Al-Qaeda top dog Zawahiri calls Trump peace plan ‘Crusade of the Century’
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 5:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER
Zawahiri has a single paradigm through which he sees the world, and that is of valiant jihadis defending the umma against rapacious Crusaders. Peace is bad for his business, as it is for so many others as well, and he will do his best to disrupt it.
“In New Video, Al-Qaeda Leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri Describes U.S. Peace Plan In Middle East As ‘Crusade Of The Century’, Condemns Normalization With Israel, Slams Al-Jazeera For 2019 Documentary On 9/11 Attacks,” MEMRI, September 14, 2020:
On September 11, 2020 the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Sahab Media Foundation released a video message from the group’s top leader, Ayman Al-Zawhiri. The 45-minute video is the first installment in a series titled “The Deal of the Century Or the Crusade of the Century.” It was released on the anniversary of Al-Qaeda’s terror attacks on the U.S in 2001, although it does not deal with the attacks directly. Al-Zawahiri addressed U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Middle East in the first part of the video, and then went on to refute allegations made in a documnetary aired in September 2019 on Al-Jazeera regarding cooperation between his organization and official elements in Arab countries. It should be noted that Al-Zawahiri’s message does not appear to have been recorded recently, seeing that he does not address any of the momentous events of 2020. The events mentioned by Al-Zawahiri himself that can be dated are the Al-Jazeera documentary from September 2019, and the Peace to Prosperity conference which took place in Manama, Bahrain, in June 2019. [1]
Al-Zawahiri began by addressing Muslims around the world, saying that the “flames of war between the Crusaders and the Muslims have not been extinguished.” He highlighted that “America, leader of the West,” is taking more “dangerous steps to empower Israel,” saying that relocating the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, declaring the Golan Heights to be part of Israel, and launching the Manama Summit, are all among these steps.
The video then showed footage from President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speeches in the January 28, 2020, summit held in the White House, in which Trump’s plan was announced. The two leaders highlighted the U.S.’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel.
Al-Zawhiri then addressed Muslims around the world, highlighting some “historical facts about the “struggle between the Muslims and the Crusaders,” saying that the nature of this conflict is a religious one, based on the Zionist-Westerners alliance against Islam. He added that the feelings of Westerners toward Muslims are obvious, but that the latter often tend to ignore them. He further suggested that the conflict between the two sides is an international conflict, not local, and cannot be disconnected from the larger picture.
Al-Zawhiri provided what he called “fundamental principles” to “counter the aggression of the Crusaders,” which include emphasizing the principal of jihad and raising awareness to its significance. He stressed that Under this principal, he discussed several “facets,” such as the value of unity, political jihad, Dawah [preaching], the jihad of a moral upbringing, and the “battle of raising awareness.” Al-Zawahiri also emphasized that the “jihad of da’wah and raising awareness… is more importnat [sic] than the military jihad itself.”… |
