Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Home Front: WoT

Michigan city [Dearborn] is on edge as Wall Street Journal article brands it 'America's jihad capital' - with cops deployed to guard mosques and locals fearing Islamophobic revenge attacks

2024-02-04

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A Michigan suburb with the largest Muslim population in the US has upped its security in fear of hate attacks after it was branded America's 'jihad capital.'

The headline of a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published on Friday read 'Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital' - a title given to the city by the publication because of its residents' pro-Palestine stances. The contentious article was written by Steven Stalinsky, who is a commentator on terrorism and has served as executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute, based in Washington DC, since 1999.

He warned in the story that Dearborn's majority Arab population ought to be paid 'close attention' by counterterrorism agencies following October 7.

But his words have caused the mayor of the suburb, Abdullah Hammoud to ramp up police presence outside mosques and other major civil centers because of Islamophobic threats being hurled at its majority-Arab residents.

The WSJ op-ed has allegedly caused an 'alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric' towards the some 110,000 locals living in Dearborn.

According to census figures, Dearborn is roughly 54 percent Arab American, making it one of the most densely populated areas for Middle Eastern people in the US.

It is home to the largest Muslim population in the US per capita as well as the largest mosque in North America.

In the wake of the October 7 attacks on 1,000 Israeli citizens, protests erupted in Dearborn - supporting the Palestinian side.

The opinion piece published by the WSJ read: 'Thousands march in support of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. Protesters, many with kaffiyehs covering their faces, shout 'Intifada, intifada,' 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,' and 'America is a terrorist state.'

'Local imams give fiery antisemitic sermons. This isn't the Middle East. It's the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Mich.'

After 9/11, he argues, Dearborn was branded a 'recruiting area and potential support base for international terror groups' according to the Department of Justice.

The writer claims that 'many current or onetime Dearborn residents have been convicted of terror-related crimes in recent years.'

Stalinsky then says what is happening in Dearborn is 'potentially a national-security issue affecting all Americans.'

He warns: 'Counterterrorism agencies at all levels should pay close attention.'

On Wednesday night, Arab Americans inside a Dearborn high school were protesting against Joe Biden's scheduled visit to the city next week. In the 2020 election, 68 percent of voters in Wayne County, where Dearborn is located, voted for Biden. It is expected to be a fierce battleground in November. Nasser Beydoun, a Dearborn candidate for Senate, told the crowd this week: 'The community has made a decision that Joe Biden is not our nominee.'

Link

Africa North

Authorities accuse jihadist groups of massacres of civilians in Burkina Faso

2023-12-20

[AFRICANEWS] Burkina Faso

...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president used to be Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and was chased out in 2014. Now it's the usual army officer type guy, Captain Ibrahim Traore, running things, who's just doing a bang-up job unless he's already been deposed...
's ruling military regime on Monday accused jihadist groups of carrying out massacres against civilians in the north of the country, urging people to "give no credence" to images of abuses committed by gunnies portrayed as Burkina Faso soldiers.

Since the beginning of December, several videos have been widely posted on social networks accusing the army of committing acts of violence against civilians in the Djibo area (north).

"The government invites the population not to give any credence to the video images currently circulating on social networks", wrote the government front man and Minister for Communication, Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo, in a blurb.

These videos "attempt to make people believe that massacres of civilians have been perpetrated by Burkina Faso's fighting forces", he added, denouncing a "communication campaign fuelled by the terrorists", concerning "massacres that they themselves have perpetrated".

"These are treacherous fabrications designed to discredit the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) and the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP, civilian auxiliaries to the army), who put up heroic resistance to the onslaught of Lions of Islam who failed miserably to take control of the Djibo camp on 26 November", he said.

On that day, jihadists carried out a massive attack against an army detachment in Djibo, killing several soldiers, according to security sources. No official figures were released, but the state media claimed that the army's response had "neutralised more than 400 terrorists".

At least 40 civilians were also killed and 42 maimed, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. On Monday, the government front man also assured that "Burkina Faso's fighting forces are acting with professionalism and respect for human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions..."
Djibo, close to the so-called three-border zone between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali where jihadist groups are active, has been under siege for months. Several convoys seeking to supply the area have been attacked.

Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been caught up in a spiral of violence perpetrated by jihadist groups affiliated to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
and al-Qaeda, which has left a total of more than 17,000 civilians and soldiers dead.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Why is Michigan hate preacher Ahmad Musa Jibril allowed to call for the murder of Americans?

