Jonathan Spyer: At the Kurdistan Front

by Jonathan Spyer

Some 30 percent of Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters are women.

A war is being waged along a 900-mile front between two entities that today constitute de facto quasi-states stretching across the old border between Syria and Iraq. These are the Islamic State to the south and a contiguous area of Kurdish-controlled territory to the north. Recently, I traveled to the latter, in regions of northern Iraq and northeast Syria, like the town of Derik, where I spoke with a Kurdish soldier who had recently been in a firefight with IS forces in the neighboring village of Jeza'a.
"We were fighting for 17 hours," said the Kurd. He was with the People's Protection Units (YPG), affiliated with the PYD, the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Worker's party, or PKK. "There must have been about 500 of them," he said of the IS militants. "Only about 90 of us. They're strange, the way they keep on coming at you. We got on each side of them. In the end, you should have seen the trucks that came to take the bodies away. Stacked up."

He paused and took a drag on his cigarette. "I wasn't hurt bad," he continued. "I dislocated my shoulder when I had to jump over a wall after one of them threw a grenade. Then they got me out of there. I killed three of them. It's not nice, you know. One of them was just a kid of about 16. But you've got no choice."

So what does an IS attack look like, I asked. Do they just come running headlong at you?
"They don't run," he replied, looking directly at me as if to acknowledge the eeriness of the thing he was saying. "They walk," he said. "At a normal pace. Towards you. Like they're not afraid. And you have to shoot them before they shoot you."

The fighting at Jeza'a was one of the most intense clashes to have taken place between the Islamic State and the YPG. The battle formed part of a broader IS-Kurdish war taking place along a contiguous front line stretching from Jalawla on the Iraq-Iran border all the way to Jarabulus on the line separating Syria from Turkey.

At Jeza'a, the Islamic State was trying to close the corridor that the YPG had opened in order to bring Yazidi refugees from the Sinjar Mountains to safety at the Newroz refugee camp outside Derik. The more than 100,000 refugees who made their way to Newroz are exhausted and traumatized. The Islamic State considers the Yazidi to be "devil worshippers" who are thus denied the few privileges afforded the so-called people of the book, i.e., Christians and Jews. Yazidi women were sent to the prisons of IS-controlled Mosul, where they were later sold as slaves or forced to wed IS fighters.

Conditions at Newroz are primitive, but there is food and shelter. Further east, in the Kurdish Regional Government area of northern Iraq, the towns of Dohuk and Erbil are swollen with refugees who fled Mosul and Sinjar. The Islamic State's march toward the KRG capital of Erbil was stopped only by the intervention of the United States Air Force, and they know that any attempt to push forward would result in their obliteration from the air. The KRG's Peshmerga forces are facing them in hastily assembled positions cut into the dirt. These front lines are for the moment strangely silent.

In Erbil and in Dohuk, the half-built structures that until very recently were symbols of economic growth and expansion have been converted into makeshift homes for refugee families from further south. You see refugees everywhere. In the evenings the cities have a teeming, crowded feel to them. But the foreigners who came with the oil companies that moved in to do business when the KRG was the most stable part of Iraq are mostly gone. The bars and restaurants that opened up to cater to them are empty. On a Thursday evening in the Deutscher Hof restaurant in Erbil, one of the few places that serves cold beer, only a couple of British security contractors are at the bar. The Indian staff tell me that a month ago, the place would have been packed at this time.

A considerable portion of Erbil's Kurdish population also left when it looked likely that the Islamic State was on its way. Some sources spoke of a departure of up to 30 percent of Erbil's residents. The Peshmerga, with the help of Iraqi special forces as well as U.S. air support, have begun to push back against IS. The Mosul Dam, a highly symbolic conquest for the IS, was retaken on August 21. Since then, IS has lost ground in a number of other places. The Peshmerga are now in the process of reconquering oil fields close to Mosul.

West of the Syria-Iraq border, meanwhile, the YPG is continuing its own fight against the Islamic State. I visited the frontline area at the Yarubiya border crossing. The YPG seized the crossing in early August, and now controls both the Iraqi and Syrian sides of it. IS still holds a neighborhood immediately adjoining the crossing. Sniping from both sides and mortar fire are regular occurrences. But the morale of the YPG seemed high. "They can't shoot," a female fighter told me cheerfully after we sprinted across open ground to a concealed position a few hundred yards from a mosque where the IS sniper was operating.

Conversations with Kurdish officials indicate that they do not consider the fight with IS in Iraq and Syria to be a battle for the preservation of those two states. Rather, the Kurdish national agenda is visible just barely below the surface. General Maghdid Haraki of the Peshmerga, an effective-looking figure clearly influenced by American military style, put it most bluntly when he told me, "We have a different land, different language, different mentality. I don't know why the world won't see this. They just see 'Iraq.' "

A senior KRG official linked to the political leadership was more circumspect. "Iraqi Kurds are today still part of Iraq," he said. "But if a sectarian civil war starts in Iraq, we want no part of it. And if the mess continues in Iraq and Kurdish rights are not granted, then what is the point of it? Anyway, Kurds, like any other nation, have the right to determine their own future."

Nonetheless, the fact is that the Kurds are not unified and their divisions are not easily resolved. The central rift is between the two rival pan-Kurdish movements. One is Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic party, which controls the KRG. The other is Abdullah Ocalan's PKK, listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization for its three-decade-long campaign of violence against Turkey.

