Analysis and evolution of the Global Jihadist Movement propaganda

Terrorism and Political Violence

Volumn 18, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 399-421

  Torres, Manuel R ^a,d   Jordán, Javier ^b   Horsburgh, Nicola ^c  

^a UNIVERSIDAD PABLO DE OLAVIDE   (Spain)

^b UNIVERSITY OF GRANADA   (Spain)

^c KING'S COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^d UNIVERSITY OF SEVILLE   (Spain)

Author keywords

Al Qaeda; Communication; Jihad; Propaganda; Terrorism

Indexed keywords

EID: 33745840867     PISSN: 09546553     EISSN: 15561836     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09546550600751990     Document Type: Article

References (74)

1. The Washington Post, 7 August 2005.
2. Brian McNair, An Introduction to Political Communication (London: Routledge, 1995), 188-192;
3. William E. Daugherty and Morris Janowitz, A Psychological Warfare Casebook (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1958), 5-8.
4. U.S. State Department, Counterterrorism Office, Country Reports on Terrorism 2004. Available at http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/c14818.htm.
5. For example, following the attacks by Zarqawi in Jordan in November 2005, Hamas released a communiqué condemning the action. According to the statement, such attacks do not "serve the national interest, nor the nation's interests and issues." SITE Institute, November 10, 2005.
6. Rohan Gunaratna, "The Post-Madrid Face of Al Qaeda," The Washington Quarterly 27, no. 3 (Summer 2004): 93.
7. Transcription of a video of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, 13 December 2001. Available at: http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ubl-video.html.
8. In this document, valuable information can be found outlining the Jihadist perspective on the Iraqui conflict for the global Jihad, the importance of gaining. Muslim public opinion support, and how the struggle is taking place "in the battlefield of the media." Available at http://www.dni.gov/ release_letter_101105.html.
9. National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United status, 67. Available at http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf.
10. Osama bin Laden. TIME's 11 January 1999 interview with Rahimullah Yusufzai.
11. One of the principle strategists of Al Qaeda, Abu 'Ubeid Al-Qurashi, wrote in an article posted in a Jihadist website the following concerning September 11: "They did not aspire to gain Western sympathy; rather, they sought to expose the American lie and deceit to the peoples of the world - and first and foremost to the Islamic peoples."
12. See: MEMRI, "Al-Qa'ida Activist, Abu 'Ubeid Al Qurashi: Comparing Munich (Olympics) Attack 1972 to September 11," MEMRI, March 12, 2002.
13. Obtained from FAS website http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2002/01/ 010202.html (accessed December 2003).
14. Osama bin Laden, Statement on Occasion of One-year Anniversary of the Beginning of the U.S. War in Afghanistan, November 10, 2002.
15. Rohan Gunaratna, Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002), 235.
16. Sulaiman Abu Ghait, Audio Statement on the occasion of the blessed Eid al-Fitr, 7 December 2002.
17. For example: Michael Scheuer, Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama Bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America (Washington: Brassey's Inc, 2002);
18. Michael Scheuer, Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror (Washington, D.C.: Brassey's, 2004);
19. Jessica Stern, Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill (New York: Harper Collins, 2003);
20. Rohan Gunaratna, Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002);
21. Ian O. Lesser, Bruce Hoffman, John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt, Michele Zanini, and Brian M. Jenkins, Countering the New Terrorism (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 1999);
22. Emmanuel Sivan, Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990);
23. Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (New York: Modern Library, 2003);
24. Peter Partner, God of Battles (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998);
25. M. J. Akbar, The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict Between Islam and Christianity (New York: Routledge, 2002);
26. Bruno Etienne, L'islamisme Radical, (Paris: Hachette, 1987);
27. Peter L. Bergen, Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden (New York: Free Press, 2001);
28. Youssef M. Choueiri, Islamic Fundamentalism (London and Washington: Pinter, 1997);
29. Jonathan Schachter, The Eye of the Believer: Psychological Influences on Counter-Terrorism Policy-Making (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2002).
30. In this article, Salafism is understood broadly, as a current renovation of Islam initiated in the eighteenth century together with Wahabism and other Sunni revivalist movements, later expanded during reform in the ninteenth century and currently in other doctrinal current linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Tabligh movement and Wahabi preaching. It is not easy to find a single definition of Salafism. However, the definition used in our study is operative from an analytical perspective and is supported in other works, like Youssef M. Choueiri, Islamic Fundamentalism (London and Washington: Pinter, 1997)
