Since the caliphate declaration of late June 2014, Yemen has emerged a key battleground in the intra-jihadi struggle pitting the Islamic State against al-Qaeda. The country hosts what is arguably al-Qaeda’s most prestigious affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). But as far as the Islamic State is concerned, that organization ceased to exist when [...]
Archive for the ‘Jihadi media’ Category
Battlefield Yemen: The Islamic State’s Challenge to AQAP
Posted: 12th December 2014 by Cole Bunzel in al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula, AQ Central, Islamic State of Iraq, Jihadi media9
A Jihadi Civil War of Words: The Ghuraba’ Media Foundation and Minbar al-Tawhid wa’l-Jihad
Posted: 21st October 2014 by Cole Bunzel in AQ Central, Islamic State of Iraq, Jihadi mediaAmid the ongoing conflict between al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, jihadi ideologues and media appear more divided than ever before. Notwithstanding U.S.-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria that some thought could unite jihadi ranks, the jihadi civil war is raging on unabated, and nowhere more so than on the ideological and media front. Among more [...]
Caliphate Now: Jihadis Debate the Islamic State
Posted: 25th November 2013 by Cole Bunzel in Ideological trends, Islamic State of Iraq, Jihadi media, SyriaSince the mid-November beheading in Aleppo of allied commander Muhammad Faris of Harakat Ahrar al-Sham, a barrage of negative media attention has afflicted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS). ISIS was concerned by its public image problem even before this signal mistake. In a September statement, Islamic State official spokesman Abu [...]
A Little-Known Syrian Jihadi Magazine
Posted: 8th November 2013 by Joas Wagemakers in Jihadi media, propaganda, SyriaIn various previous posts, I have paid attention to the Syrian-British Jihadi-Salafi ideologue Abu Basir al-Tartusi, for example because of his criticism of other jihadis and his support for the Free Syrian Army at the expense of Jabhat al-Nusra. His position, differing somewhat from that of other major radical scholars, was interesting because it was [...]
Are the Jihadi Forums Flagging? An Ideologue’s Lament
Posted: 20th March 2013 by Cole Bunzel in Better Know a Forum, Jihadi mediaLast month prominent jihadi ideologue Abu Sa‘d al-‘Amili published a critical essay on the state of online global jihad. Released by Fursan al-Balagh Media (@fursanalbalaagh) on February 17, the eight-page essay stirringly lamented a general decline in participation in jihadi online forums (websites such as Shumukh al-Islam and Shabakat al-Fida’ al-Islamiyya) and pleaded with users [...]
Al-Qaeda Advises the Syrian Revolution: Shumukh al-Islam’s “Comprehensive Strategy” for Syria
Posted: 25th February 2013 by Cole Bunzel in AQ in Iraq, Jihadi media, Strategy, SyriaThree weeks ago members of Shumukh al-Islam, al-Qaeda’s premier online forum, began collaboration on a “comprehensive strategy” for the ongoing Syrian jihad. In a thread started by a certain “Handasat al-Qaeda,” several dozen members of the access-restricted site set down a plethora of observations and recommendations. A week later, on February 9, the same member [...]
Al-Qaida advises the Arab Spring: Syria
Posted: 19th November 2011 by Joas Wagemakers in AQ Central, AQ Leadership, Jihadi media, Syria, ZawahiriWith the Arab Spring going strong in several countries, al-Qaida (in a broad sense, so including ideologues and scholars supportive of the organisation) still finds it necessary to comment on what is happening. In a series of posts, I will deal with the advice al-Qaida is giving the people of several countries, starting with Syria. [...]
The title is both a prediction and a plea. The prediction is that Bin Laden is sui generis and none of his successors will combine in one person the man’s organizational skills, media savvy, and personal charisma. The plea is that experts on al-Qaeda resist the temptation to answer the media’s question, “Who Will Be [...]