Still, when it comes to Kurdish self-determination, PKK-associated officials sound similar to General Haraki and his colleagues. Nilufer Koc, of the PKK-associated Kurdistan National Congress, told me in Erbil that "what's needed is a referendum on independence here in Iraqi Kurdistan. And when we clear the issue of the referendum, if a new Iraqi government continues to reject Kurdish rights, then the Kurds need to take what belongs to them."


Jonathan Spyer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center in Herzliya, Israel, and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.
 

Source: http://www.meforum.org/4808/at-the-kurdistan-front

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Boaz Bismuth: Signs of concern in Tehran

by Boaz Bismuth

Only a few days have passed since U.S. President Barack Obama's declaration of war -- without much of a choice -- against the Islamic State (ISIS), and with every passing day the U.S. is realizing how difficult the job will be. Two important regional players will not stand at its side in Iraq and Syria: Turkey won't help, and Iran, not surprisingly, will be a bother. 

The campaign against ISIS cannot be won from the air alone. It is hard to expect the coalition's jets to be effective against the Sunni terrorists hunkered down in Mosul and Tikrit. Obama's coalition cannot accommodate too much harm to Muslim civilians. 

Even before the onset of the war, the president's advisers understood there would be few if any partners among the countries in the region eager for a ground offensive. Even the Kurds are not rushing to fight outside their autonomous region, even though they would be the primary benefactors of the war against ISIS: An independent state awaits them, perhaps right around the corner. 

And this is precisely what concerns Iran these days. Nearly a year into Hassan Rouhani's first term as president, the Iranians understand the cards have been re-dealt in the Middle East and that they suddenly also have a lot to lose.

The campaign against ISIS is bringing the United States back to the region. The Iranians were unhappy about it in 2003, and they don't like it today either. Then, incidentally, it froze their nuclear project. We can only hope that this time the Americans will use their return to terminate it once and for all. 

Additionally, Baghdad will have to reappoint Sunnis to key government positions, after they were kept out during the era of Nouri al-Maliki, who considered Iran his central ally. The Iraqi Sunnis have different plans. Moreover, the establishment of an independent Kurdish state has never appealed to Iran -- not only because such a development could spark the aspirations of the Kurdish minority living in Iran itself, but because a future Kurdish state is expected to have good relations with Israel and the United States. 

The Iranians also know Obama's coalition will put Bashar Assad's regime in Syria at greater risk. While the war could, on the one hand, solidify him as a recognized, albeit negative player in the region, it could also become an opportunity to eliminate him along with ISIS and crown someone else in his stead. 

The Iranians like the existing situation, which allows them to buy time (the target date for reaching an agreement on the nuclear issue is Nov. 24) until they can finally acquire their bomb. They know that war is a fluid proposition, and that someone along the way may find it appropriate to take out their nuclear program along with ISIS.

Boaz Bismuth

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=9955

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Gaza Landlords Refusing to Rent to Hamas, Official says

by Khaled Abu Toameh

Landlords are worried that their homes will be targeted by Israel if Hamas members are inside; Hamas official calls this trend "a dangerous one."

A Palestinian looks out from the remains of his house in Beit Hanun, a town in the northern Gaza Strip.. (photo credit:REUTERS)

Landlords in the Gaza Strip are refusing to rent out apartments to Hamas members and their families, a senior Hamas official revealed on Sunday.

Musa Abu Marzouk, a political leader of Hamas based in Egypt, said that the phenomenon was “dangerous.”

Abu Marzouk, who recently toured the Gaza Strip, pointed out that landlords were afraid to rent out their apartments out of fear that they would be targeted by Israel in the future.

“The phenomenon of refusing to rent out homes to families of resistance fighters is a dangerous one,” Abu Marzouk wrote on his Facebook page. “The landlords are punishing the resistance fighters and their families.”

He said that Palestinians are indebted to those who made sacrifices for their people, who are required to embrace them. “This is what the occupation wants by targeting the homes of the resistance fighters,” he said.

Earlier this month, dwellers of a high-rise in Gaza City demanded that Hamas evacuate its offices from their building for the same reason.

Families living in the Daoud Tower in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood handed the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry a letter asking it to remove its offices from the building.

The families expressed concern that their tower would be targeted by Israel in the future because of the presence of the Hamas offices.

During Operation Protective Edge, the IDF destroyed three residential towers in Gaza City: Al-Zafer 4, Al-Basha and Italian Complex.


Khaled Abu Toameh

Source: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Gaza-landlords-refusing-to-rent-to-Hamas-375325

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Michael Curtis: Qatar Must Stop Funding Hamas

by Michael Curtis

In his speech of September 10, 2014, President Barack Obama finally followed the wisdom of the State of Israel in calling for and preparing “targeted action” to stop the advances of an Islamic terrorist organization and political structure.  This is the right course for dealing with the Islamic State (IS), as it is regarding policy toward Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

It is regrettable and rather puzzling that Obama erred in some of his remarks.  He refused to acknowledge that ISIL, as he terms it, is an “Islamic group.”  He also referred to ISIL as a “terrorist organization, pure and simple.”  The world has been horrified by the sight of ISIL or ISIS glorifying in its beheadings of innocent people and mass executions.  But the terrorist group has transformed itself into a self-proclaimed Islamic State that, like Hamas, controls a great deal of the daily life and the work of public institutions in the areas under its purview.

One of the major ways to counter the threat of the Islamist organizations is to cut off their funding.  Obama is aware of this in relation to IS, though with its present assets, oil, and money, IS has no urgent need for foreign financing.  The U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Terrorism in its hearing on September 10, 2014 was aware of the urgent need to control funding of Hamas, which does need outside resources.  It pointed out that the main culprits presently are Qatar and Turkey.