2023-12-16

[NYPOST] Ahmad Musa Jibril, a radical Islamist preacher from Michigan, wants American Moslems to go on jihad.

"Jihad must be a common, normal term on your tongues, on your social media, and in the mosques and elsewhere," he said in a video.

And: "If you can’t raise your child telling him you want him to be mujahid and martyr, then you are the root of the problem."

Sure sounds like incitement to us.

Especially since Jibril, while ranting against Biden, said that the United States "is more to blame for the genocide in Paleostine than the occupying Jews."

The man’s clearly, deliberately painting a target on the backs of Jews and Americans.

But even if his words don’t rise to the level of legal incitement, the man at the very least needs to be deplatformed.

He has no business occupying a position like imam, one totally central to Moslem life; these religious leaders are supposed to dispense wisdom and good guidance.

Not vile hate and calls to violence.

And he does preach direct violence: He’s called for young people to travel to Syria to fight alongside the barbarians of ISIS, and he faxed an ugly fan letter to CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
after a terror bombing in Riyadh in 1995.

Indeed, a perpetrator of the London Bridge 2017 terror attack, which killed eight and injured dozens, reportedly was a listener.

Jibril’s an ex-con, to boot: He was sentenced to six-plus years of hard time for financial and gun crimes.

The real shame here is that he’s an American, from Dearborn.

If we can’t kick him out, let’s at least make sure few people can listen to his trash.

Link

Home Front: WoT

American hate preacher who 'inspired' London attacker posed as a jihadi, glorified bin Laden, celebrated U.S. deaths and told followers to kill non-Muslims - now he has fled home so fast he left his flip flops behind

2017-06-07

[DailyMail]

Ahmad Musa Jibril

...the charismatic internet preacher living in Dearborn, Michigan who is very popular with foreign fighters in Syra. He is active on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter...
is a long-time Islamic preacher who Khuram Butt, one of the three London killers is reported to have watched on the internet

Jibril's mother and sister have disappeared from their nearby Dearborn home, too

U.S. citizen Jibril, 46, has federal criminal conviction for fraud - and authorities revealed in court documents the depths of his backing for radical Islam

He was sentenced to just under six years at federal court in Detroit in 2005

A document prepared by federal prosecutors revealed how he had a family album showing him dressed as a 'mujaheddin' and children 'holding hostages'

A fax sent to CNN after a 1995 bombing in Saudi Arabia which killed Americans came from a fax number he paid for

It tried to take credit for the bombing - and he also ran a website from his family home which federal prosecutors said was 'fanatically anti-America'

Link

Home Front: WoT

Islamic State Radicalizes ‘Thousands’ in United States

2015-11-26

The Islamic State has likely radicalized thousands of people in the United States, according to a new report, raising concerns that supporters of the terrorist group could be plotting domestic attacks similar to the recent shootings and bombings in Paris.

The Threat Knowledge Group, an organization led by the counterterrorism experts Sebastian and Katharine Gorka, has compiled a list of 82 individuals in the United States who were affiliated with the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) and apprehended by law enforcement officials, including those who traveled or attempted to travel to Iraq and Syria, launched domestic attacks, or participated in recruiting or fundraising.

The Gorkas note in a new report that almost one third of these individuals had plotted attacks against Americans on U.S. soil in the last 18 months. Through Islamic State propagandists on Twitter and other social media sites, the terrorist group has been able to attract hundreds more supporters in the United States, they said.

Ali Shukri Amin, a 17-year-old Virginia resident and Islamic State supporter who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in August, used his Twitter account with 4,000 followers to raise funds for the group and encourage friends to join it overseas.

Ahmad Musa Jibril, an Islamist preacher in Dearborn, Michigan, who has also spent time in jail for money laundering and tax evasion, also points to the terrorist group’s online reach. Jibril has more than 38,000 Twitter followers, though he has not tweeted since last July and may have found other methods of communication. He is reported to have a large following among foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria.

“Based on the evidence available, the number of ISIS supporters in the United States measures in the thousands, rather than hundreds,” the Gorkas said in their report.

“Whether ISIS will launch an attack on the scale of the Paris attack is unknown, but it is clear that the United States is a primary target for ISIS and that ISIS has the necessary supporters in place and the financial means to carry out such an attack,” they continued. “The challenges of screening incoming refugees may further exacerbate the problem.”

