Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man, again called upon Muslims

1 . In an audio cassette appearing on Muslim Internet sites on April 2, 2008, Ayman al-Zawahir i, second to Osama bin Laden in command of Al-Qaeda, answered questions put to him by Islamic surfers.

2. One of the questions was why Al-Qaeda avoided attacking Israel . Ayman al-Zawahiri answered as follows: “Does the person asking the question not know that Al-Qaeda struck the Jews in Djerba , Tunisia and Israeli tourists in their hotel in Mombasa , Kenya ? And that after that [Al-Qaeda] launched two rockets at an El-Al plane carrying a number [of Israelis]?... We thank the person asking the question for his positive thinking, and we promise our Muslim brothers that we will do our best to strike the Jews both inside and outside Israel , and with the help of Allah, we will succeed .” 1 3. Ayman al-Zawahiri answered other questions from surfers, and claimed that the UN was Islam's enemy and that Al-Qaeda did not murder innocent people, except by mistake or in self defense. He criticized sheikh Yussuf al-Qardawi for praising the Egyptian government and opposing suicide bombing attacks, 2 and the Hamas government as well, calling upon it to support its “jihad fighters.” He claimed that Osama bin Laden was in good health and felt well, and called upon the mujahideen [jihad fighters] in Egypt to “ attack Crusader and Jewish interests everywhere .”

4. Ayman al-Zawahiri specifically called for attacks to be against Jews outside Israel as well . In an audio cassette which appeared on the Internet on March 24, 2008, he called upon Muslims to strike at Jewish and American interests and to abandon the way of thinking of attacking Jews only in Palestine (Al-Burak forum, March 24, 2008). In the April cassette as well, he specifically called up on Muslims to attack Jews not only in Israel but all over the world.

5. Bin Laden and senior Al-Qaeda figures represent Israel and the Jews as enemies of the Muslim nation and as collaborating with the United States and the Christian West (called “the new Crusaders”). In that way they encourage global jihad terrorist attacks against Israel 3 and the Jews and create an atmosphere which is liable to lead to Muslim strikes against Jews all over the world.

Appendix

The text of the remarks made by al-Zawahiri calling for attacks against Jews in Israel and abroad:

"ألم يبلغ السائل أن قاعدة الجهاد قد ضربت اليهود في جربا بتونس، وضربت السياح الإسرائيليين في مومباسا بكينيا في فندقهم، ثم أطلقت صاروخين على طائرة العال، التي تقل عدداً منهم؟.. إن كان هذا بسبب حسن ظنه بالقاعدة، وأن عليها أن تضرب أعداء الإسلام في كل مكانٍ، فنحن نشكره على حسن ظنه، ونعد إخواننا المسلمين بأننا سنسعى بأقصى ما نستطيع لأن ننزل الضربات باليهود داخل إسرائيل وخارجها، بعون الله وتوفيقه ."

1 From http://arabic.cnn.com/2008/middle_east/4/3/zawahiri.answers/index.html ; and also see the IntelCenter report.

2 With the exceptions of Palestinian suicide bombers, whose attacks against Israel he justifies and Iraq , where he is in favor of suicide bombers against the Americans.

3 During the past year global jihad elements have strengthened their hold in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, which they consider advance bases for terrorist attacks against Israel . For further information see our February 11, 2008 Bulletin entitled “A group called “Army of the Nation, Jerusalem ” is yet another global jihad offshoot in the Gaza Strip” .

Thanks: Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)