The conflict between Hamas and Israel in July and August unexpectedly showed the enormous amount of resources Hamas had spent – not only on buying rockets and missiles, but on building over 30 tunnels from which to attack Israel.  Revenue has been obtained by Hamas from domestic resources, from taxes on gas, smuggling of cement, gravel, and steel, and extortion.

But most of Hamas's resources have come from Iran, Sudan, Qatar, and Turkey, as well as from Syria.  For a number of years, Iran, which has also supported Hezb'allah, was the largest single donor to Hamas, giving it up to $300 million a year.  However, a break came in 2011 as a result of the refusal of Hamas, a Sunni group, to support the Alawite regime of President Assad in Syria that Iran supported.  Iran then stopped its funding and slowed the delivery of arms to Hamas.  But after the beginning of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in July 2014 to defend itself against attacks, Iran has restarted its relationship with Hamas and called for arms to be sent to it.

The Assad Syrian regime provided political and material assistance and some financial support for Hamas.  It housed the headquarters of Hamas in Damascus, where Khalid Mershaal, the Hamas political leader, lived until he left for Qatar in 2012.  His departure, and that of other Hamas people in Syria, resulted from Hamas’s refusal to support Assad in the civil war that started in 2011.

Turkey has been a strong financial supporter of Hamas, to whose members it refers as "freedom fighters.”  In her statement to the House subcommittee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen spoke of Turkey as providing financial, material, and political support for Hamas for years without any repercussions.  It has said to have given at least $300 million to Hamas.  It has helped in construction of schools and hospitals in Gaza.  It sheltered the founder of the terrorist Fatah group, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

The entrance of Qatar as a power player in international politics and its attempts at regional domination have been dramatic.  The economic business ventures in Europe as well as the contribution to the funding of Hamas by the small country – with a population of 280,000 citizens, who have the highest per capita income in the world, and 1.5 million foreign workers – has been extraordinary.

Benefiting from owning about one seventh of the proven gas supplies in the world, Qatar controls enormous financial resources – some say $ 200 billion in financial reserves – and spectacular investments, including fashionable hotels, art-buying, chain stores, car manufactures, and football clubs in a number of European countries.  The nation even gave $14.8 million to the Brookings Institute.

Qatar can be called the world’s largest funder of terror, giving money to the various affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood.  In a strong speech delivered on March 4, 2014 on the subject of the dynamics of terrorist financing, David Cohen, U.S. Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated that Hamas [sic], a longtime U.S. ally, has for many years financed Hamas.  

Qatar’s most dramatic gesture was that of the former ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the first head of state to visit Gaza since Hamas took power, who pledged in October 2012 to give Hamas $400 million, supposedly for a reconstruction project that allowed it to import cement via Egypt.  That cement went to the building of the tunnels.  Qatar had wanted to transfer millions to the Arab Bank to pay 44,000 Hamas civil servants, but the transfer was never processed because of U.S. pressure.

In the conflict in July and August 2014, Qatar took a strong position.  As well as supplying funds to Hamas, it used the state-backed news channel Al Jazeera to broadcast severe attacks against Israeli activities.  It has housed Mershaal, who delivered a talk in the Grand Mosque in Qatar calling for Jerusalem to be liberated, as well as living in luxury in the country.

The US should take a strong stand on the funding activities of Qatar and Turkey.  Obviously this is not easy, since both countries are nominally U.S. allies, and Turkey is a member of NATO.  The U.S. is involved in large arms deals – about 800 million – with Turkey.  The administration also is involved in a  $11-billion arms sale with Qatar.  The U.S. Combined Air Operations Center is in the large al-Udeid air base, which is the largest U.S. base in the Middle East, in Qatar.

That base may symbolize the links between the two countries, but Qatar also has links with Iran, even preparing for joint naval operations in the near future.  The Obama administration hopes, perhaps in vain, that Turkey and Qatar will be part of the coalition intended against the Islamic State.

David Cohen in his March 4, 2014 speech hoped that Qatar would be a constructive partner in countering terrorism.  But the general hope that the new emir, Tamin Hamad al-Thani, would be more cooperative than his father has not yet been realized.  U.S. relations with Turkey and Qatar may be complicated, but the Obama administration must still have and carry out an effective policy to control funding of terrorist groups in general.  There is no complicated U.S. relationship with Hamas, and it should not be difficult for the U.S. and its associates prevent funding of that terrorist organization.  Indeed, this is essential.

Michael Curtis

Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/09/qatar_must_stop_funding_hamas.html

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Rabbi Aryeh Spero: Why did Mideast Christians heckle pro-Israel Ted Cruz?

by Rabbi Aryeh Spero

This past Wednesday night, Senator Ted Cruz did a courageous thing. He walked out on an audience that suddenly showed itself to be anti-Israel and even anti-Jewish. The dinner audience was part of a conference called “In defense of Christianity,” made up of mostly Middle Eastern Christian groups persecuted by Islamic jihadists. When he remarked that in this war against Islamic terror we need to stand with Israel and the Jewish people, he was booed…repeatedly. Finally, Cruz said: “If you can’t stand with Israel and the Jewish people, I cannot stand with you. Good night and God bless,” and he walked off the stage. Senator Cruz, like so many, did not come to this meeting realizing the difference between Middle Eastern Christians and those here in America who have been Israel’s biggest supports and our closest friends as Jews.

