Post by justan on Jul 29, 2003 18:20:15 GMT -5
It's reads like a Monty Python script, so I'm not sure how true this is, but funny
enjoy
Foreign holy warriors face shocking reality
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Posted on 07/29/2003 12:35 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Recent Middle East press reports reveal religious leaders have encouraged Arab youth to travel to Iraq to become "martyrs" in a "holy war" against the United States, often with the aid of their governments and the enthusiastic approval of parents.
However, one of the many news features highlighted a Palestinian jihad warrior who went to Iraq for the sake of Allah only to discover, to his shock, the Iraqi people rejected him and were intent on getting rid of Saddam Hussein.
The press reports were translated and compiled by the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI.
A report in the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar told of 36 Islamists from Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Egypt and Syria who received visas from the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut to volunteer as martyrs.
In Baghdad, Sheikh Ahmad al-Kubaysi praised the Arab volunteers, reported MEMRI.
"These young men who came here from other Muslim countries to defend Iraq are very brave," he said. "They left their homes and comfortable lives to protect fellow Muslims. That is the most important form of jihad. These mujahideen (holy warriors) are guaranteed paradise."
Parents of two Saudi jihad fighters killed in Iraq told the Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat of their pleasure in their sons' actions.
"I thank Allah that [our son] attained what he sought," said the father of Suheil Al-Sahili, 28. "For 14 years he sought [martyrdom]. He always pointed to his head and wished that a rifle bullet would split his forehead, and we have been told that that is what happened."
Al-Sahali also fought in Afghanistan in 1992, then Chechnya and Bosnia, according to his brother.
"After Chechnya, he returned to Saudi Arabia … and then we didn't hear from him," his brother said. "We got a phone call from him finally, in which he said he was going to the jihad in Iraq together with volunteers at the northern front."
The brother said his family received news about Al-Sahali from Internet forums.
"We always felt that he was a prisoner in this world while his heart was in the next world," he said.
In the city of Al-Quteif, the brother of Abd Al-Hadi Al-Shehri, 28, told the paper: "From a young age he wanted jihad ... after fulfilling this commandment of pilgrimage to Mecca, there was no contact with him until news of his martyrdom reached us."
Parental permission required
MEMRI notes some limitations have been put on the jihad warriors in certain Arab nations. In Qatar, an Islamic law court ruled the warriors must be called to jihad by a religious authority and require parental permission.
"It is considered against Islam to travel to another country for jihad without permission from one's parents," said the Shariah court.
At least one Middle East voice publicly questioned the whole enterprise.
In articles in the Egyptian daily Al-Gumhuriya, Egyptian historian 'Abd Al-Adheem Ramadhan bemoaned the fate of thousands of young Egyptians who went to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight a holy war, according to MEMRI.
The scholar said these youth were manipulated by jihad slogans and miscalculated the realities of modern-day warfare.
"The Islamic nation still holds the meaning of jihad as it had been in the past when the mujahid carried his sword and rode his horse into the battle field … . This interpretation persisted despite the developments that occurred in weaponry and training … and [despite] the emergence of tanks, airplanes, airplane carriers, and explosives. As soon as the Islamic nation gets involved in a war, young religious Muslims throughout the Islamic world rush to scream the jihad battle-cry and to go to war … . Obviously, the Islamic countries cannot resist these noble feelings … so they open the door to volunteerism, and open their borders to religious youngsters to head to the battle fields. And there, to their surprise, they find out that war is not what they expected, it is not [fought] with swords and spears. It is a war of tanks, planes, air strikes and the like."
Ramadhan said when thousands of Egyptian youth "were seized with enthusiasm and demanded to go to Iraq for jihad," they went unhindered.
"Naturally, the Egyptian government was unable to prevent them from going to Iraq, lest it would be accused of opposition to jihad and failure to fight."
The Egyptian historian called efforts by "Islamic elements in labor unions and others" to encourage the youth were a "propaganda ploy."
"They knew perfectly well that if those youngsters go to Iraq, they would fall into the same hell-fire that the Iraqi people faced," he said. "So, we witnessed thousands of young Egyptians who left their country and their relatives who needed them."
In Iraq, the regime opened its doors for the volunteer youth but did enlist them in its army and give them "necessary protection," Ramadhan said.
They fought in remote areas, away from the Iraqi army, he noted, and "when Baghdad fell, they did not know that, and continued to fight courageously."
"They did not even hear about the disgraceful disappearance of the Iraqi leadership, of Saddam Hussein and his men who abandoned their army and their people," Ramadhan said. "They did not know that the Iraqi regime let them down and that [the Iraqi regime] was not fighting to defend Iraq, but fighting a lost battle to defend itself."
Rejected by Iraqis
MEMRI said many articles in the Arab press have focused on ill treatment of the jihad fighters by Iraqis. A Lebanese volunteer who returned from Iraq said Iraqi officials isolated the volunteers and the Iraqis themselves "hunted them whenever they could, reported the Arabic newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat of London.
