Western Democracies Face Not Only Hamas The Physical Organization But Also Hamas The Idea, Part Of A Broader Islamist Infrastructure

In a recent essay for *The Caravan*, [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/ayaan-hirsi-ali) discusses Hamas—both the organization and the idea—and rise of Islamism in the West amid the conflict in the Middle East. All are dangerous, she asserts. Hamas the organization seeks to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamist state. As to Hamas the idea, Islamism or Islamist infrastructure now exists within Western democracies and sympathy for Hamas is on the rise. Hirsi Ali argues, “To the extent Western governments support taking measures against Hamas as a physically existing institution, Hamas the idea (which is indeed the exact same idea that animated Al-Qaeda and ISIS) risks being overlooked because it appears less tangible, less acute, more diffuse, and less immediately relevant.” Islamist organizations have successfully immersed themselves and their message into schools, media outlets, local government, and other arenas in the US and Europe. Islamist movements fashion themselves as representing and fighting against the “oppressor.” But, as the author states, “Islamist movements are themselves both oppressive and repressive. . . . Wherever Islamist movements come to power, human suffering increases greatly.”

Hirsi Ali concludes that Western countries must be vigilant and proactive in their battle against both the entity and the idea of Hamas and other Islamist organizations.