What is behind the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish attitudes of many Christians from the Middle East? It is because many are Arab and there is great anti-Semitism in the Arab world. Second: They live in Moslem dominated societies and are bombarded daily with anti-Jewish, anti-Israel propaganda. They soon accept the propaganda and begin purveying it themselves. While their religion is Christian, they, as Arabs and Middle Easterners, are culturally, attitudinally, and in ways of habit similar to Moslems in outlook. Many have family members married to Moslems.

They also retain the original anti-Jewish attitude from the early Eastern Christian years, based on a Replacement Theology justified by claiming the Jews were sinful and therefore replaced by Christians. The re-establishment of the State of Israel was a theological blow for many Mideast Christians who were certain God no longer favored the Jewish people. They remain in denial regarding the existence of a Jewish state. They don’t want it.

Many consider the Jews alien and European, since many Christians are Arab or partially Arab. They will not let themselves feel part of a Jewish state. So, when in the late 1960s the Moslems in the region began identifying themselves as "Palestinians," the Christian Arabs also began identifying as Palestinians as a way to distinguish themselves from Israelis/Jews. (Ironically, up until the 1948 re-creation of Israel, the Jewish residents were called Palestinians, a name originally given to them by the Romans.)

Many feel part of the "Palestinian" rebellion and, like the Moslems, many would like to see the removal of the Jewish State. No doubt, many have been terrorized and threatened by local Islamic groups and have cast their lot with them so as to survive.

Perhaps, the most important point is that they are not Americans. Americans, be they Protestant, Catholic or secular, are a very open, gregarious, and tolerant people. But, in the Arab/Moslem Mideast, much is based on tribalism, clan, ethnic or religious identity. These are not societies built on the openness and free-flow we have here. Americans are exemplary people when it comes to openness. In contrast, many European Catholics still remain anti-Jewish, as are many of the Latinos coming here from south of the border. Perhaps in a generation or so the Middle East Christians who have settled here may become less anti-Jewish.

Finally, there is the envy factor. Many are jealous that Israel has produced a strong, independent country whereas Christians have not done so in the Mideast. Israel chose independence and great sacrifice, whereas the Christian communities allowed themselves to be subsumed under the Islamic majority. They made alliances with Moslem groups. 
Perhaps, their Christian ideals taught them not to fight, a form of pacifism. Whatever the case, their way to answer that failure seems to be condemning Israel. Israel, in their mind, is somehow foreign to the region and doesn't belong there; the familiar scapegoating routine of Jews being "too successful, too wealthy, too represented."  In other words, the Jews are guilty... because they are successful.

All this points to one thing: American Christians are blessedly different than what was and is the case in Europe and the Middle East. Believing as they do in the Old Testament, they see the State of Israel as an affirmation of biblical prophecies, and the resurgence of a strong Jewish people a result of God’s Favor. They see us as partners in a unique and American Judeo-Christian experience.


Rabbi Aryeh Spero is author of Push Back and president of Caucus for America.

Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/09/why_did_mideast_christians_heckle_proisrael_ted_cruz.html

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror: We have to be prepared

by Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror

Last week media outlets in Israel quoted a diplomatic official as warning that Hamas has resumed manufacturing rockets and has begun rebuilding the terror tunnels destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces during the recent Gaza operation. I dare surmise that the reports were merely attempts to demonstrate how badly Israel's Gaza operation had failed rather than the product of reliable information. However, I do believe that at some point in the future Hamas will in fact resume manufacturing rockets and digging tunnels. After all, that is the nature of the cease-fire agreement: Both sides preserve the calm while preparing for the next confrontation. 

Anyone with eyes can see that in order to obviate preparing for a future confrontation, or to prevent a future confrontation for that matter, the recent operation should have been handled differently. The IDF should have re-conquered the Strip, or at least Gaza City and its immediate surroundings and paid the price that occupation entails in order to clean out the city. Israel should have been able to sacrifice more Israeli soldiers and kill more Palestinians, including many civilians. The occupation would have been short, but the cleansing process would have gone on for months. The damage incurred by the fighting and the subsequent cleansing and the demolition of tunnels would have been immense, much greater than the devastation actually suffered by the Palestinians (itself not at all trivial). Finally, Israel would have remained as the only entity required by law to ensure the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Gaza and its residents. 

The moment Israel decided not to pay the price these actions entail it became obvious that there was no way to break Hamas' will to fight or to prevent it from remaining in power after the operation's end. All the proposed alternatives were, and are, completely unrealistic both militarily (to cut off the head of the snake) and in regard to the aftermath (transfer authority over to the U.N. or hand Gaza over to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas). 

Therefore, having no illusions about the future, we must prepare for the next operation while simultaneously making every effort to push it as far into the future as possible. And it is possible. But in order to do so we must instate a very clear policy under which Israel responds to every cease-fire violation with force and immediacy. 

The rules of the game will be decided by our response to the first instances of rocket fire, so it is important to really think about what we will do when that happens. Fortunately for us, on the other side there is a different Egypt, not the Egypt that was completely passive during the Mubarak era or the Egypt that actively supported Hamas during the reign of Mohammed Morsi. The current Egyptian leadership understands that Hamas poses as much of a threat to Egypt as it does to Israel, and will make much more of an effort to prevent Hamas from regaining its power. But even then, Hamas will inevitably try, and may occasionally succeed, to smuggle weapons and other materials into the Strip, because military power is its raison d'être and it will never give it up.

* * *

In the negotiations that will soon begin in Cairo, Egypt will mediate between Israel and Hamas. Israel will be pressured to allow the reconstruction of Gaza. The destruction there is very obvious in certain areas where the fighting was heavier, and in parts where there were command centers and weapons manufacturing facilities the destruction is localized, but extensive. 

