Some Examples of Forums and Blogs
The following are some prominent Islamist forums and blogs in English, along with their URLs and ISPs:
- The Al-Hesbah forum
- http://www.alhesbah.net/v/forumdisplay.php?f=48
- ISP: NOC4Hosts Inc.; Tampa, FL, USA (Data verified 11/20/07)
- The Shumoukh Al-Islam forum
- http://shmo5alislam.net/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=53
- ISP: TELEKOM MALAYSIA BERHAD; Malaysia (Data verified 11/20/07)
- The Al-Ekhlaas forum
- http://ekhlaas.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=109
- ISP: NOC4Hosts Inc.; Tampa, FL, USA (Data verified 11/20/07)
- The Jund Al-Rahman forum
- http://jondurrahmaan.com/vb/?styleid=30
- ISP: Layered Technologies, Inc.; Plano, TX, USA (Data verified 11/20/07)
- The Shabkat Al-Akhbar forum
- http://w-w-n.ws/forumdisplay.php?f=10
- ISP: TIMETELEKOM; Malaysia (Data verified 11/20/07)
- At-Tibyan Publications website [2]
- http://tibyan.wordpress.com/tag/articles
- ISP: Layered Technologies, Inc., Plano, TX, USA (Data verified 11/29/07)
- The Sawt Al-Jihad blog
- http://www.sawtaljihad.org/
- ISP: New Dream Network LLC; Brea, CA, USA (Data verified 11/20/07)
- The Ignored Puzzle Pieces of Knowledge blog
- http://inshallahshaheed.muslimpad.com/
- ISP: ThePlanet.com Internet Services, Inc, Dallas, TX, USA (Data verified 11/29/07)
- The Crusader Watcher blog
- http://www.crusaderwatcher.blogspot.com/
- ISP: Google Inc.; Mountain View, CA, USA (Data verified 11/20/07)
- The Press Release blog
- http://www.press-release.blogspot.com/
- ISP: Google Inc.; Mountain View, CA, USA (Data verified 11/21/07)
Page from the Press Release blog, containing links to posts on jihad in English and Arabic
The Goals of the English-Language Forums and Blogs
Eroding Western Support for the War on Terror
One of the apparent goals of the Islamist forums and blogs in English is to erode support among the Western public for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is done primarily by posting full translations of official communiqués by Afghani and Iraqi terrorist organizations - especially communiqués boasting of successful terrorist attacks, in which the numbers of Coalition casualties are often inflated. [3] Two examples of this are a September 2007 communiqué by the Al-Qaeda-founded Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which claimed that 20 U.S. soldiers had been killed in a suicide attack in Diyala, [4] and a October 2007 message in which the ISI claimed to have killed 57 U.S. soldiers in another Diyala attack. [5] Such messages, which are very common on the English-language forums and blogs, are presumably meant to plant doubt in minds of Western citizens about the West's ability to win the war on terror.
English section of the Shabakat Al-Akhbar forum (http://w-w-n.ws/ ).
Report by a media jihad group calling itself the Jihad Media Battalion, posted on the Shumoukh Al-Islam forum (http://www.shmo5alislam.net/vb/showthread.php?t=9849 ), presenting inflated numbers of U.S. casualties in Iraq in 2006-2007.
The English-language Islamist forums and blogs also frequently quote reports from the Western media that cast doubt on the effectiveness of the war on terror and of Western policies in general, such as reports suggesting that the war in Iraq and Afghanistan could jeopardize, rather than promote, the security and prosperity of Western countries. For example, on November 7, 2007, some sites posted a British think tank's assessment that "the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have seriously diminished the ability of the Armed Forces to meet future challenges" and that "British Armed Forces need a sustained period of time - perhaps a decade - to recover from the intensity of operations undertaken." [6] Another report cited on the websites claimed that "hundreds of Canadian soldiers returning from Afghanistan are suffering from a range of mental-health problems linked to their deployment." [7]
Also popular on these sites are reports depicting the Western coalition in Iraq and Afghanistan as fragile, or predicting its future disintegration. For example, they recently posted a news item which stated, citing a Portuguese military source, that "Portugal will cut its military presence in Afghanistan by more than 90 percent from August 2008;" [8] a report describing demonstrations in Canada calling to bring Canadian soldiers back from Afghanistan"; [9] and a quote by a senior Dutch military official advising his government to "reduce its presence in the NATO force in Afghanistan." [10] Messages of this sort are presumably meant, inter alia, to foster a negative view of the war and its outcome among the Western public.
