The medieval Assassins killed mostly Muslims, not Crusaders

Evidence

What was their objective? What was the purpose of all this? The first reports reached the West from the Crusaders, who brought back all sorts of strange and wonderful stories about these people, including the term assassin itself, from the Arabic hfiashı¯shiyya. The Crusaders were convinced that they themselves were the main target, that the Assassins were there in order to fight and destroy them. This impression, which has persisted into modern times, is quite false. There were very few Crusader victims among the scores who fell to the daggers of the Assassins between the 11th and 13th centuries. Most of their victims were Muslims—caliphs, sultans, amirs, generals, judges and high ministers of state. In the few cases where they did murder a Crusader, there is good evidence that they did so as a service to a Muslim ally rather than for any reasons of their own. They were not terribly interested in the Crusaders who were, so to speak, outside their world. Their aim was to overthrow the existing order in the Islamic lands and to take over. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 571 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The Crusaders were convinced that they themselves were the main target, that the Assassins were there in order to fight and destroy them. This impression, which has persisted into modern times, is quite false. There were very few Crusader victims among the scores who fell to the daggers of the Assassins between the 11th and 13th centuries. Most of their victims were Muslims—caliphs, sultans, amirs, generals, judges and high ministers of state. In the few cases where they did murder a Crusader, there is good evidence that they did so as a service to a Muslim ally rather than for any reasons of their own. They were not terribly interested in the Crusaders who were, so to speak, outside their world. Their aim was to overthrow the existing order in the Islamic lands and to take over. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 571 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Assassins targeted Sunni rulers, not Crusaders; The Assassins targeted Muslim leaders, not Crusaders, whom they served only as allies — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 571; Western reports miscast the Assassins as anti-Crusader when most victims were Muslim rulers — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 571 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• The Assassins targeted Sunni rulers, not Crusaders #corroborates (0.95)
• The Assassins targeted Muslim leaders, not Crusaders, whom they served only as allies #corroborates (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 571
• Western reports miscast the Assassins as anti-Crusader when most victims were Muslim rulers #corroborates (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 571
• Assassins targeted Sunni elites, not Crusaders, despite popular belief. #corroborates (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1440