The reconstruction of Gaza will serve Israel's interests because, alongside Israel's power of deterrence, the Gazans will own property that they will be afraid to lose again. But the reconstruction needs to be conducted under a number of limitations. The chief limitations have to do with building materials, and Israel must develop a mechanism that will minimize, as much as possible, the use of materials for building terror tunnels and military command centers. We must not delude ourselves that Israel can prevent this absolutely -- partial prevention of spillover will have to suffice. It cannot be prevented completely. 

The true test is not whether Hamas will continue to rebuild its military might -- in the absence of Israeli occupation that is the only possible scenario (as we learned after Oslo and after the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza) -- the true test is the test of preserved calm. The longer the calm persists, the more of a success the operation will have been. Time will tell, but we have the power to influence how the future will unfold, and we must not forget or neglect that despite the complexity.

It is important that we readjust our expectations, not just in regard to Gaza. Israel is a strong country, probably the strongest in the region, but also on a global scale. However, military ability does not necessitate the use of force every time we are faced with a security challenge. It is best to channel our capability, and the little legitimacy we have in the world, toward the really important threats, certainly if they are critical and existential, and those are undoubtedly looming. It is essential that everyone's expectations are in line: the civilian and military leaderships as well as the public. It is always important, but in times of crisis it is 10 times more important. 

Yaakov Amidror is a major-general (res.) and former national security adviser to the prime minister.

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=9965

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Raymond Ibrahim: Beheading Infidels: How Allah ‘Heals the Hearts of Believers’

by Raymond Ibrahim


To understand why the Islamic State not only decapitates its “infidel” captives, but also mutilates and mocks their corpses—and all to sadistic laughter—one need only turn to the Koran and deeds of Islamic prophet Muhammad.

The Koran exhorts believers to “Fight them [those who oppose Islam], Allah will torment them with your hands, humiliate them, empower you over them, and heal the hearts of the believers, removing the rage from their hearts” (Koran 9:14-15).

As usual, to understand the significance of any Koran verse, one must turn to the sira and hadith—the biography and anecdotes of Muhammad, respectively—for context.

Thus we come to the following account concerning the slaughter of ‘Amr bin Hisham, a pagan Arab chieftain originally  known as “Abu Hakim” (Father of Wisdom) until Muhammad dubbed him “Abu Jahl” (Father of Stupidity) for his staunch opposition to Islam.

After ‘Amr was mortally wounded by a new convert to Islam during the Battle of Badr, Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, a close companion of Muhammad, saw the “infidel” chieftain collapsed on the ground.  So he went to him and started abusing him.  Among other things, Abdullah grabbed and pulled ‘Amr’s beard and stood in triumph on the dying man’s chest.

According to Al-Bidaya wa Al-Nihaya (“The Beginning and the End”), Ibn Kathir’s authoritiative history of Islam, “After that, he [Abdullah] cut his [‘Amr’s] head off and bore it till he placed it between the hands of the Prophet. Thus did Allah heal the hearts of the believers with it.”

This, then, is the true significance of Koran 9:14-15: “Fight them, Allah will torment them with your hands [mortally wounding and eventually decapitating ‘Amr], humiliate them [pulling his beard], empower you over them [standing atop him], and heal the hearts of the believers, removing the rage from their hearts [at the sight of his decapitated head].”

The logic here is that, pious Muslims are so full of zeal for Allah’s cause that the only way their inflamed hearts can be at rest is to see those who oppose Allah and his prophet utterly crushed—humiliated, mutilated, decapitated.  Then the hearts of the believers can be at ease and “healed.”

This is surely one of the reasons behind the Islamic State’s dissemination of gory videos and pictures of its victims: the new “caliphate” is trying to heal the hearts of every believer inflamed for the cause of Allah.

If this sounds too farfetched, consider the following picture of a decapitated “infidel” from the Islamic State’s websites.  The Arabic caption to the left says “healing for hearts”—a clear reference to the aforementioned Koran verse:



Koran 96:15-16 also alludes to the fate of ‘Amr and offers more context applicable to the Islamic State: “No! If he does not desist, we will surely drag him by the forelock—a lying, sinning forelock.”

According to al-Alusi’s tafsir, or exegesis, after Abdullah placed his foot on the dying foe of Islam, ‘Amr opened his eyes and recognized him.  The once proud chieftain lamented that he was being killed by a common “goat herder,” to which Abdullah replied, “Islam elevates and nothing is elevated above it.”  He then sheared his head off.  “But he could not carry it, so he made holes in the ears and put thread through them and dragged the head to the prophet.  Then Gabriel, peace be upon him, came laughing and saying, “O prophet, you got an ear and an ear—and the head between for a bonus!”

Based, then, on the treatment of ‘Amr bin Hisham (AKA “Abu Jahl”) as recorded in Islam’s core texts—Koran, hadith, sira, and tafsirs—all sadistic acts being carried out by the Islamic State were in fact committed by the earliest Muslims and all to the complete approval of Muhammad (and apparently the “angel” Gabriel, too).  They include:

•Beheadings and mutilations (e.g., holes in ears of ‘Amr)

•Humiliation and gestures of triumph (feet on chest of fallen victim, dragging his body, or head, on the ground)

•Laughter, mockery, and celebration (for the hearts of the believers are now “healed”)
Indeed, along with the “healing for hearts” image above, consider some other pictures taken from the Islamic State’s websites and how well they conform to the above accounts describing the slaughter of ‘Amr#:

Note how in the following four pictures, to demonstrate that the enemies of Islam have been brought low, as Koran 9:14-15 promised, Islamic State members make it a point to place their feet atop their fallen corpses, most of which were first decapitated.  Note also how the ubiquitous black flag of Islam is always raised above the fallen “infidels”—a reminder that “Islam elevates and nothing is elevated above it,” as Abdullah told ‘Amr, with his foot on his chest, before beheading him.






