Al Qaeda's Palestinian Problem

A new report from the NEFA Foundation points up an interesting aspect of what's going on with Al Qaeda these days. It's from an ongoing series in which Zawahiri answers questions from his jihadist audience. The question:

O honorable Shaykh. I wish to depart and participate in the jihad. I'm a fifth year medical student in Europe. and come from the (GazaJ Strip in Palestine. I'm 29 years old. Should I now go to Afghanistan. given the chance. or wait this year to finish my studies and then go? I'm at a loss: the situation of the Muslims is breaking my heart and I cannot concentrate on my studies. and I would like to get your advice. May Allah reward you well. Allah willing. I will follow you to the death. [...]

Zawahiri's answer:

I advise you to finish the fifth year of medical school and then go to Afghanistan. Only Allah knows. May Allah reward you well for you kind thoughts.

You might wonder why Zawahiri would advise a Palestinian dreaming of jihad to go to Afghanistan and not Palestine. When you counterpose this against Osama Bin Laden's recent message concerning Israel (essentially vowing to destroy it and giving lip service to the Palestinian struggle), it highlights an internal contradiction that affects al Qaeda's standing among potential allies.

Al Qaeda and its idealogues have long neglected the Palestinians -- both in terms of rhetorical and operational focus. In fact, about the only time they ever turn to the issue is when they're cynically trying to shore up their base.

This may, in part, have something to do with Bin Laden's Mahdist tendencies, involving prophecies that state the army of the caliphate will arise out of Afghanistan and then proceed to its final battle in Palestine. Although he's been knocked off message pretty effectively, there's nothing to indicate that he's abandoned this line of thought.

Regardless of "why" al Qaeda has neglected this issue, it's a weakness. The U.S. has been stepping up its propaganda war on al Qaeda with some degree of success. The barrage of critical questions posed to Zawahiri for these answer sessions is a good example (regardless of who's actually writing those questions).

The wholesale embrace of the Palestinians as heard in the last OBL message can be viewed -- or painted -- as blatant hypocrisy and political opportunism. There's a real opening here to drive a wedge between the moderate-to-radical Islamist movements focused on Palestine and the radical-to-insane al Qaeda movement.

Labels: Weblog

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LET At Last...

Somewhat belatedly, the Treasury Department has added Lashkar-e-Tayyiba to its list of blocked organizations. The group is a Pakistani jihadist movement primarily concerned with waging jihad in Kashmir, a conflict that is very high on the radar of the jihad movement but which has been rather substantially neglected by Western pundits and policymakers until now.

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Todd Beamer's Cell Phone

A couple of people have e-mailed me now about the item linked below, so I thought I would just save us all some time and briefly post my thoughts about the issues it raises.

This 9/29/2001 FBI lead sheet details phone calls made in relation to the cell phone of Todd Beamer, a passenger on United 93, the airplane hijacked on September 11 that crashed in Pennsylvania. Beamer is famously remembered for reporting that the passengers were planning to storm the cockpit and for issuing the call to that action: "Let's roll."

Todd Beamer cell phone log

The document is confusing. At first glance it appears to list calls that were made by Beamer using the cell phone. What raised questions with my correspondents is the fact that the log shows almost 20 calls after United 93 crashed. All of the calls related to a number in Woodbridge, NJ, and all of them are listed as exactly one minute (suggesting the call was not completed).

My best guess here is that the log represents calls to Beamer's cell, in which case the post-crash calls might have been someone with the phone company or the government pinging to locate the phone in the wreckage, or frantic calls from a friend or family member who was trying to ascertain whether Beamer had been on the flight. The latter theory might make more sense, since the calls start pretty early.

More confusingly, there is a call shortly before the flight took off listed as an "incoming call" with the "number called" being the same number that the document identifies as Beamer's cell phone. (This could be a call to listen to voicemail, or a call to voicemail paired with using the "reply to message" function that most voicemail offers.)

Even if you're of a conspiratorial bent on this issue (which I am not), it's difficult to believe the FBI would release a document showing that Beamer's cell phone was in use after the crash. The 9/11 Commission cites the document but doesn't comment on the post-crash entries.

I'm open to hearing an explanation. If you have actual and specific knowledge of how to read this document, feel free to drop me a line and I'll update this posting.

If you're just guessing, well, you're welcome to speculate and/or investigate-and-publish away, but this post represents the sum total of my insight on the document at this time, and I don't currently have a lot of time to devote to this (either in terms of investigating further or debating it via e-mail). If I get better information, I will post it here. Happy hunting...

Labels: 9-11, INTELFILES, Todd-Beamer, United-93

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Suicide bombing in Khost

Below are two images released by al Qaeda of a recent suicide bombing against a U.S. military target in the Khost area of Afghanistan (a longtime al Qaeda stronghold). The first image is the actual bombing, the second is purportedly the bomber.

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Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

J.M. Berger on Al Jazeera

Excerpt from "A Hidden Face in a Hidden War," an al Jazeera documentary featuring an interview with J.M. Berger, discussing the life and death of Mohammed Jamal Khalifa. Click here for related stories and featured documents.

Labels: Weblog

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink