Abu Muhammad Al-Tahawi, a leading figure in Jordan's Salafi-jihadi movement, reasserted the movement's commitment to jihad against Israel, and likewise vowed that jihad fighters in Syria would continue waging jihad against Israel. Al-Tahawi's statements were made at an October 19, 2012 event held by Salafi-jihadis in a refugee camp northwest of Amman in celebration of the "martyrdom" of a Jordanian, Al-Tahawi's son-in-law, who died taking part in the fighting in Syria.
Al-Tahawi touched upon the issue of jihad in Palestine as part of a tirade against the nationalist and left–wing parties for supporting Assad, and in answer to their criticism of the jihad movement for abandoning the Palestinian cause in favor of fighting in Syria. He said: "Those [on the left] continue to ask a jarring question meant to mislead and confuse people. [They ask]: why don't you go fight in Palestine? We say to them: do not blot out the light of truth with the screen of lies. The main factor in Palestine is the Islamic [factor]. The [camp] that is fighting is the Islamic [camp], and you [the left] have no presence here or there other than in theory. If the paths were open to us, we would fight the Jews in Jerusalem before anywhere else, and we would not waver in our attempts to do so."
"Before going to fight in Syria, we fought on the land of Palestine, and many martyrs fell from our ranks… Likewise, the files of the state security court abound with the cases of followers of the movement [who tried] to cross the border into Palestine. We made preparations to reach the gates of Palestine, but our efforts were nipped in the bud… Allah willing, we will enter Palestine from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria, and the monotheist sons [i.e. Salafi-jihadis] of Damascus, Hama, Aleppo, and Homs will come with us to liberate it."
"As for our current presence in Palestine, it is denied only by the ignorant or the infidel. Just days ago, the Zionists assassinated a jihadi group of our brothers, headed by Sheikh Hisham Al-Sa'idani Abu Al-Walid Al-Maqdisi,[1] and the Jews celebrated this in their media…"
"Enough lying, provocations, and commodification of the Palestinian cause. For us Palestine is the heart. In it is the first of the two qibla [direction faced during prayer] and the third holy place. We are certain that it will be liberated only by pure hands, and not with the tools of America, the former Soviet Union, or Russia, China, and Safavid Iran. We stand by the vow of our heroic Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah have mercy on him, who said: 'America will not enjoy security until we live in security in Palestine.'"
Al-Tahawi criticized those who refrain from jihad, calling them "languid slackers and shirkers. [Jihad] requires those who can endure and suffer, and completely divorce themselves from this world. The price for the restoration of the Caliphate must be paid. [It] will only be restored with blood and body parts. The Caliphate will only be restored by giving up all that is dear and precious. This is our way, and whoever does not know these facts should acquaint himself with them."
Source: Al-Sabeel (Jordan), October 20, 2012; http://arabic.upi.com/News/2012/10/19/UPI-21061350677713/?spt=mps.
Endnote:
[1] Abu Al-Walid Al-Maqdisi, head of the Gaza based Jama'at Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad, a Salafi-jihadi group, was killed in an October 13, 2012 Israeli airstrike. Al-Maqdisi had studied in Jordan and maintained close relations with the Salafi-jihadi movement there.