Note the jocularity in the following picture—reminiscent of the “angel” Gabriel laughing and joking about the mutilated head of ‘Amr.  (If Allah’s angel finds such human carnage amusing, shouldn’t Allah’s jihadi servants as well?)



The following picture is reminiscent of how ‘Amr’s head was treated: mutilated and dragged on the ground.  In this case, it is a decapitated body that is being degraded:



The next two pictures are of especial interest because they actually use the relatively arcane Arabic word haz (bottom left-hand corner), which literally means “to make an incision,” to describe the beheading of Islam’s enemies.  The standard Arabic word for “cut” generally used to describe a beheading is qata‘.  That the word used (haz) is the same word found in the early jihad literature is no coincidence and indicative of the source of inspiration: Islam’s scriptures.





In short, not only are the members of the Islamic State closely patterning themselves after Muhammad—whom Koran 33:21 exhorts believers to emulate in all ways—but even in the most sadistic of details are they finding support in their prophet.

Nor should it come as any surprise that Muslims are aware of these accounts from early Islamic history.  After all, the near hagiographic Battle of Badr, including the story of ‘Amr’s slaughter, is routinely glorified worldwide in mosque sermons, on Islamic satellite stations, and in Islamic texts.  It is a source of great pride.

Thus when young Muslims express their anger and frustration at the state of affairs of the Islamic world, their clerics council them to go to the jihad in Iraq and Syria and decapitate themselves an infidel—which, according to the Koran, should “heal their hearts.”

(Perhaps that’s why one former British rock star and convert to Islam is so eager to decapitate Christians?  Perhap that’s why a jihadi savagely pulled out and bit into the heart of a fallen Syrian soldier—to heal his own heart by sating his rage against Allah’s “enemies”?)

Such Muslims join the jihad, and not only do they decapitate, but they mutilate, humiliate, and laugh at the disgraced enemies of Allah—in perfect emulation of the Islamic glory/gory stories they grew up on.

This is the true cult of jihad which few non-Muslims can begin to comprehend—and little wonder, considering that their political leaders, professors, and media continue to babble foolishly about how Islam is the “religion of peace.”


Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum and a CBN News contributor. He is the author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007).

Source: http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/raymond-ibrahim/beheading-infidels-how-allah-heals-the-hearts-of-believers/

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Robert Spencer: Despite US pressure, Turkey fails to cut Islamic State oil revenue

by Robert Spencer


The whole world rushes to condemn the Islamic State — and yet, when it comes to doing something effective to stop it, suddenly it becomes more difficult. And the Obama administration’s incoherence regarding the anti-Assad forces in Syria — arbitrarily designating some jihadis as “moderate” and arming them to fight those with whom they’re actually collaborating — is unlikely to inspire confidence, especially in so untrustworthy and self-serving an ally as Turkey.

“Turkey fails to cut Islamic State oil revenue despite US pressure,” by David E. Sanger and Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Sydney Morning Herald, September 14, 2014 (thanks to Kenneth):

Washington: The Obama administration is struggling to cut off the millions of dollars in oil revenue that has made the Islamic State one of the wealthiest terror groups in history, but, so far, has been unable to persuade Turkey, the NATO ally where much of the oil is traded on the black market, to crack down on an extensive sales network.
Western intelligence officials say they can track the Islamic State oil shipments as they move across Iraq and into Turkey’s southern border regions.
Despite extensive discussions inside the Pentagon, US forces have, so far, not attacked the tanker trucks.
However, a senior administration official said on Friday “that remains an option”.
Difficulties over a wider US-led effort against the Islamic State were evident in US Secretary of State John Kerry’s talks in Cairo where Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged the military coalition to target groups other than the Islamic State.
Turkey’s failure to help choke off the oil trade symbolises the magnitude of the challenges facing the White House both in assembling a coalition to counter the Sunni militant group and in starving its lifeblood.
The Islamic State’s access to cash is critical to its ability to recruit members, meet its growing payroll of fighters, expand its reach and operate across the territory of two countries.
“Turkey, in many ways, is a wild card in this coalition equation,” said Juan Zarate, a senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
“It’s a great disappointment: There is a real danger that the effort to degrade and destroy ISIS is at risk,” Mr Zarate said, referring to the Islamic State. “You have a major NATO ally, and it is not clear they are willing and able to cut off flows of funds, fighters and support to ISIS.”
Turkey declined to sign a communique on Thursday in Saudi Arabia that committed Persian Gulf states in the region to counter the Islamic State, even limited to the extent each nation considered “appropriate”.
Turkish officials told their US counterparts that with 49 Turkish diplomats being held as hostages in Iraq, they could not risk taking a public stance against the terror group.
Still, administration officials say they believe Turkey could substantially disrupt the cash flow to the Islamic State if it tried.
“Like any sort of black market smuggling operation, if you devote the resources and the effort to attack it, you are unlikely to eradicate it, but you are likely to put a very significant dent in it,” a senior administration official said on Saturday.
At the core of the talks are the dozen or so oil fields and refineries in Iraq and Syria on territory the group has controlled. The output has provided a steady stream of financing, which experts place at $US1 million ($1.1 million) to $US2 million a day; a pittance in terms of the global oil market, but a huge windfall for a terror group.
Underscoring the complexity of Mr Kerry’s mission to gain support in the Middle East, the Egyptian President earlier told the visiting Secretary of State that any international coalition against terrorism should not just focus on Islamic State militants, but also Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis and the Egyptian regime’s foe, the Muslim Brotherhood….

