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The Roots of the Oct. 7 Massacre
(Israel Hayom) Professor Moshe Sharon interviewed by Nadav Shragai - Professor Moshe Sharon, 86, one of the most senior Middle East scholars in Israel, is convinced that the majority of Israelis have no real idea as to the profound depth of the hatred of Jews and Israel that is ingrained in Islam. These are the roots that gave birth to the vicious massacre carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7. "For years now, we have been busy telling ourselves stories that we have wanted to believe," says Sharon. "Some of this stems from ignorance and a lack of familiarity with the most basic issues in Islam, and we really insist on not looking the reality of the situation squarely in the eye." Sharon, a special consultant on Arab affairs to the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin, headed the Department of Islamic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He notes: "From the outset, Islam has abhorred the Jews. The Jews' decision to reject the teachings of Muhammad was sufficient to categorize them as the 'enemies of Islam,' and this animosity of Islam towards the Jews is a continuing sentiment." "We projected our desires and view of things onto the Muslim world. We deluded ourselves into thinking that what we want is what they want. We sincerely desire peace, but that term, as both you and I understand it, does not exist at all in their lexicon....The implication of this is that if you are going to pay for 'peace,' you are in fact going to pay for something that simply does not exist. It is a fiction....We must be sufficiently strong so that Islam will have an alibi to enter into an agreement with us. Islam needs that alibi in order to establish a pact with the Jews." (Israel Hayom)