31. and Quintan Wiktorowicz, "The New Global Threat: Transnational Salafis and Jihad," Middle East Policy 8, no. 4, (2001): 18-38.
32. Osama bin Laden Statement (12/10/2002): "To the Islamic Ummah on the First Anniversary of the New American Crusader War," http://www. jihadunspun.com/articles/10152002-To.The.Islamic.Ummah/faotnacw01.html (accessed 6 January 2006).
33. MEMRI, "A New Bin Laden Speech," Special Dispatch Series - No. 539, July 18, 2003, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page = archives&Area = sd&ID = SP53903 (accessed 6 January 2006).
34. Video of Ayman al-Zawahiri released by Al Jazeera 17 June 2005.
35. Obtained from FAS website http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2002/01/ 010202.html (Accessed December 2003).
36. Ibid.
37. Abd Al Azim Al Muhajir, "Interview for Al Sharq Al Awsat," 18 May 2002.
38. Video of bin Laden for Al Jazeera: America "filled with fear." 7 October 2001.
39. Obtained from FAS website http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2002/01/ 010202. html (accessed December 2003).
40. Osama bin Laden: "Declaration of War on America," 23 August 1996.
41. Audio interview by unknown-interviewer, Ayman al-Zawahiri, 9 January 2002.
42. Suleiman Abu Gheit. "In the shadow of the lances," 6 December 2002.
43. Obtained from FAS website http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2002/01/ 010202. html (accessed December 2003).
44. Communiqué on the unification of the "Mujahid Salafist" Group and "Attawhid Wal Jihad" Group, 13 May 2003.
45. Reuven Paz, "Middle East Islamism in the European Arena," Middle East Review of International Affairs 3 (2002): 65-76.
46. Javier Jordán and Nicola Horsburgh, "Mapping Jihadist Terrorism in Spain," Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 28 (2005): 169-191.
47. Gilles Kepel, À l'ouest d'Allah. (Paris: Seuil, 1994): 333-341;
48. Rohan Gunaratna, Inside AI Qaeda: Global Network of Terror, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002), 116-117.
49. Rita Katz and Michael Kern, "Center of the Jihadist World," National Review, 11, July 2005.
50. Ben Venzke & Aimee Ibrahim, The al-Qaeda Threat: An Analytical Guide to al-Qaedás Tactics & Targets (Alexandria, VA: Tempest Publishing, 2003).
51. Osama bin Laden Statement: "Open Letter to King Fahd in Response to the Latest Ministerial Changes." August 1995. Available at: http://www.jihadunspun.com/articles/05272002-Open.Letter.To.King.Fahd/
52. Peter L. Bergen, Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden (New York: Free Press, 2001)
53. Jason Burke, Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror (New York: I. B. Tauris, 2003).
54. Michael Whine, "Islamist Organizations on the Internet," Terrorism and Political Violence 11 (Spring 1999).
55. Indictment of Al Qaeda Cells in Spain, Summary 35/01, Central Court of Instruction, Number Five, National Audience, Madrid, 2003, p.421.
56. Tim Jordan, Cyberpower: The Culture and Politics of Cyberspace and the Internet (London: Routledge, 1999), 165-166.
57. John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, "The Advent of Netwar (Revisited)," in John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, eds., Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2001), 1-25.
58. Timothy L. Thomas, "Al Qaeda and the Internet: The Danger of "Cyberplanning," Parameters (Spring 2003): 120.
59. Evan Kohlmann, "Dossier: Azzam Publications UK (Azzam.com, Qoqaz.net) and Mazen Mokhtar," 2004, available at http://www. globalterroralert.com/azzam-mokhtar.pdf.
60. Intelcenter, "Evolution of Jihadi Video (EJV) v. 1.0," Tempest Publishing, Alexandria, VA, 11 May 2005, available at http://www.intelcenter. com/EJV-PUB-v1-0.pdf
61. National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, 191, available at http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf
62. Bruce Hoffman, "Al Qaeda, Trends in Terrorism and Future Potentialities: An Assessment," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 26 (2003): 429-442.
63. Stratfor.com, "Al Qaeda Warnings: The Question of Predictive Value," 20 August 2004.
64. Transcript of video of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, 13 December 2001. Available at http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ubl-video.html.
65. Yosri Fouda and Nick Fielding, Masterminds of Terror: the Truth behind the Most Devastating Terrorist Attack the World Has ever Seen (Edinburgh: Mainstream, 2003).
66. MEMRI, "Al-Qa'ida's 'Voice of Jihad' Magazine," Special Dispatch Series, No. 650, 27 January, 2004.
67. Rohan Gunaratna, "Abu Musab Al Zarqawi: A New Generation Terrorist Leader," IDSS Commentaries (25/2004).
68. Michael Scheuer, Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror (Washington: Brassey's Inc, 2004), 79.
69. See Stephen Ulph, "A Guide to Jihad on the Web," Terrorism Focus 7 (2005).
70. Anti-Defamation League, "Jihad Online: Islamic Terrorists and the Internet," ADL (2002), 14, available at: http://www.adl.org/internet/ jihad_online.pdf.
71. Christopher M. Blanchard, "Al Qaeda: Statements and Evolving Ideology," CRS Report for Congress, February 4, 2005.
72. Michael Scheuer, "The Zawahiri-Zarqawi Letter: Al Qaeda's Tactical and Theater-of-War Concerns," Terrorism Focus 21 (2005).
73. Manuel Castells, The Power of Identity (Maiden: Blackwell, 2004), 8.
74. Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 110-111.