How awkward to make such a demand of an administration that supported the Brotherhood.


Robert Spencer

Source: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/09/despite-us-pressure-turkey-fails-to-cut-islamic-state-oil-revenue

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Soeren Kern: Portugal's Jihadists

by Soeren Kern

Portugal, like Spain, also figures prominently in a map produced by the jihadist group Islamic State [IS] that outlines a five-year plan for expanding its Islamic Caliphate into Europe.
"Holy War is the only solution for humanity." — Abdu, Portuguese jihadist.
"Every time these jihadists groups mention the recovery of al-Andalus, they are also referring to Portugal. Jihadists do not believe in national divisions, but in the existence of a single Muslim community that embraces the entire Iberian Peninsula." — Miguel Torres Soriano, Spanish terrorism expert.

At least a dozen Portuguese nationals have joined jihadist groups fighting in Iraq and Syria, according to new estimates by Portuguese counter-terrorism officials.

All of the Portuguese jihadists (ten men and two women) are under the age of 30 and most of them are children of immigrants, but so far none of the individuals is known to have returned to live in Portugal.

Portuguese authorities are—for now—downplaying the threat these individuals may pose to Portugal upon their return home from the battlefields.

Security analysts from Spain, however, are warning the Portuguese government against complacency. They argue that although the number of Portuguese jihadists may be small compared to other European countries, radical Muslims are becoming increasingly strident in their vows to reconquer Al-Andalus—of which Portugal is a key component—for Islam.

Al-Andalus is the Arabic name given to those parts of Spain, Portugal and France occupied by Muslim conquerors (also known as the Moors) from 711 to 1492, when both the Moors and the Jews were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

Most of the territory of modern-day Portugal was occupied by the Moors for more than 500 years, from 711 until 1249. During that time, the territory was known by its Arabic name, Gharb Al-Andalus (The West of Al-Andalus) or Al-Gharb (The West).

Jihadists believe that all of the territories Muslims lost during the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula still belong to the realm of Islam. They claim that Islamic law gives them the right to return there and re-establish Muslim rule. This belief is based on a verse in the Koran that reads: "And kill them wherever you find them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you..." (Koran 2:191)

A jihadist group called Sharia4Spain—which says it wants to replace the democratic order in Spain with Islamic Sharia law—has called for the "destruction of the constitutional systems of Spain and Portugal and the reestablishment of Sharia law and the system of the Caliphate in all of the Iberian Peninsula."

Portugal, like Spain, also figures prominently in a map produced by the jihadist group Islamic State [IS] that outlines a five-year plan for expanding its Islamic Caliphate into Europe.

In late March 2014, a masked jihadist, using the nom de guerre Abu Isa al-Andalus, appeared in an IS propaganda video calling on others to join the fighting in Syria. A post accompanying the video stated that the individual was originally from Portugal: "He grew up with [the Portuguese footballer Cristiano] Ronaldo, played for Arsenal, and [then] left football, money and the European way of life for the sake of Allah."

The British security service MI5 eventually identified the jihadist as 29-year-old Celso Rodrigues da Costa, a Portuguese citizen.

Celso Rodrigues da Costa, the Portuguese jihadist known as Abu Isa al-Andalus, appears in an Islamic State recruitment video. (Image source: MEMRI)

The Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã reported that Costa, a son of immigrants from Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony in West Africa, was born in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon and was raised in the nearby town of Sintra. At age 20, Costa moved to England to study. "It was there that he joined the Islamic cause," the paper stated.

In the eight minute recruitment video, Costa brandishes an AK-47 rifle and speaks in English with a heavy Portuguese accent. After boasting that IS has "conquered many cities" and is now "implementing the Sharia," he expresses his contempt for Western society:

"If you have families in kafir [infidel] countries, what will happen most probably is you do not have control of your children. In some countries you must put your children in kafir schools and who is going to teach your children? It is going to be maybe a gay, maybe a drug dealer, maybe a paedophile. It is very important for you to protect your children from these animals, these dirty people. Allah says they are the worst of creatures. So you prefer to live among the worst of creatures rather than among the Mujahideen?"

British authorities suspect that Costa was recruited in Leyton, East London, where at least a dozen other Portuguese nationals are believed to be recruiting Portuguese Muslims for jihad.

In August, another Portuguese jihadist, a 19-year-old woman identified only as Umm [Arabic for mother] travelled to Syria to become the wife of an IS jihadist named "Abdu," whom she had met on Facebook but never in person. Both are converts to Islam.

An article entitled, "A Portuguese Bride of Jihad," published on September 3 by the Lisbon-based weekly newspaper Expresso, describes how the couple "shared radicalism and life ambitions" through social media: "Both are converted Muslims, extremists, supporters of the Islamic caliphate, and opponents of the West and the countries of 'infidels.' And both are Portuguese." The paper adds: "She fled on August 9, she married on August 10."

Umm's father, who lives in Alentejo, a wine-producing region in south-central Portugal, identified his daughter via her Facebook profile. "Yes, yes, those are her eyes," he said. "It is her, beyond any doubt." The father was viewing photos posted on Facebook in which his eldest daughter, "Umm," who was born into a Roman Catholic family, is wearing a niqab, a black veil covering her entire face, exposing only her eyes. Her marital status on Facebook reads "Married".