Urging Muslims Living in the West to Engage In Media Jihad
Occasionally, the English-language forums and blogs post messages addressed specifically to Muslims living in the West encouraging them to play an active role in online activity in support of jihad. An example is a message titled "A Dream and Reflections," posted October 5, 2007 on the Al-Ekhlaas forum by an individual calling himself Anbar Bikr. The message castigates Muslims in the West for being too passive in their support of jihad. It further states that visiting jihadist websites is not enough, and urges Muslims to establish "an Islamic media [network] that will slap the West in the face," emphasizing that Western freedom of speech allows them to do so at no risk.
Bikr also incites the Muslims in the West against their host countries, stating: "Many Muslims worship Britain because they have been granted asylum [there]... [but] it is [only] out of apparent ignorance that you [are] grateful to a country that is killing your own people [in] another land..." [11]
Anbar Bikr's posting on the Al-Ekhlaas Forum (http://ekhlaas.org/forum/ )
Another message, by an individual calling himself Ghareeb ad Diyaar, urges Muslims to take part in a campaign titled "The Media Sword Campaign" which aims to increase online jihadist activity. The message says: "What we want from you, brothers and sisters, is to turn the [jihad] forums into beehives during the period of the campaign... [S]ome can help in publishing... others can renew the links... [yet] others can write articles.... [You should] strongly [object] to anyone who tries to sow dissension [among] the mujahideen through your forum..." [12] The message explains that, as part of the campaign, participants are encouraged to post messages on non-jihadist forums, and advises them to tailor their postings to their intended audience: "The publisher here must choose the best way when communicating with the visitors of these forums, [because] the way you talk to a member of a music forum isn't the same [way ] that you use in jihadist forums. And you shouldn't just copy and paste here, but must choose the convenient subjects and words. What's [even] more important is watching the replies of the members and replying to them accordingly... "
Encouraging Muslims Living in the West to Carry Out Martyrdom Operations
The Islamists are not only recruiting Muslims in the West for media jihad; some of the postings in English explicitly call on Muslims in the West to carry out martyrdom operations. For example, on November 28, 2007, the Al-Ekhlaas forum (http://ekhlaas.org ) and an English-language blog (http://inshallahshaheed.muslimpad.com ) [13] posted an English translation of an article by Sheikh Marwan Hadid [14] titled "And Sell Not the Covenant of Allah for a Small Gain." The text sets out religious arguments in favor of waging jihad and concludes with the appeal: "Oh Muslims, prepare yourselves to fight the enemies of Allah independently and in groups, for the time has come for us to cast off the garment of humiliation, and to live in the dunya [i.e. in this world] honorably, under the shade of an Islamic system, or to meet Allah as martyrs while He is pleased with us. And indeed, it is one of the two good ends, [which are either] victory or martyrdom..." [15]
Image from the English section on an Islamist forum (http://ek-ls.org/ )
The full report can be found at
Jihadists Broaden Reach by Launching English-Language Forums, Blogs
[1] In addition to postings in English, these forums and blogs occasionally feature messages in other European languages such as German and French.
[2] The site features an official disclaimer stating that its content intends to provoke thought and not to encourage action. However, the selection of online books on the site reflects a clear jihadist bias.
[3] The World News Network forum (http://w-w-n.ws/forumdisplay.php?f=10 ) is devoted almost entirely to official communiqués by terrorist organizations.
[4] http://www.shmo5alislam.net/vb/showthread.php?t=9940. See also a message titled "Taking over a U.S. Forces Headquarters in Diyala,"http://www.crusaderwatcher.blogspot.com.
[5] http://ekhlaas.org/forum/showthread.php?t=81421. See also a communiqué titled "The Islamic State of Iraq / Two Blessed Martyrdom Operations Causing the Killing of Fourteen Soldiers," http://www.press-release.blogspot.com.
[6] http://www.alhesbah.net/v/showthread.php?t=152121
[7] http://www.alhesbah.net/v/showthread.php?t=150961. See also a message quoting a report from the SeattleTimes titled "U.S. Loses Ground as Afghanistan Erodes..." http://ekhlaas.org/forum/showthread.php?t=84154 ; and a message titled "Powell: We Are Losing in Iraq," http://jondurrahmaan.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6794.
[8] http://www.alhesbah.net/v/showthread.php?t=151718
[9] http://www.alhesbah.net/v/showthread.php?t=151161. See also a related posting on Al-Ekhlaas, http://ekhlaas.org/forum/showthread.php?t=95994.
[10] http://www.alhesbah.net/v/showthread.php?t=150521.
[11] http://ekhlaas.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87383.
[12] http://ekhlaas.org/forum/showthread.php?t=81417.
[13] This blog describes itself as following the Salafi jihadist creed http://inshallahshaheed.muslimpad.com/about.
[14] A Syrian jihad fighter who died in a Syrian prison in 1975.
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