Tag Archives | jihad

Defending God: The Paradox of Violence And Faith

By on January 30, 2013 in News 87

“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons, or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?”

– Job 38:31

Despite how one feels about God, or how one defines God, or if God even exists at all, the idea that He needs defense seems a bit weird.

In the quote at the beginning of this post, we see God asking Job if he could change the nature of constellations. Why is this important? The God of the Bible is saying that he was in control of everything. If God plainly says he is in control, then why does he need defending? Why is it that we see him giving a mandate to the Israelites for genocide in the Old Testament?… Read the rest

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Al-Qaeda Tells Iran: Stop Spreading 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

By on September 29, 2011 in News 30

911In its commemorative ten-year-anniversary 9/11 issue, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s Inspire magazine attacks Iran for spreading doubt and conspiracy theories regarding the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. (Also: I think al-Qaeda uses the same stock photo services as pharmaceutical websites.) Posted via Public Intelligence.

There have been plenty of conspiracy theories surrounding the events of 9/11. These conspiracy theorists believe that the U.S. government manufactured the attacks while others believe that it was the Israeli Mossad who was behind them. They site claims such as the Pentagon was not hit by a plane but by a rocket, and that the World Trade center building number seven was brought down by a controlled demolition. The prescribers to these theories have been some scattered individuals here and there who do not posses the research capabilities and capacities that are only available to governments. However, there has been one exception: the government of Iran.

… Read the rest

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‘Jihad Jane’: American Woman’s Plot To Kill Swedish Cartoonist

By on March 10, 2010 in News 1

‘Jihad Jane,’ as Pennsylvania woman Colleen LaRose dubbed herself, was indicted Tuesday for helping recruit a network for suicide attacks and plotting to kill a Swedish cartoonist. Seven Muslims were arrested in Ireland in connection with the alleged plot. Jonathan Adams reports for the Christian Science Monitor:

Authorities unsealed charges in the US against a woman dubbed “Jihad Jane” and arrested seven Muslims in Ireland Tuesday for their alleged involvement in a plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist.

The allegations highlight the ongoing sensitivity of cartoon renderings of the prophet Mohammad, and are a rare example of a white American woman becoming involved in global jihad over the Internet.

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Alabama-Born Jihad

By on February 1, 2010 in News 4

The New York Times has an article on a kid raised as a Southern Baptist in small town Alabama who grew up to become an Al Qaeda-aided Jihadist leader in Somalia:

As a teenager, his passions veered between Shakespeare and Kurt Cobain, soccer and Nintendo.. “It felt cool just to be with him,” his best friend at the time, Trey Gunter, said recently. “You knew he was going to be a leader.”

A decade later, Hammami has fulfilled that promise in the most unimaginable way. Some 8,500 miles from Alabama, on the eastern edge of Africa, he has become a key figure in one of the world’s most ruthless Islamist insurgencies. The rebels are known for beheading political enemies, chopping off the hands of thieves and stoning women accused of adultery.

… Read the rest

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Rendering Fear: The Graphic Design of Al Qaeda

By on January 26, 2010 in News 3

Fast Company’s Cliff Kuang has created an interesting slideshow showing the developing graphic design skills of Jihadists. As he says,

Al Qaeda and the myriad groups that seek to emulate it are evil, without question. But they also happen to be modernizing their public face, at break-neck speed, translating their message to the Web and to magazines. What they’re running into–in addition to annoyances with Photoshop and Pagemaker–are stereotypically Western middle-management questions of marketing and tone. And you can see that tension in the design of their materials.

Kuang illustrates the last five years or so of Jihadi design with some well chosen images. Here’s just one, with Kuang’s commentary below:

Usually, Jihadist imagery is gritty and terrestrial. Here, we get Jihadis IN SPAAAAAAACE. The poster praises Imam Anwar Awlaki, the “Osama of the Internet,” who reportedly had ties to Fort Hood mass murderer Army Major Nidal Hassan, “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

… Read the rest

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New ‘Jihad Code’ Threatens Al Qaeda

By on November 10, 2009 in News 2

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) — From within Libya’s most secure jail a new challenge to al Qaeda is emerging.

Leaders of one of the world’s most effective jihadist organizations, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), have written a new “code” for jihad. The LIFG says it now views the armed struggle it waged against Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s regime for two decades as illegal under Islamic law.

The new code, a 417-page religious document entitled “Corrective Studies” is the result of more than two years of intense and secret talks between the leaders of the LIFG and Libyan security officials.

The code’s most direct challenge to al Qaeda is this: “Jihad has ethics and morals because it is for God. That means it is forbidden to kill women, children, elderly people, priests, messengers, traders and the like…

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