The father, who asked not to be identified, told Expresso that his daughter's behavior is "unbelievable, unreal." After her parents separated, the daughter and her mother moved to the Netherlands, where Umm converted to Islam. "She became a radical Muslim about a year ago, it was all very quick. Which is why I was surprised, I cannot understand."

After arriving in Syria, Umm posted: "I have arrived safely in Sham [Greater Syria]. Sisters, do not hesitate. I feel so good, as if I had always lived here. I feel at home. Insha'Allah [Allah willing]. Allah will soon unite us all." Umm continues:

"Before I used to define happiness as being temporary moments. But now that I have moved to an Islamic state, I finally understand that all the ingredients of happiness are right here. I am truly in paradise."

Umm also says that life on the battlefield is not as bad as it is being depicted by Western media, but she does admit that bombings are a regular feature of life in Syria. "Should a bomb have my name on it, I will be a martyr," she explains.

Umm's husband, identified only as "Abdu," also has a Facebook page on which he promotes holy war. According to Expresso, Abdu—who was born and raised in the suburbs of Lisbon, and converted to Islam after he moved to London—appears smiling, with various weapons and the black and white flag of jihad. "Holy War is the only solution for humanity," he writes.

In July, Portuguese police arrested a jihadist at Lisbon Portela Airport as he was trying illegally to board an Angola-bound jetliner via its landing gear. The newspaper Diário de Notícias reported that the man, who was born in Angola but held a Dutch passport, had received training in a jihadist camp in Syria.

In May, IS reported that a Portuguese-born French jihadist named Abu Osama Al-Faransi carried out a suicide car-bomb attack against a group of Iraqi army personnel in the Al-Mashahada district of Baghdad.

In January, a jihadist posted metro maps for several cities in Portugal, Spain and Germany, under the headline, "Terrorizing the Disbelievers."

For the time being, the Portuguese government maintains that the terrorism threat level in the country is "moderate," even though authorities in neighboring Spain on September 10 raised the threat level to "high." The move means that Spain's security agencies are stepping up their monitoring efforts at the country's airports, train stations, hospitals, government buildings and other key sites in response to the heightened risk of jihadist attacks.

Portuguese authorities say that the threat of attacks in Portugal is lower than in other parts of Europe because most of the jihadists who hold Portuguese passports actually reside in other European countries, primarily in Britain, France and the Netherlands.

Most of these individuals seem to be second- and third-generation descendants of families who emigrated from Portugal to find work in other European countries. Others seem to be the descendants of immigrants from former Portuguese colonies, including Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique.

Portuguese officials contend that the Portuguese jihadists who have been identified so far have little-to-no interaction with Portugal's Muslim community, which, at 55,000 members is one of the smaller such communities in Europe.

Spanish terrorism analysts are nevertheless warning the Portuguese against complacency. In a recent interview with Expresso, Spanish terrorism expert Fernando Reinares advised: "Portugal should be very alert to the movements of jihadists on its territory and to the radicalization of Portuguese citizens within and outside of its borders."

Another Spanish analyst, Óscar Pérez Ventura, warned: "These Iberian jihadists should be considered very dangerous."

Miguel Torres Soriano, author of the book "Al Andalus 2.0," summed it up this way:

"Take heed. Every time these jihadists groups mention the recovery of al-Andalus, they are also referring to Portugal. Jihadists do not believe in national divisions, but in the existence of a single Muslim community that embraces the entire Iberian Peninsula."

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.

Source: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4697/portugal-jihadists

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EU Rep in Gaza: 'Lots of Anger Here – Directed at Palestinians'

by Hillel Fendel

EU Representative John Gatt-Rutter warns of 'desperation' in Gaza, and senses much inter-Arab resentment there.

Gaza

Flash 90

 

John Gatt-Rutter, the EU's representative to the West Bank and Gaza, says, "There is a lot of anger in Gaza, and a lot of it is aimed at the Palestinians."

Gatt-Rutter said he senses widespread despondency in Gaza and warns that it could lead to renewed warfare with Israel, reports the European Jewish Press. A month-long ceasefire currently underway has another 11 days before indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas resume – or, Hamas threatens, it will again start firing rockets at Israel.

“We are not hearing any good words [in Gaza] about anyone at the moment," Gatt-Rutter told reporters. The local population in Gaza is resentful that their major humanitarian needs have not been met, and that salaries have not been paid.

Ironically, the tensions between Fatah and Hamas – the two branches of the Palestinian Authority – could actually be the trigger for renewed warfare with Israel. Fatah, headed by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), has threatened to dissolve the latest PA unity government if Hamas does not recognize “one authority, one gun, one law” in Gaza in the form of PA/Fatah control. If this threat materializes, this in turn will jeopardize the reconstruction efforts in Gaza, because the international donor countries will not rush to contribute funds that Fatah does not oversee.

Another flashpoint between Hamas and Fatah is the concept of direct talks between Hamas and Israel. After a Hamas leader, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said recently that Hamas was ready to negotiate directly with "Tel Aviv" – it does not recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish capital – Fatah spokesman Ahmed Assaf basically accused Hamas of "treason" for the idea: "Since when do Palestinian factions negotiate with Israel on their own? Isn't this treason and a threat to the unity of Palestinians and their political position?"

Yet another point of contention between Fatah and Hamas is the notion that troops of the former will man the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in the framework of future arrangements. Egypt and other countries support this idea, but Hamas does not.


Hillel Fendel

Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185102#.VBX-VmN6h-g

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