Islamic State, Al-Qaeda Call for Violence Against Jewish Communities Following October 7 Attack

Though Salafi-jihadist groups like the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda (AQ) have a long and well-established history of making calls for violence against Jews, over the last few months they have capitalized on the momentum of the Israel-Hamas war to broadcast violent messaging, justify hateful rhetoric against the state of Israel and denigrate Jews around the world. Using their official media outlets, as well as supporter-produced propaganda, both the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have called on followers around the world to carry out additional terrorist attacks on Jewish communities and institutions. Given these groups have a history of threatening – and even targeting – Jews and Israel, these calls underscore the continued threat against Jewish communities worldwide and highlight the need to keep tracking these groups. 

Despite certain disagreements between IS and Hamas – IS criticizes Hamas for focusing too much on governance and politics in Palestine rather than implementing God’s rule in the manner they see fit – IS uses the ongoing war as an opportunity to encourage attacks against the global Jewish community, directing its followers to commit violence with any easily accessible means:

• In January 2024, Al Furqan Media Foundation, an official IS propaganda source, released a speech and the corresponding transcription titled “And Kill Them Wherever You Find Them,” in which IS spokesman Abu Hudhaifah Al-Ansari tells readers that “the battle with the Jews is a religious one” and directs supporters to focus on targeting civilians, synagogues and large gatherings. 

• In IS’s official weekly magazine, Al Naba, an editorial from October 2023 titled “Practical Steps to Fight the Jews,” urges readers to target Jewish communities, including neighborhoods, and “Jewish and Crusader embassies,” (meaning Israeli embassies and the embassies of the countries – including the United States – that support Israel). As the piece reads, “This is a warning and incitement to Muslims everywhere that in front of them lays a plan to participate in fighting the Jewish statelet and rid the Muslims of its evils…It is necessary to target and attack Jewish and Crusader embassies everywhere.”  

• The December 2023 issue of Voice of Khurasan, an unofficial pro-IS propaganda magazine, featured an article titled, “The Nation Deserving Holocaust the Most.” It promotes antisemitic “globalist” conspiracies, calls Jews a “cancerous threat for the existence of humanity” and provides an antisemitic and demonizing overview of the formation of the state of Israel. An infographic designed by a pro-IS supporter media source follows the article and provides so-called methods of confronting Jews, where to target Jewish people for violence and easily available means to commit said violence. Unofficial propaganda and commentaries from supporters parrot the stances established in official IS releases, which highlights the tendency for these more decentralized supporter networks to toe the party line.   

Unlike IS, AQ propaganda celebrated the October 7 terrorist attack and praised the assault while calling for further violence against Jews:  

• Pro-AQ supporter networks recirculated Osama bin Laden’s November 2002 “Letter to America,” in their extremist spaces. The letter justifies the use of terrorist violence and AQ supporters frequently quoted sections of the letter that referred to Israel and Jews.  For example, bin Laden writes, “The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you [the United States] are the leaders of its criminals…The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its price, and pay for it heavily.” 

• English AQ propaganda has also renewed calls for attacks against the United States, citing American support for Israel as a primary reason why supporters should carry out attacks inside the country and directing supporters to target Jewish communities. An unofficial propaganda booklet titled “How to Fight Alongside My People in Gaza,” released by Jaish Al Malahem Al Electroni (a pro-AQ media outlet) on October 18, 2023, urged sympathizers to “[attack] Jews in any country in the world…and focus on displaced Jews who have fled the occupation country recently” including "Jewish families in your neighborhood and area…” 

• Supporter-created propaganda shared on Telegram and RocketChat continues to feature Israel-related quotes attributed to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. For example, one meme shared on a pro-AQ Telegram channel read, “Palestine will not be liberated except by targeting the interests of Israel and the powers that back Israel, and it is Muslim and specialy [sic] the mujahid youth of the Ummah who can fulfill this duty and libert [sic] Palestine from Zionist tyrants.” 

It is important to note that AQ and IS’s violent rhetoric does not stay in their spaces. They are at times amplified by white supremacist and far-right online networks who are sharing similar narratives and, in some cases, view them as sources of inspiration. Understanding these overlaps is especially important in extremist online spaces, where exchanging hateful ideas can cross the ideological divide.