One volunteer from Lebanon said he was exposed "to more Iraqi friendly fire than American fire."
"The Iraqi people refused to accept the volunteers among them and betrayed them by leaving them exposed," he said.
One report said 10 Arab nationals, mostly Syrians who volunteered to fight for Saddam's regime, were executed publicly in Baghdad during the war because they refused to fight in residential areas, according to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
Another report in the London paper mentioned the "Iraqi Shi'a in the Iraqi capital considered the Arab volunteers to be supporters of Osama bin Laden who they said had nothing to do with us."
Four Arab volunteers who returned home from Baghdad to Damascus and Cairo claimed Iraqi citizens were directing American forces to the hideouts of the Arab volunteers in exchange for large sums of money.
They said the American forces viewed the volunteers as one of the most important targets because they could carry out suicide operations against groups of American soldiers, according to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
An oath to Saddam
Before it was shut down by coalition forces, Saddam's Iraqi TV featured interviews with jihad fighters and showed them marching in formation, chanting "Allah Akbar," or "Allah is great."
An Egyptian fighter named Muhammad Ridha said on Iraqi TV: "Thanks to Allah, I arrived in June to volunteer in Saddam's 'Jerusalem Army.' I returned [to Egypt], but Allah decreed that I return [to Iraq], and I thank Him for that."
Ridha said he left behind four daughters and a son.
"I came to fight [the war of] jihad," he said, " and I take an oath in front of the leader Saddam Hussein that I will die as a martyr and that I do not want to return to Egypt. I say to all the Arabs and Muslims that jihad is our duty."
Abd Al-Karim Abd Al-'Azzam, a fighter from Aleppo, Syria, told Iraqi TV he wanted to "send a message to our Muslim brethren throughout the world."
"Brothers, we are not defending Iraq only, but all the Muslim countries," he said. "It started in Iraq, but Syria, Lebanon and other Muslim countries will follow. How long will we keep silent, how long will we wait? America and the Jews may decide next to bomb Mecca and Al-Madina (Medina), what are we waiting for? Are we waiting for them to enter Al-Madina?"
Abdallah from Algeria, added: "I call upon the entire Muslim nation to stand as one and defend the Muslim nation … truth is ours."
Abd Al-'Aziz Mahmoud Hawwash, a suicide volunteer from Syria, said in an Iraqi TV interview: "We are here, and we left our wives and children in order to defend the Arab and Muslim nation."
"We came as [martyrs] and we pray that Allah accepts our martyrdom for His sake," he said.
enjoy
Foreign holy warriors face shocking reality
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Posted on 07/29/2003 12:35 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Recent Middle East press reports reveal religious leaders have encouraged Arab youth to travel to Iraq to become "martyrs" in a "holy war" against the United States, often with the aid of their governments and the enthusiastic approval of parents.
However, one of the many news features highlighted a Palestinian jihad warrior who went to Iraq for the sake of Allah only to discover, to his shock, the Iraqi people rejected him and were intent on getting rid of Saddam Hussein.
The press reports were translated and compiled by the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI.
A report in the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar told of 36 Islamists from Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Egypt and Syria who received visas from the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut to volunteer as martyrs.
In Baghdad, Sheikh Ahmad al-Kubaysi praised the Arab volunteers, reported MEMRI.
"These young men who came here from other Muslim countries to defend Iraq are very brave," he said. "They left their homes and comfortable lives to protect fellow Muslims. That is the most important form of jihad. These mujahideen (holy warriors) are guaranteed paradise."
Parents of two Saudi jihad fighters killed in Iraq told the Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat of their pleasure in their sons' actions.
"I thank Allah that [our son] attained what he sought," said the father of Suheil Al-Sahili, 28. "For 14 years he sought [martyrdom]. He always pointed to his head and wished that a rifle bullet would split his forehead, and we have been told that that is what happened."
Al-Sahali also fought in Afghanistan in 1992, then Chechnya and Bosnia, according to his brother.
"After Chechnya, he returned to Saudi Arabia … and then we didn't hear from him," his brother said. "We got a phone call from him finally, in which he said he was going to the jihad in Iraq together with volunteers at the northern front."
The brother said his family received news about Al-Sahali from Internet forums.
"We always felt that he was a prisoner in this world while his heart was in the next world," he said.
In the city of Al-Quteif, the brother of Abd Al-Hadi Al-Shehri, 28, told the paper: "From a young age he wanted jihad ... after fulfilling this commandment of pilgrimage to Mecca, there was no contact with him until news of his martyrdom reached us."
Parental permission required
MEMRI notes some limitations have been put on the jihad warriors in certain Arab nations. In Qatar, an Islamic law court ruled the warriors must be called to jihad by a religious authority and require parental permission.
"It is considered against Islam to travel to another country for jihad without permission from one's parents," said the Shariah court.
At least one Middle East voice publicly questioned the whole enterprise.
