Hypocrisy in Sunni Jihadism: Selective Support for Western Military Actions

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a prominent Qatar-backed Muslim Brotherhood cleric, played a significant role in inciting jihad in Syria and endorsing Palestinian suicide bombings targeting civilians. Surprisingly, he repeatedly expressed support for NATO, notably during the Arab Spring in May 2012 and earlier during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, where he backed a mujahideen faction opposing the Taliban.

Sunni jihadist rhetoric often labels Christians as “fifth columns for the West,” using this as a pretext to justify atrocities like the Armenian and Assyrian genocides, massacres of Alawites, Druze, and Christians in regions like Suweida, and church bombings in Egypt and Syria. Yet, their own actions reveal a glaring hypocrisy: they act as a fifth column themselves. They applaud NATO’s bombing of Serbia, which killed and wounded thousands of Serbian Christians, but condemn NATO’s actions in Iraq. Similarly, they cheer Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Iran while decrying those on Gaza.

This selective outrage exposes a lack of moral consistency, driven instead by spite and animosity toward non-Muslims. Ironically, Western critics of foreign wars often align with these groups, unaware that they are empowering those eager to provoke more conflicts for their own gain.