
Alshareef has argued that when moderate Muslims fail to confront radicals, their silence leaves extremists unchallenged.
asserted
silence → argue → extremists
He now applies the same standard to Israel’s supporters: When anti-Muslim hostility spreads inside pro-Israel circles and responsible voices say nothing, prejudice is allowed to masquerade as solidarity with Israel.
asserted
prejudice → apply → Israel
The pro-Israel movement cannot demand courage from Muslim reformers while refusing to confront prejudice in its own camp.
asserted
movement → demand → camp
Nor can it correctly condemn collective blame against Jews while tolerating collective blame against Muslims.
asserted
it → condemn → Muslims
A principle that protects only one’s own people is not a principle.
asserted
that → protect → people
If the goal is to defeat Hamas, alienating Muslims as a whole is self-defeating.
asserted
alienating → defeat → whole
If the goal is to expand Israel’s acceptance across the Middle East, expressing contempt for the very populations whose attitudes must change is sabotage.
asserted
attitudes → expand → populations
If there is no place in the pro-Israel coalition for Muslims unless they apologize for being Muslim, Islamist propagandists could hardly write a more useful recruiting message.
uncertain
propagandists → be → message
It is strategic malpractice committed in Israel’s name.
asserted
It → commit → name
Alshareef’s vision is grounded in hard political reality.
asserted
vision → ground → reality
He wants Muslims to stand against “the enemies of peace,” including Hamas, the Guard, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, and every movement that uses religion to justify extremism and violence.
asserted
that → want → extremism
At the same time, he wants Muslims to accept Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, living in peace beside Muslim and Arab neighbors, including Palestinians who deserve dignity, security, and prosperity.
asserted
who → want → dignity
Some pro-Israel advocates may hear that last clause and flinch.
uncertain
advocates → hear → clause
Supporting Israel’s legitimacy does not require indifference to Palestinian dignity, just as supporting Palestinian dignity does not require denying Jewish history or Israel’s right to exist.
asserted
supporting → support → history
The promise of normalization is that two truths can occupy the same region without either people being erased.
asserted
people → occupy → region
On Sept. 15, 2020, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords at the White House, normalizing relations and opening cooperation across trade, tourism, healthcare, and security.
asserted
Israel → sign → trade
Morocco later joined.
asserted
Morocco → join → ?
These agreements rejected the fatalistic belief that Jews and Arabs are destined to remain permanent enemies.
asserted
Jews → reject → belief
Their foundation was shared interest, mutual respect, and the willingness to choose cooperation over inherited hostility.
asserted
foundation → share → hostility
Alshareef recalled that during his first visit to Israel, senior government officials spoke proudly about their Muslim friends and Israel’s Muslim community.
asserted
officials → recall → friends
They understood something every pro-Israel advocate should understand: A war against the terrorists of Hamas must never become a war against Muslims.
asserted
war → understand → Muslims
Maintaining that discipline is difficult in an American political culture that rewards outrage over precision.
asserted
that → maintain → precision
Social media turns every terrorist into a representative of an entire religion and every hateful protester into proof that coexistence is impossible.
asserted
coexistence → turn → proof
Anger may produce clicks, applause, and viral posts.
uncertain
Anger → produce → clicks
It does not produce alliances, normalization, or peace.
asserted
It → produce → alliances
None of this requires euphemism about Islamist extremism.
asserted
None → require → extremism
In fact, precision makes the confrontation stronger.
asserted
confrontation → make → fact
Name the Muslim Brotherhood and the networks, financiers, and apologists that empower them.
asserted
that → name → them
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
