Bordeaux Imam Condemns Hamas Attack, Calls Israel-Palestine Conflict ’War of Injustices’

"It is a war of injustices. One injustice has created another injustice, it is an endless story that has been going on for decades, because each camp claims its right. But no cause, however just it may be, justifies the massacre of children, women or the elderly. Here, the first victims were the Jews," commented the Imam of Bordeaux in an interview with Le Parisien. Hamas, an Islamist movement? "That’s false and impossible," replies Tareq Oubrou. "Whatever the oppression of Israel, what they did on October 7, attacking civilians, is a terrorist act, contrary to international law, but also to Islamic canonical law. God says that we do not kill children, even in times of war."

"Hamas cannot take from the Quran what suits it, and reject what bothers it," the dignitary lashes out before insisting: "Hamas is not Palestine, nor Muslims, nor even, moreover, Arabs! We absolutely have to fight this shortcut that creates even more injustices, in Gaza and here, in France." Recalling that the starting point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "is a territorial claim," he notes that "the extreme right-wing government of Netanyahu is mobilizing religion, to mobilize the bases, the consciences," in order to achieve its ends. As a result, "there is a religious radicalization of Israeli settlers. And in front, Hamas is doing exactly the same by calling for Jihad. Religion becomes an instrument of politics," notes the Imam of Bordeaux.

What feasible solution to end the conflict? "Eradicating today’s Hamas will do nothing: there will be a Hamas bis... For me, there would have to be a binational state. But that seems impossible today, of course, the two camps would refuse this type of solution," he analyzes. Also speaking about an import of the conflict in France where more than 100 anti-Semitic acts have been recorded in the past week, Oubrou explains that "it is a classic". "This situation in Israel goes beyond its borders, it is an international problem. I say to the perpetrators of these acts: if you are a Muslim and you commit an anti-Semitic act, you blaspheme. The Quran is full of stories of Israel. To attack the Jews is to say that God himself was wrong. Yes, we can be in conflict with the people of Israel... but not religiously," he adds.