Terror attack in Moscow and Oct. 7: Similarities and differences
After the terror attack at the Crocus City Hall during a concert west of Moscow killed more than 130 people, Russia is observing a national day of mourning. Video footage from the attack show men in military-style gear massacring civilians. Russia says it has arrested the four attackers.
The attack in Moscow is similar to many other ISIS and other extremist attacks around the world, most like the November 2015 Bataclan attack in Paris, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Westgate Mall attack in Kenya, and also the Moscow theater siege in 2002.
It also reminds us of the October 7 attack. Like October 7, this involved several armed men murdering civilians. The videos show the same adoration of massacre in the eyes of the killers as they seem to enjoy machine-gunning people who are trying to flee.
In general, it is there that the similarities to October 7 end. This is because the reaction of the world has been completely different to the attack in Moscow and the attack in Israel. When hundreds of Hamas terrorists committed a similar massacre in Israel, many of the countries that have condemned the attack in Russia, did not condemn the attack in Israel. For instance, Russia, China, Iran, Qatar, Turkey and many other countries that condemned the Moscow attack did not condemn the October 7 attack. In fact many of those countries have sought to justify the October 7 attack. There is also a major campaign of denial about the Hamas crimes of October 7. For instance an Algerian senator recently denied the Hamas sexual assaults that took place on October 7. In the Moscow attack the attackers did not commit sexual assault, so there is no comparison in that regard.
When it comes to condemnation that is one level in which we can see the hypocrisy of the world. This hypocrisy is not total. Many western countries did condemn the attack on Israel and also condemned the attack on Russia.
Now it’s important to look at several other contrasts. The attack on Russia has spawned rumors of conspiracies. Some on social media have claimed the attack was a “false flag” while others have asserted that ISIS may have been “hired” for the attack. These voices present ISIS as a tool of some other terrorists’ agenda.
Usually these types of conspiracy theorists claim ISIS is linked to the US, or even to Israel. In essence you have a whole echo chamber of people who not only deny the October 7 attack, but then claim Israel is behind the attack on Russia. For these people Israel is always to blame for everything, and any attack on Israel is always denied, or excused and justified. While it may seem that these conspiracies are marginal, they tend to infect a swath of the far-right and far-left online. Some of the accounts that push them have hundreds of thousands of followers.
Another contrast between the attack on Russia and the attack on Israel is the intelligence warning provided by the West to Russia before the attack. According to reports Moscow was warned about a threat, Israel was not warned. Why wasn’t Israel warned about October 7? Hamas is labeled a terrorist group by the US and some other countries. However, Hamas is also hosted Qatar, a major non-NATO ally in the Middle East. In addition Turkey, a member of NATO, hosts Hamas members. This means two of the West’s closest allies host Hamas. The West may not have gotten wind of the Hamas plans because their allies are hosting the group. In essence this means Israel gets less warning than Russia, and then less support after attacks. Western countries and their allies do not host terrorist groups that attack Russia.
Hamas is not just hosted, but it has been systematically empowered and enriched via Western allies. Hamas took over Gaza unilaterally in 2007, after committing crimes against the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. However, oddly,
Western countries then consented to Qatar hosting Hamas. From 2007 Hamas expanded exponentially in terms of its arsenal. While the West fought ISIS and terror groups that target Russia, the West enabled their allies to empower Hamas. Tragically, the result was October 7.
AFTER OCTOBER 7 Hamas is still hosted by Western allies. This means that Hamas is not being fully condemned in the West, but is treated sort of like the Taliban was for many years, it is kept at arms length, being made ready to return to power. The Taliban was brought to power in Afghanistan to push away the western-backed government in Kabul. It’s not clear whether in a few years the same may not happen with Hamas brought to the West Bank. What is clear is that in contrast to the many countries that would never back terror against Russia, it is considered normal to have Hamas hosted throughout many countries in the Middle East, including the closest allies of the West.
Russia’s response to the terror attack has not yet become clear.
Because ISIS does not control an area that can be targeted, it may be hard for Russia to respond. Some have suggested that Russia will find another scapegoat, such as Ukraine. Several commentators have wondered whether the international community will back a Russian response, similar to Israel’s in Gaza. Those who make this comparison assert that a large number of civilians have been killed in Gaza, and suggest a Russian response like that would not be accepted. However, others point out that, in contrast to Israel, no one is calling for an immediate “ceasefire” by Moscow against terrorists.
When we look at the attacks on Russia and Israel, the similarities are clear when it comes to the methods of the terrorists and the consequences to the victims. The victims were massacred. The murderous gunmen felt they could massacre civilians with impunity. Hamas and ISIS have the same murderous methods. However, no hostages were taken in Moscow and apparently no sexual assault.
The similarities end here, because Hamas is backed by Western allies and ISIS is not hosted by Western allies. Too many countries did not condemn the Hamas attack on October 7, whereas most of the world has condemned the attack on Russia. Moscow received advanced warning of a potential attack, but no one warned Israel. Israel faces more hurdles before defeating Hamas in Gaza, because of international demands for a ceasefire and for Hamas to be allowed to remain in Rafah and control aid, whereas Russia can act without restraint if it can overcome the hurdle presented by the fact that ISIS doesn’t clearly control any terrain today.