In articles in the Egyptian daily Al-Gumhuriya, Egyptian historian 'Abd Al-Adheem Ramadhan bemoaned the fate of thousands of young Egyptians who went to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight a holy war, according to MEMRI.
The scholar said these youth were manipulated by jihad slogans and miscalculated the realities of modern-day warfare.
"The Islamic nation still holds the meaning of jihad as it had been in the past when the mujahid carried his sword and rode his horse into the battle field … . This interpretation persisted despite the developments that occurred in weaponry and training … and [despite] the emergence of tanks, airplanes, airplane carriers, and explosives. As soon as the Islamic nation gets involved in a war, young religious Muslims throughout the Islamic world rush to scream the jihad battle-cry and to go to war … . Obviously, the Islamic countries cannot resist these noble feelings … so they open the door to volunteerism, and open their borders to religious youngsters to head to the battle fields. And there, to their surprise, they find out that war is not what they expected, it is not [fought] with swords and spears. It is a war of tanks, planes, air strikes and the like."
Ramadhan said when thousands of Egyptian youth "were seized with enthusiasm and demanded to go to Iraq for jihad," they went unhindered.
"Naturally, the Egyptian government was unable to prevent them from going to Iraq, lest it would be accused of opposition to jihad and failure to fight."
The Egyptian historian called efforts by "Islamic elements in labor unions and others" to encourage the youth were a "propaganda ploy."
"They knew perfectly well that if those youngsters go to Iraq, they would fall into the same hell-fire that the Iraqi people faced," he said. "So, we witnessed thousands of young Egyptians who left their country and their relatives who needed them."
In Iraq, the regime opened its doors for the volunteer youth but did enlist them in its army and give them "necessary protection," Ramadhan said.
They fought in remote areas, away from the Iraqi army, he noted, and "when Baghdad fell, they did not know that, and continued to fight courageously."
"They did not even hear about the disgraceful disappearance of the Iraqi leadership, of Saddam Hussein and his men who abandoned their army and their people," Ramadhan said. "They did not know that the Iraqi regime let them down and that [the Iraqi regime] was not fighting to defend Iraq, but fighting a lost battle to defend itself."
Rejected by Iraqis
MEMRI said many articles in the Arab press have focused on ill treatment of the jihad fighters by Iraqis. A Lebanese volunteer who returned from Iraq said Iraqi officials isolated the volunteers and the Iraqis themselves "hunted them whenever they could, reported the Arabic newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat of London.
One volunteer from Lebanon said he was exposed "to more Iraqi friendly fire than American fire."
"The Iraqi people refused to accept the volunteers among them and betrayed them by leaving them exposed," he said.
One report said 10 Arab nationals, mostly Syrians who volunteered to fight for Saddam's regime, were executed publicly in Baghdad during the war because they refused to fight in residential areas, according to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
Another report in the London paper mentioned the "Iraqi Shi'a in the Iraqi capital considered the Arab volunteers to be supporters of Osama bin Laden who they said had nothing to do with us."
Four Arab volunteers who returned home from Baghdad to Damascus and Cairo claimed Iraqi citizens were directing American forces to the hideouts of the Arab volunteers in exchange for large sums of money.
They said the American forces viewed the volunteers as one of the most important targets because they could carry out suicide operations against groups of American soldiers, according to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
An oath to Saddam
Before it was shut down by coalition forces, Saddam's Iraqi TV featured interviews with jihad fighters and showed them marching in formation, chanting "Allah Akbar," or "Allah is great."
An Egyptian fighter named Muhammad Ridha said on Iraqi TV: "Thanks to Allah, I arrived in June to volunteer in Saddam's 'Jerusalem Army.' I returned [to Egypt], but Allah decreed that I return [to Iraq], and I thank Him for that."
Ridha said he left behind four daughters and a son.
"I came to fight [the war of] jihad," he said, " and I take an oath in front of the leader Saddam Hussein that I will die as a martyr and that I do not want to return to Egypt. I say to all the Arabs and Muslims that jihad is our duty."
Abd Al-Karim Abd Al-'Azzam, a fighter from Aleppo, Syria, told Iraqi TV he wanted to "send a message to our Muslim brethren throughout the world."
"Brothers, we are not defending Iraq only, but all the Muslim countries," he said. "It started in Iraq, but Syria, Lebanon and other Muslim countries will follow. How long will we keep silent, how long will we wait? America and the Jews may decide next to bomb Mecca and Al-Madina (Medina), what are we waiting for? Are we waiting for them to enter Al-Madina?"
Abdallah from Algeria, added: "I call upon the entire Muslim nation to stand as one and defend the Muslim nation … truth is ours."
Abd Al-'Aziz Mahmoud Hawwash, a suicide volunteer from Syria, said in an Iraqi TV interview: "We are here, and we left our wives and children in order to defend the Arab and Muslim nation."
"We came as [martyrs] and we pray that Allah accepts our martyrdom for His sake," he said.