Belief in the Afterlife & Its Role in Gaza Genocide

On 22 January 2024, at least 21 “Israeli” soldiers were eliminated while in the process of committing yet another war crime as part of their ongoing genocidal war being waged on Gaza.

The soldiers were laying explosives to blow up civilian residential buildings only to be struck by an RPG fired by the Palestinian resistance, taking out all of the troops, in what has been described as “the single deadliest incident since the start of “Israel’s” ground offensive in the enclave” and with a total of 24 losses, it was also “the deadliest day for its forces.”

This of course, is based on the official narrative peddled by the “Israeli” government, who have a history of downplaying military losses in times of war due to heavy military censorship. In any case, as with most announcements of Israeli soldier deaths on social media, they are usually met with comments or GIFs explicitly or implicitly condemning them to Hell or Jahannam, by mainly Muslims and other pro-Palestinian users, in contrast to the Zionist Jews and their supporters uttering the honorific Jewish phrase: “May his memory be a blessing.”

In comparison, the overwhelming civilian deaths in Gaza and the occupied West Bank – currently over 26,000 during this latest war – as with those before, are seen as, and lauded as martyrs in addition to those slain fighting in the way of Jihad, by Muslims who are bound for Paradise or Jannah.

It is interesting to note that despite the notion of martyrdom in Jewish traditions, it only plays a “marginal role” in contemporary Western Jewish practice and belief. It is thus not surprising that the aforementioned honorific phrase has a strong temporal tone to it, instead of an allusion to an afterlife. Muslims are instructed in the Quran [2:156] in times of affliction, to say: “Surely to Allah we belong and to Him we will return.”

This may be due to the fact that Judaism, unlike fellow Abrahamic faiths Christianity and Islam, has no consensus on belief in life after death. It may come as a shock to some, but “Life after death is not a central belief in Judaism,” with more emphasis placed on the life of this world.

While there certainly exists views on the afterlife in Judaism, unlike other faiths, no one view on life after death has ever been officially agreed upon in the religion – with “beliefs in the afterlife as diverse as Judaism itself.”

According to the Jewish Virtual Library, “Olam ha­Ba (afterlife) is rarely discussed in Jewish life, be it among Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox Jews.” Yet the latter group has “maintained both a belief in the future resurrection of the dead as part of the messianic redemption, and a belief in some form of immortality of the soul after death.”

However, Reform Judaism explains that there is an afterlife, identified as the underworld Sheol – a sort of permanent realm for both the righteous and unrighteous. For Jews, there is no concept of Hell; “The closest we get is the fate of apostate (a person who renounces God, faith and morality in this world), who is said to be ‘cut off from his kin.’”

One of the names for Hell in Islam is, as mentioned previously Jahannam, which interestingly is said to be derived from or related to the Hebrew Gehinnom – a place on the outskirts of Jerusalem where pagan rituals took place, and as such was seen as an abode of the damned.

Irrespective of Judaism’s difference of opinion concerning the existence of an afterlife, the absence of a reward and punishment, and therefore divine accountability of one’s actions in this world is strikingly evident in the actions of Israeli society and its armed forces.

Whether it’s the pervasive dehumanization of Palestinians by “Israeli” officials or “Israeli” citizens using social media to racially stereotype and mock the suffering of Gazans during the Jewish state’s genocidal onslaught, or the unprofessional, almost clown-like behavior of the “TikTok” army—coupled with the evident absence of valor on the battlefield—it becomes apparent which side in this conflict adheres to a belief in an afterlife based on their actions and responses to trials and tribulations.

The contrast could not be more vivid when one compares the resilience and resistance of the Palestinian people in the face of the US-backed occupation forces. Moreover, even observers and analysts could not help but be impressed with the fearlessness of Palestinian resistance fighters, such as the numerous occasions in which they came up close to “Israeli” tanks to place explosive devices on them in some of the boldest guerrilla warfare tactics in the modern age.

The notion of self-sacrifice or dying for a cause such as liberation and justice isn’t embedded in the colonial-settler army who love life and are not willing to die for a land that simply isn’t theirs.

Then there is the steadfastness of the Palestinians, driven no doubt by faith and a belief in the hereafter. This commendable attitude was conveyed around the world with several viral videos on social media of Gazans responding to their tragic and graphic personal losses.

Perhaps the most widespread footage, even making its way to mainstream media was the heartbreaking clip of Khaled Nabhan as he cradled the lifeless body of his beloved three-year-old granddaughter, Reem. She along with her five-year-old brother Tarek were killed in Israeli airstrikes as they slept.

Though Reem was especially inseparable to Nabhan. “Soul of my soul,” he said patiently and profoundly while kissing little Reem’s eyes and fixing her hair as he bade farewell to her. The video went onto to touch millions around the world who were also moved by Nabhan’s calm demeanor in spite of his “loss” in this temporary world, in the knowledge that her granddaughter has been admitted into the everlasting life of the righteous.

It wasn’t just the story of Reem and her grandfather that has inspired people around the world, but the Palestinians in general owing largely to most being of the Muslim faith and how they deal with being tried and tested in ways many of us find difficult to imagine.

Many Millennial and Generation-Z’s, especially women from the West have announced their reversion or decided to embrace Islam in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza. One US internet comic and fashion designer, Nefertari Moonn said “It was solely the Palestinian people, and their courage and their faith that had me look into Islam.”

“To see all the devastation that the Palestinians are going through … and to see those still call out to Allah is devastatingly beautiful,” she added.

TikToker Megan Rice who also reverted having felt compelled to read the Quran said of the Palestinians’ faith: “It’s unlike any I have ever seen. I have quite literally seen videos of people who have lost everything, even their children, and they are holding their dead children in their arms and still thanking God, still asking God to take care of their children from there.”

Similar to other conflicts in the wider region, the Palestinian conflict is not only has geopolitical ramifications but also significant theopolitical ones. Religion plays a prominent, if not primary, role for the majority of Palestinians, as well as a significant segment of “Israeli” Jews who erroneously anticipate the arrival of whom they consider to be the Messiah, having rejected the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) 2,000 years ago and continuing to reject and disrespect him to this day.

Despite the Palestinians winning the online propaganda war and demonstrating superior political will to sustain their resistance, the occupation state faces internal political turmoil and the economic impact of the war and the operations by region’s Axis of Resistance. Internationally, it is rapidly becoming a pariah state, especially after the landmark genocide case brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice which ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide, albeit asking the occupation to police its own behavior, which will never happen.

However, another critical aspect where the Palestinians seem to be prevailing is in spiritual warfare. While they draw strength from their faith, the “Israelis” on the other hand, particularly the secular Zionist Jews, appear to focus solely on the dunya and as such are ill-prepared to deal with both life and loss in times of war.

While the Zionist media slanders the noble culture of martyrdom as a “death cult,” it is important to note that Palestinians and Muslims love life, but they do not love a life of humiliation, and are willing to sacrifice their lives to stand up for the truth, for the safety of their loved ones, for their dignity, for regaining their stolen land, and many more noble reasons. Additionally, faith in a hereafter motivates them to know that there is more to existence than this temporary abode and they should not be addicted nor enslaved by this material world, and so giving up their lives for the aforementioned lofty reasons becomes easy.

Palestinians embody the quote by Imam Hussain (peace be upon him), who said that death with dignity is better than a life of humiliation.