by Dr. Edy Cohen
The terrorists who
perpetrated the attack on the synagogue in Jerusalem last week were
inspired, among other things, by the Islamic State group. It was a hate
crime against Jews, and Islamic State encourages the murder of Jews. The
gruesome propaganda videos posted by the terrorist group over the past
few months encourage Palestinian youth to fight Jews. It is the new
jihad.
Islamic State leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi recently gave a dangerous anti-Semitic speech,
which included an unprecedented verbal assault against Jews throughout
its 17 minutes. Baghdadi stated the military campaign against Islamic
State was doomed to fail, and that the origination will fight the
"crusaders" to the death and until victory is secured.
Addressing the makeup
of the coalition against Islamic State, he said, "The Jews are afraid
for their economy. They are afraid. They steal the Muslims' money so
they can enjoy it. They fight us secretly and indirectly through the
Muslim leaders who are traitors."
The Jews, he said, "Are
very afraid for themselves, in case there is a revolution. They are
afraid of the Muslims and of the return of the Islamic caliphate. We
recognize their fears and weaknesses. They have recruited their dogs and
their slaves [the Arab nations fighting Islamic State] to fight us.
"The Jews and the
crusaders do not need the retarded pilots of the Gulf states. It is all
an act. They [the Western allies] are selling them [the Arabs] their
planes only after they retire them from service."
Baghdadi refrained from
the use of the word "Israel," as he does not consider Israel as a
viable entity, but rather as territory belonging to the Islamic nation.
This is why he seeks to impart on his followers the belief that all Jews
are the Muslims' enemies and therefore a war must be waged against
them.
The Sunni jihadist
organization has been able to overrun vast areas in Syria and Iraq, and
most recently it has struck an alliance with the Nusra Front -- formerly
a bitter rival -- thus paving the way for it to potentially overrun
Syria altogether.
Joining forces with
other jihadist groups in Arab nations such as Egypt, Libya and Saudi
Arabia, affords Islamic State the status of a would-be state, as per
their leader's vision.
Moreover, a few months
ago, we learned that Islamic State also has a newspaper, "Dabik," which
is published in several language and is distributed free of charge in
the areas the group has overrun.
The past few weeks have
seen Islamic State's "treasury department" issue its own currency --
gold, silver and copper coins featuring a relief of a palm tree, wheat,
and Al-Aqsa mosque. The latter symbolizes the important place of the
Holy Land to Islamic State.
Islamic State is
currently busy fighting the Syrian Army and the Kurds, and dodging the
aerial campaign mounted by the U.S. and its allies, which is why Israel
has yet to become a priority for its operations. The organization,
however, eyes the "Jewish question" as part of its objectives, and the
day when we will have to confront it on our borders is not far off.
Dr. Edy Cohen is a research fellow at Bar-Ilan University.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=10683
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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