Al-Qaida’s new senior leader is trying to co-opt Syria’s revolution
with a message of anti-Americanism and hate, in a new video translation
recently
released to jihadi forums.
Zawahiri: Syria, are you
listening? Hello?
“Peace be upon you while you teach the rebellious, treacherous,
traitorous system severe lessons on how to resist him, his corruption
and treachery, his compliance in favor of the global hegemony and his
desertion of Golan,”
Ayman al-Zawahiri says in his attack on Syrian
dictator Bashar al-Assad. “Peace be upon you, O champions and heroes!
Indeed you have presented a great example, teaching your Arab and
Islamic Ummah lessons about sacrifice, resilience and fighting
injustice.”
In the clip, “The Glory of the East Begins with Damascus,” Zawahiri
paints America as responsible for pulling the strings of Syria’s brutal
regime. His conspiracy theory alleges America wants to manipulate the
region for its own interests and to protect Israel from the wrath of the
revolution.
Notably, Zawahiri tries to blend traditional al-Qaida ideas with
Syrian resistance to the regime. This means praising the martyrs in
Islamist strongholds like
Homs and
Hama, showing local bravery as a rejection of
American intervention in the Middle East, and manipulating popular
grievances against Israel to strike out against the United States.
The propaganda includes reciting a long line of salutes and poetry
about Syria’s famous warriors and conquerors, and also incorporating
modern martyrs into the list. “Peace be upon you, O courageous and
fierce, free and noble, in Daraa, Jisr ash-Shugur, Ma’arrat al-Numan,
Baniyas, Homs, and Hama, the land of heroism and martyrdom,” Zawahiri
said, recognizing places where Syrians had staged protests.
Most important was the mention of Hama, an Islamist stronghold that
witnessed repression of modern Islamist protests and the
brutal crushing of a Muslim Brotherhood revolution
in February 1982. “Whenever a martyr falls from amongst you, hundreds of
others present themselves for martyrdom, and whenever someone is
imprisoned, hundreds of others offer themselves, ready to sacrifice,”
Zawahiri said in praise of the revolution’s fallen.
Al-Qaida has traditionally rejected the Muslim Brotherhood’s approach
of removing un-Islamic regimes through civil activity and elections, so
the salute to the MB’s martyrs may show a warming of ties toward either
the Islamist groups or protesters in general. Such a warming would be
consistent with Zawahiri’s
first statement as al-Qaida’s leader, where he
pledged, “we offer our hands and open our hearts to cooperate with
everyone working on supporting Islam in the Islamic groups and
organizations and outside of them” – even those that are not Jihadist
groups.
Staples of al-Qaida’s ideology were also part of Zawahiri’s
exhortation to Syrian protesters. “Say to him [Assad]: In fact it is you
who is the leader of the gang of criminals… the partner of America in
the war against Islam, which they call the ‘war on terror,’ and the
guardian of the Israeli borders,” Zawahiri stated, reinforcing the
American “
war on Islam” narrative.
As part of his praise of Syrian resistance, Zawahiri sounded an
optimistic note that protesters had supposedly not been impressed by
American
sanctions. “I believe you not to have been fooled by
the plots of the global hegemony and the ruses of the new Crusades,” he
added. “America, who worked with Bashar al-Assad throughout his tenure,
now claims to be on your side, after it has seen the earth overcome
with the tremors of your anger and after its plans were foiled in
Tunisia and Egypt by the loss of two of their most important agents!”
The United States has had
sanctions
on Syria since 2004 and has
increased them in
recent months.
Zawahiri also accused Washington of trying to take control of the
revolution to protect Israel, a country which is universally unpopular
in Syrian society. “Washington today seeks to replace Assad, who
sincerely guarded the borders of the Zionist entity, with another regime
which will end your uprising and Jihad, a government which will grant
the Ummah some of their rights, but in essence will still be obedient to
America and will safeguard the interests of Israel,” he said.
Syrians have a responsibility to rise up and shout out to America
about its hypocrisy, al-Qaida’s new leader said.
“Tell America and Obama that you are the children of great
conquerors, the progeny of Mujahideen… Tell them you are waging a war of
liberation and freedom – liberation from the corrupt idolic tyrants and
liberation for the Muslim lands.
“Tell them that your blessed anger and awesome uprising will never
settle, Allah willing, until you raise the victorious flag of Jihad over
Mount Scopus in our beloved and usurped land of Jerusalem,” he stated,
focusing on a target that had been a part of Israel since its founding.
One of the obvious gaps in al-Qaida’s propaganda is its lack of a
physical presence in Syria. Zawahiri addressed this by claiming that his
fighters were busy fighting against the “new crusades,” and that they
were held back by “borders and restrictions penned by
Sykes and Picot, then sanctified by our [Arab]
rulers.” However, he consoled Syrian Islamists by saying that Syria is
“the land of Islam and martyrdom” and it “has enough mujahideen for
themselves as well as others.”
If al-Qaida has its way, Syrian efforts to topple Assad will open a
new battlefront with America and Israel. “May Allah reward you with the
best of rewards, on behalf of Islam and the Muslims,” Zawahiri
concluded. “May the Majestic reward you, O sons of Damascus, the Glory
of the East begins with Damascus!”