The Islamic State has displaced al Qaeda as the top threat to the U.S. homeland, the Gorkas said. After examining arrests per month, they found that U.S. police are interdicting 300 percent more Islamic State recruits than al Qaeda supporters.

The Islamic State has been able to attract thousands of foreign fighters and U.S. supporters through its aggressive dissemination of propaganda on social media and urgent ideological and religious narrative.

Religious authorities for the group claim that the “end times” are swiftly approaching, a period when Muslims will defeat invading Christians in Syria in “the final jihad” before the world ends and devout Muslims ascend to heaven. “They are able to persuade many supporters to come fight on the grounds that this is ‘The Final Jihad,’” the Gorkas said.

The Islamic State also focuses on young recruits, who are more vulnerable to radicalization. The report notes that 63 percent of those arrested in the United States for supporting the group were between the ages of 15 and 25.

Islamic State supporters often recruit in clusters in the United States, with friends and family members forming a local jihad network.

“For law enforcement, it suggests that if one person in a community affiliates themselves with ISIS, one can expect to see more, especially among those who are close to the recruit,” the Gorkas said.

Still, Islamic State adherents in the United States are vulnerable to capture. Among the 82 cases of U.S. supporters studied by the Threat Knowledge Group, about 60 percent were identified by authorities through their social media posts or a tip from someone close to them. The Gorkas recommended that police build trust in communities so families and residents will feel comfortable turning in those that they suspect are radicalized.

Additionally, they urged law enforcement authorities to work with educators about identifying signs of radicalization among youth, focus more on tracking the Islamic State’s religious authorities online and their propaganda, and develop a more rigorous screening process for refugees from the Middle East.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Study: Syria Foreign Fighters Look to Western Preachers

2014-04-17

[An Nahar] Foreign fighters in Syria are looking to Western-based spiritual authorities acting as "cheerleaders" on social media, a British-based research body said Wednesday.

A study of the social media activity of foreign jihadists showed many were following certain influential preachers -- one from the United States and another from Australia, said the International Center for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) at King's College London university.

Their 36-page research paper entitled "Greenbirds: Measuring Importance and Influence in Syrian Foreign Fighter Networks" examines how imported muscle in Syria receive information about the conflict and who inspires them.

Over the past 12 months, researchers studied the social media profiles of 190 Western fighters in Syria. More than two-thirds were affiliated with the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
(ISIL) group or the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front.

The research found that for the fighters they followed, social media has become an essential facet of the conflict.

They found that a large number of imported muscle received their information from "disseminators" -- unaffiliated but broadly sympathetic individuals mostly based in the West.

The ICSR said they had found "new spiritual authorities" who imported muscle in Syria look to for inspiration and guidance.

"They are playing the role of cheerleaders," the report said.

"Their statements and interactions can be seen as providing encouragement, justification, and religious legitimacy for fighting in the Syrian conflict, and -- whether consciously or not -- play an important role in radicalizing some individuals."

It stressed there was no evidence to suggest those individuals were involved in facilitating imported muscle' entry into Syria or coordinating their activity with jihadist groups.

Based on quantitative analysis of their popularity within foreign fighter networks, the paper identified the two most prominent of these new spiritual authorities as U.S.-based Ahmad Musa Jibril and Musa Cerantonio, an Australian convert to Islam with Italian roots.

Jibril, who is in his early 40s, "does not explicitly call to violent jihad, but supports individual imported muscle and justifies the Syrian conflict in highly emotive terms," the report said.

"He is eloquent, charismatic, and -- most importantly -- fluent in English."

Cerantonio, 29, has become an "outspoken cheerleader" for ISIL.

"Jibril is a subtle, careful, and nuanced preacher, while Musa Cerantonio is much more explicit in his support for the jihadist opposition in Syria," the paper said.

"Foreign fighters who follow them both are exposed to the same essential message: fighting in Syria is legitimate and honorable."

Nearly 55 percent were identified as members of ISIL, while just under 14 percent were through to belong to al-Nusra.

Fighters that could not be clearly placed in one camp made up 29 percent.

The sample found 18 percent of the fighters came from Britannia, followed by La Belle France (12 percent), Germany (11 percent), Sweden (10 percent), Belgium (nine percent) and the Netherlands (six percent).

In December 2013, the ICSR estimated that up to 11,000 people from 74 nations, including 2,800 from European or Western countries, had gone to Syria to fight.

Link

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