Thread: The IS leadership message announcing a new phase of the group’s jihad focused on targeting Jews inside and outside Israel, coincides with the unveiling today of Trump’s deal of the century, welcomed by Israeli officials and denounced by Palestinians.
By declaring the Palestinian cause at the heart of its new strategy, IS’s new leadership led by the mysterious Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, is likely trying to
A) Make its mark and make headlines
A) Make its mark and make headlines
B) Win the support of ordinary Palestinians (IS has in the past failed to establish a foothold in Palestinian territories) and the support of Muslims more broadly, and what better time to do it than now.
Worth noting Abu Ibrahim’s predecessor, al-Baghdadi, never made a concerted effort to target Israel or Jews. In fact, the group was often criticised by jihadists for ignoring the Palestinian cause and focusing instead on targeting local Arab forces
The group has in the past justified this by saying its strategy is to first knock down and weaken the Arab states/governments surrounding and “protecting” Israel, which would then leave the country an easy prey for IS militants.
In Dec 2017, contrary to other jihadist groups, IS offered a muted response to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Instead of condemning the move, IS wrote an editorial condemning Hamas and Islamist groups for allowing it to happen through their “failures”
Worth noting that IS’s staunch rival al-Qaeda has always used the Palestine cause as a rallying call. Since early 2019, AQ and & affiliates launched a campaign called “Jerusalem will not be Judaized”, under which its affiliates have carried out attacks in African countries.
In its latest message, IS repeated a slogan Al-Qaeda normally uses: “we fight here” (in ref to whichever county a jihadist group is active) “but our sights are on Jerusalem”. So if AQ had its thing, the Palestinian cause, IS has now decided to compete with it in that area too
Now the question is, how serious should we take IS’s newly declared strategy? While a lot of it can be seen as bluff, propaganda and an attempt to make headlines, what happens in mainstream politics is key and could play into IS’s hands
