The Egyptian Scientist Who Fled to Israel: "According to the Quran, the Land of Israel Belongs to the Jews"

"The Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel": This is one of the most important beliefs in the life of Noha Hashad, a 51-year-old Egyptian scientist now residing in Israel. Hashad is one of the most threatened Muslims in the world: She endured torture and long imprisonment in Egypt and fled to Israel by the skin of her teeth after the Arab Spring and the regime change in Egypt.

Hashad — or 'Hasid,' as she calls herself today — came under the scrutiny of senior Egyptian government officials when she began seriously researching the Jewish claim to the Holy Land. However, her interest in Israel began from her field of expertise, nuclear physics. "In 1999, I conducted research whose results didn't fit the accepted physical formula. When I delved into the library, I discovered that Professor Yigal Shalom Horowitz from Ben-Gurion University had done extensive work on the matter. I sent him an email, and he responded by inviting me to a scientific conference in Israel."

Hashad naively thought there would be no issue with attending the conference — after all, Egypt has a peace treaty with Israel. However, to travel to Israel, one must submit an application through Egypt's intelligence services. The response to Hashad's request was unequivocal: a prohibition to travel to the conference in Jerusalem, and a ban on any interaction with Israelis except for absolutely necessary professional questions.

The strong opposition to her trip to Israel sparked curiosity in Hashad. What was the big mystery surrounding Israel? she wondered. She began conducting online research about Jerusalem, and when she found Muslim claims that Jerusalem never belonged to the Jews, something ignited within her. "I studied Islamic studies in-depth in Saudi Arabia and know the Quran well. I read it repeatedly and discovered that indeed, according to the Quran, the Land of Israel belongs to the 'People of Moses.' Who are the People of Moses if not the Children of Israel?"

Noha Hashad

Hasid traveled to the most significant Islamic academy in Egypt, 'Al Azhar,' and sought out ancient interpretations of the Quran, predating the era of Muslim extremism and jihad. Her hypothesis proved correct: Before the Land of Israel became a political issue in the Muslim world, mainstream Islamic interpretation supported the fact that the Land of Israel belonged to the Jews. "I went to the most senior Sheik at the academy and asked him: 'Is it true that according to the Quran, the Land of Israel belongs to the Jews?' He said 'Yes.' I asked him: 'If so, why the whole conflict in the Middle East with Israel?' He refused to answer me on that."

Academy officials reported Hasid to the secret service, which banned her from re-entering the institution's library. She was arrested, and her arrest report detailed her crime: "Ms. Hashad seeks to prove that the land belongs to Israel." She was banned from leaving Egypt — not even to Russia, where she had been invited for research purposes. The official reason for the ban: 'A fear she would travel to Israel.'

In 2002, Hasid approached the UN Refugee Center in Cairo, asking them to help her leave the country. Upon leaving, a policeman awaited her, brutally beat her, and arrested her. She endured severe torture in detention. Over the next two years, she was arrested five more times. Her entire body is covered in scars from the abuse by investigators and other prisoners who called her 'Jew' and relished venting their anger on her.

In 2011, Hasid took advantage of Mubarak's regime collapse and sought to travel to Jordan for medical treatments. When she arrived in Amman, she went straight to the Israeli embassy and requested asylum. This is how she finally arrived in Israel.

With a small number of supporters and no official funding, Hasid established the 'Noha Hasid Center for Peace in the Middle East,' whose official motto is: 'Peace is a culture, not an agreement.' "The Arab culture needs to change," she says, "Such a change is the only solution to the conflict. Agreements won't help: Israel has a peace agreement with Egypt and the Egyptians still hate Israel. In their eyes, the agreement is not peace: it's just a ceasefire that allows them to arm and spy on Israel more conveniently until the next war. When Arabs sign a peace agreement with Israel, one should pay attention to what they say in Arabic, not what they say in English."

Muslims all over the world suffer from brainwashing, says Hasid, brainwashing that convinces them the Jews are enemies, and it's a great commandment to kill them. "They don't know the truth. They don't know what the Quran really says about the Jews and the Land of Israel. The leaders, the Sheiks, they know. But not the common people. They need to be told."

Is there anyone to talk to? Hasid claims there is. "I saw it even among my students in Egypt. Those who have more knowledge and are smarter and more educated, they read the Quran and accept the claim that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jews. It's definitely possible to talk to them. Even to the Palestinians, it's possible. Some of them are willing to listen."

Today, Hasid is also involved in translating a book by Abu Mazen where he expresses his true positions towards Israel. "But it doesn't matter if the leader is Abu Mazen or someone else. It is the Islamic doctrine, prevalent among the Palestinians and in Egypt. Egyptians still dream of taking over the entire State of Israel. Not long ago, an academic conference on the subject was held in Egypt — which is a dictatorship controlled by Sisi, and nothing is said in public without his approval."

She argues that Israel should not have agreed to the presence of the Egyptian military in the Sinai Desert. "It's a terrible mistake. There are no terrorists in Sinai today. The Egyptian army is there to be close to the border with Israel, that's all."

How did you agree to pay such a high price for supporting Israel?

"At first, I didn't realize, of course, that I would pay such a terrible price," she explains sadly. "I thought there was peace between Israel and Egypt and everything was fine. Everything started when I was sure I'd be allowed to attend the scientific conference in Jerusalem. The security forces' concern about my trip was very strange to me. So I began to open my eyes. I saw the attitude towards Israel. I saw how Egypt wants to be better than Israel in everything — in the army, in the air force, they compare themselves to Israel in everything. I understood that peace is not achieved through agreements. An agreement does not create peace. The agreement with Egypt harms Israel, but not Egypt: Egyptian society remains closed and monitored, and Israelis cannot integrate into or learn about it. But Israel is a free and democratic society, and Egyptian intelligence agents penetrate it much more easily since the peace agreement."

Not a few parties have offered to fund the 'Noha Hasid Center for Peace in the Middle East' — in exchange for promoting their political views. But Noha remained true to her vision. "Israel doesn't want to admit it, but it has to be said. I didn't suffer all I suffered to play games. I tell the truth about Egypt and the agreement with Egypt, and I tell the truth about the appropriate Muslim attitude towards Israel. The lie they live in today in the Muslim world cannot continue. Those people, Israel's enemies, must not be allowed to win. The Israeli issue — support for Israel — is the only path to a life of truth."