ji·had·ica

Reactions To Israel’s Gaza Campaign

As readers might guess, the discussions on the Jihadi forums are almost entirely devoted to Gaza (there’s some on Somalia–more on that later this week).  I’ve culled the most representative posts from the Faloja forum: The forum administrators warn that anyone who is unduly critical of Hamas will be kicked off during this time of crisis.  They’ve also asked that any security-sensitive information not be posted.  This hasn’t stopped members from debating whether Hamas should be excommunicated or from posting early news of Gilad Shalit‘s injury during Israeli bombing. One member asked for information about American and Israeli embassies abroad, prompting a torrent of responses (addresses, ambassadors, etc). Another member, `Abd Allah al-Qurashi, has posted a list of suggestions for what Hamas should do next.  One suggestion is that Hamas release Salafi militants it arrested [presumably members of Jaysh al-Islam] and rearm them to fight against the Israelis.  Another is

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Will McCants December 29, 2008

Hamas Hands Over al-Qaeda Commander to Egypt

According to Usama al-Asad at Ekhlaas, when the barrier between Gaza and Egypt was destroyed, one of the commanders of al-Qaeda tried to enter Gaza and form a Jihadi group with some disaffected elements of Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades.  When Hamas found out, they captured him and turned him over to Egypt. Usama al-Asad says his reporting is 100% accurate and claims that this commander is well known and has been fighting in a neighboring country. Some of the respondents to Usama’s post verify his reporting, while others accuse him of blackening the good name of Hamas. Document (Arabic): 7-3-08-ekhlaas-hamas-hands-over-aq-amir-to-egypt

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Will McCants July 3, 2008

Bin Laden Statement Prompts Speculation on AQ Strategy in Palestine (Part 2)

The next punditry we’ll look at in the series is by Yaman Mukhaddab. Mukhaddab is one of the younger generation of AQ pundits and has quite a following judging from the cross-posting of his analyses to other forums. Yesterday, he posted his response to Bin Laden’s two recent messages. Mukhaddab considers both messages–one directed to the West and one directed to the Muslim community–to be a single statement. They were split up, he contends, because they addressed different audiences that have different needs. For example, the message addressed to the Muslims had to be translated into Asian languages, whereas the message to the West had to be translated into European languages. Taken together, the messages are “the dividing line” between the last stage of AQ and a new stage. The new stage will have the following features: 1) Bad days are coming for the Jihadis’ enemies. There will be simultaneous

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Will McCants May 21, 2008

Bin Laden Message Prompts Speculation on AQ Strategy in Palestine (Part 1)

Bin Laden’s statement on May 18th has prompted several Jihadi pundits to speculate on AQ’s future strategy in the Palestinian territories. Over the next few days, I’ll post the most interesting speculation. For part one, we’ll look at a short post by Ekhlaas member Khalid al-`Asqalani. According to `Asqalani, Bin Laden has presented a complete program of action for the coming stage of the Jihadi movement, which is the liberation of Palestine. 1) Bin Laden explained that oppressive international order is in an alliance with Israel and its resources are at its disposal. 2) The apostate Arab regimes are the guardians of Israel’s security, so overthrowing these regimes will make liberating Palestine much easier. 3) The pressure of the repressive regimes causes the Islamic groups to abandon jihad on the justification that it harms the da`wa (spread of Islam). 4) Hezbollah is misleading the youth because it has duped them

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Will McCants May 20, 2008

Bin Laden Message on 60th Anniversary of Israel

Today, al-Sahab (the organization that distributes Bin Laden and Zawahiri’s messages) sent around a statement by Bin Laden on the 60th anniversary of Israel. In his address, Bin Laden stated the “Palestine question” is the chief cause of conflict between Western nations and the Muslim community. It is the ultimate reason why AQ attacked the U.S. on 9/11. On the question of a Palestinian state, Bin Laden rejects the idea of a two-state solution. Either the Palestinians rule the entire area, or the jihad will continue until it is liberated. In an interesting turn, Bin Laden identifies the struggle of the Palestinians with the struggle of the Israelites for liberation under the pharaoh, who is the ultimate symbol of tyranny in Islam. Bin Laden’s statement on Palestine comes after months of Jihadis online urging AQ to do something in the occupied territories. Zawahiri first addressed the Jihadi lobbying in his

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Will McCants May 16, 2008

New Issue of Jannat Released

The May issue of the Jannat (“Paradise”) Journal has been released.  The monthly journal is a collection of short news stories on the global jihad and excerpts from online Jihadi discussion forums.  If you haven’t been following the latest goings on in the jihadosphere, this is a good place to look to get caught up. Although Jannat covers most of the open conflict zones in each issue, it focuses heavily on the Palestinian territories, which means that’s where its producers likely live (Gaza would be a good bet).  Since it is critical of Hamas and hateful toward Hezbollah, it’s also safe to assume that its producers are Jihadi-Salafis of some sort.  Jihadis are trying to gain greater visibility in Gaza, but it has been tough given Hamas’s monopoly on Sunni Islamist violence there. The headline story in this issue is the Shia march from Iran to Iraq to Syria to

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Will McCants May 15, 2008
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