Following the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by U.S. President Donald Trump on December 6, 2017, jihadi groups around the world reacted with formal statements calling on Muslims to join the jihad, shed American and Israeli blood, and burn and storm American and Israeli embassies. Below are statements from jihadi groups, including the Taliban as well as Al-Qaeda's central leadership and its affiliates in Somalia, Yemen, and North Africa, among others.
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ISIS's Al-Naba' Weekly Downplays Trump's Statement On Jerusalem, Lashes Out At Public Outcry
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An editorial in Issue 109 of the Islamic State (ISIS) weekly Al-Naba', released online on December 8, 2017, lashed out at the public outcry that followed President Trump's December 6 address in which he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In the editorial, ISIS questioned the motives behind the outcry, wondering why people were suddenly upset now, despite Jerusalem having been under Jewish control for the last 60 years.
Al-Qaeda and its branches have already denounced Trump's declaration, with Al-Qaeda leadership calling upon Muslims everywhere to wage jihad against the U.S. in response.[1]
Al-Naba's editorial opens by questioning the public outcry, saying: "Sixty years [have passed] and Al-Quds has been in the Jews' hands, and then people are crying the moment the Crusaders declared it today a capital for them [i.e. for the Jews]."
The editorial continues to seriously question the motives behind the outcry, saying: "And a person cannot know the truth [behind] this cry. Is it a cry over land that once was a qibla [direction] for Muslims... Or is it a cry over a cause [i.e. the cause of Al-Quds and Palestine in general, over which] they have become used to crying whenever it is mentioned... Or is it a new opportunity for the auctioneers and claimers to raise their voices anew, calling [for attention] for this orphan cause, over which every tyrant... And [every] group of unbelief and apostasy in the region has claimed parentage..."
ISIS also questioned the truthfulness behind the various regional governments' claims to genuinely care about the cause of Jerusalem, saying that these regimes had grown accustomed to using such slogans to promote their own interests and to divert any attention away from their own crimes. ISIS describes such slogans as "empty claims" and a "salable commodity" that are used, inter alia, to silence the subjects of these regimes.
On the other hand, ISIS says that it is not fooled by these slogans, and that it continues to weigh everything according to the shari'a. So, for example, it says that no matter how much a person hollers about "liberating Al-Quds," if he or she committed apostasy or heresy, they shall remain in their state until they repent.
Being part of the victorious sect, ISIS also says that it is the true guardian of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Muslims living there, as opposed to "the tyrants, their polytheistic slaves... the secularists, democratic, and their apostate [Muslim] brothers..."
Noting that its jihad aims at establishing Allah's shari'a on earth, whether in Jerusalem or elsewhere, ISIS said that every step in its jihad brings it closer to fulfilling Allah's promise to fight and kill the Jews in Jerusalem.
Endnote:
[1] See MEMRI JTTM report Al-Qaeda Condemns Trump's Statement On Jerusalem; 'The Surest And Shortest Way To Confront The Aggression And Arrogance Of America, The Pharaoh Of This Age, Is Through Jihad', December 8, 2017.
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On December 7, 2017, Al-Qaeda's central leadership released a statement in reaction to President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The statement, released in Arabic and English via Al-Qaeda's media wing Al-Sahab, calls upon Muslims worldwide to wage in jihad against America "by targeting its vital interests and the interests of its Zionist and Crusader allies everywhere," and to "declare a war with no respite against the nations of disbelief."
AQAP Condemns Trump Statement On Jerusalem, Vows To Support Palestinians
Following the declaration by U.S. President Donald Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a statement condemning Trump, saying Jerusalem and the holy land are not property that he can sell to "the Jews." The group vowed to provide the Palestinians with any support they require, and urged Muslims to support jihadi groups with arms and funds.
On December 7, 2017, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a statement in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's address the day before in which he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
On December 6, 2017, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem (Al-Quds in Arabic) as the capital of Israel, the spokesman of the Somalia-based Al-Qaeda affiliate Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen, Ali Dhiri, issued a statement to its news agency Shahada News calling for Muslims to take up weapons and conquer Jerusalem by force.
On December 8, 2017, Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a major jihadi group fighting in Syria that dissociated itself from Al-Qaeda in July 2016, released a statement condemning U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition, on December 6, of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The statement, which was posted on the group's Telegram channels, calls on Muslim nations to understand that "what has been taken by force, will only be restored by force."
HTS accused "the crusaders alliance" of "taking advantage" of the fact that Muslims are busy with their revolutions to "pass the latest decision" which it described as "confronting and underestimating of the feelings of Muslims and proving the real role of the U.S. as a claimed peace broker."
On December 7, 2017, the Kashmir-based jihadi group Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH), via its media wing Al-Hurr, released a statement in reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The text of the communique was distributed on the group's official Telegram channel in English and in Urdu.
The statement calls for Muslims across the world to "attack and harm US and Israeli Embassies, companies and financial and commercial interests" adding that "the honor of Beit Al-Maqdis will be restored by shedding the blood of Americans and Israelis [...] the Holy Land must be a graveyard for Jews."
Following U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) issued the following statement:
"Finally, America has fully exposed her colonialist face and declared enmity towards Islam as well as support for a policy of occupation and colonization of Muslim lands. The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns recognition of Muslim's first Qibla – Bait al-Maqdas – as the capital of the occupying Israel by the president of America and considers it anti-Muslim bigotry and a reckless step.
