Newly Published Anti-IS ‘Manual’ Pits Gaza Islamists Against Each Other

JAFFA, Israel – An Islamic group in Gaza raised the ire of Islamic State supporters after it published a manual entitled The Suspicious Story of IS and Ways to Deal With It.

The publication, written by the Islamic theologian Imad Addin Khiti and disseminated by a group calling itself The Sunna People – The Prophet’s Supporters, Loyalists, and Friends, was called defamatory and blasphemous by IS.

IS supporters accused the Sunna People of promoting a Shi’ite agenda, saying that the booklet “praises Iran and the Syrian regime while denigrating jihadi warriors in Syria and Iraq and questioning the concept of jihad.”

“Behold the levels of infidelity some people can reach,” wrote Dr Suliman Kahlut, a Gaza physician and IS supporter. “Gaza is coping with soaring rates of suicide, a testament of the advent of poverty and economic distress, and some people use foreign aid money to spread this divisive message instead of caring for the poor who were abandoned by the government and aid organizations.”

“At least 20,000 copies of the publication have been printed, at a cost of at least NIS 20,000 [US$5,000],” he continued. “That sum could have alleviated the distress of many poor people. Instead, they’re having a go at IS.”

“Isn’t it enough that the entire world fights IS; you have to jump on the bandwagon as well?” he added. “At this time, when ignorance on all matters religious reigns in Palestine, is that the most important thing? [If they had] dedicated their publication to criticizing the decline of religion and morality and to promoting Sharia, then Allah would have been on our side.”

“I was shocked to realize that there are some people among us who adopt Western perceptions while pretending to be in favor of the Palestinians, and use aid money to disseminate these foreign ideas,” he concluded.

The authors, wrote Facebook commenter Naseh Gazawi, “wish to promote moderation, but in fact spread Islam on American terms. So congratulations upon this Palestinian-American wedding.”

Another commenter, Rami Abu Jalalah, wrote, “the real purpose of this book is to glorify Shia and Iran and lambaste Sunni leaders.”