Purported Al-Qaeda Video Threatens, Flatters Germans Before Elections
“Abu Talha Al-Almani” calls on Germans to vote out Chancellor Merkel or face “bitter” consequences.
With just a week to go before the German general elections, a purported al-Qaeda video threatening Germany has prompted the German Ministry of Interior to increase security at airports and some railway stations. Although the security measures are being taken now, the video clearly threatens an attack or attacks for the period after the elections and depending on their outcome. The video features Bekkay Harrach, a German Islamist of Moroccan descent who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Talha Al-Almani or “Abu Talha the German.”
Harrach is known to German authorities for two prior propaganda videos that have been attributed to him. But, as he himself makes clear in the current video, he is also known to German authorities for other reasons. Thus, oddly enough, he begins his speech by stating precisely his gratitude toward Germany:
I thank the Federal Republic of Germany for its quick help during my incarceration in Syria. I thank the Federal Republic of Germany for its quick help following my bullet wound in Hebron, Palestine. I thank the Federal Republic of Germany for not bothering my wife following my trip to Afghanistan and not preventing her from leaving the country despite a long period of observation.
Harrach then goes on to stress more general grounds for al-Qaeda as such to be grateful — or at least not particularly hostile – toward Germany. Thus, he notes that Germany is not “so burdened [with guilt] as other colonial states” and that a majority of the population supports the withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan. “And one should not forget the clear ‘no’ of the German people to the Iraq war.” To this, Harrach could have added that suspected key al-Qaeda operatives like Reda Seyam and Mamoun Darkazanli continue to make their homes in Germany and have, in effect, been protected by Germany from prosecution in other countries. (Specifically on the case of Seyam, see here.)
Harrach repeatedly returns to the theme of the general forbearance of al-Qaeda toward Germany. Thus he notes, for example, that “if al-Qaeda had Germany in its sights for no particular reason [grundlos], then Mohammad Atta would have spared himself a lot of trouble and carried out [the 9/11 attacks] right in Germany.” “Al-Qaeda certainly had and has no interest in a conflict with Germany,” he adds. On Harrach’s account, the only ground for al-Qaeda’s dissatisfaction with Germany – the aforesaid “particular reason” – is the presence of German troops in Afghanistan.
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John Rosenthal’s writings on European politics and transatlantic relations have appeared in English, French, and German in such leading publications as Policy Review, Les Temps Modernes, and Merkur. He holds a PhD in philosophy and he taught political philosophy and classical German philosophy before turning to journalism. More of his work can be found at Transatlantic Intelligencer.
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11 Comments
1. caestal:I don’t know why anyone gives idiots like this any air time/print space. At most, he should be briefly ridiculed then forgotten. Definitely, his little video presentation should be nothing but an unrepeated footnote in the main story of what a loser/moron/laughable figure he is.
Sep 20, 2009 - 3:09 am 2. Walt:Keep feeding the trolls and they keep coming back… this fella is the real-world equivalent of a troll. Of course, if he actually does anything specific, he can be qietly brought to prison…
Let me preface these remarks by saying that I lived and worked in Germany for 17 years and love the German people and culture. My dear, departed wife was from Germany and I still have in-laws there.
Having said that, the only things that the Germans are really concerned about are (1)that there are no preservatives in their “wurst”, bread, etc. and therefore they can spoil at a much faster rate as God intended; and (2) what the price increase of a liter of beer will be at the next Oktober Fest!
Germans now are only interested in the good life and spend most of their working days planning their next 6-week vacation (which is not to be confused with their 15 holidays per year (Bavaria) or their unlimited sick days).
It is unfortunate, but many will take this threat seriously without demanding strong action by the authorities, nor considering the implications or consequences. Love of country is now substituted by cheering at the Olympics or at a soccer game.
Sep 20, 2009 - 3:29 am 3. eon:The Islamists tried something similar in Spain, and it worked. The Spanish Socialist government has pretty much rolled over for them, not least because its PM makes no secret of how much he, personally, hates Israel.
Of course, in Spain, the Islamists made their point with the Madrid train bombings just before the election.
I assume that the German authorities are keeping an eye out for something similar. After all, the Islamists are noted for repeating something that worked once whenever a similar opportunity presents itself.
clear ether
eon
Sep 20, 2009 - 6:06 am 4. James C:Where told that it’s Un-Islamic to wear a tie. What about the use of technology invented by non-muslims to post this video? That’s right it’s okay to deceive the non-muslim because it’s all about the “stealth jihad”.
Sep 20, 2009 - 6:44 am 5. Marie Claude:AQ is exploiting the last german “gaffe” in Afghanistan !
but which country that is implied there hasn’t received such threats ?
Sep 20, 2009 - 7:19 am 6. Morton Doodslag:Observant Muslims understand all too well that Islamic terrorism works. So does the stealth Jihad being waged everywhere. It is ALL designed to further Islam and to weaken and subvert all “infidel” enemies of Islam (that’s US, folks!).
Both of these tactics of terrorism and stealth Jihad work in tandem, or independently. They are one and the same thing: vehicles to humiliate, subvert, and ultimately destroy us, and impose Islamic norms globally. The Muslims and their Western abettors have convinced gullible Westerners that there’s some kind of magical distinction between the “non-violent” forms of Jihad like bake sales for the local Mosque, imposition of headscarves or burkhas on females, arranged marriages, child rape, endless demands for concessions from “infidels” to “respect” Islam through observance of all Islamic norms in infidel lands (more mosques, public calls to prayers, rigorous demands for infidel “respect” of Islamic festivals and traditions, etc.), and the nastier forms of Jihad such as mass murder and genocide. But there is little difference in the end. These time honored mechanisms are all Jihad. In the end, Islam is imposed as is required, and the target victims of Islam are exterminated, enslaved, or “converted”.
Sep 20, 2009 - 8:14 am 7. pedro:I think the post by Walt above sums up the current state of the German will. If a terrorist set off an m-80 before the election the social democrats could turn the election around.
Sep 20, 2009 - 10:31 am 8. Zaza:I am a german readin american conservative news blogs because over here there nearly is no conservative media apart from 2 or 3 blogs.
Walt (2.) is not far from the mark. Through decades of an ever-growing welfare state and condemning all upright patriotism as being nazi-like a majority of germans prefer to discuss wether someone doing absolutely nothing should receive 500,- $ (as of now) or rather 800 $ in addition to a warm appartment and full healthcare. Nobody in the media says “well done” to our soldiers in Afghanistan, the first questions asked were wether there were civilian casualties and if the troops should be investigated for homicide. The truck drivers slaughtered by the Taliban were not even mentioned…
Its a nice country with mostly friendly people, unfortunately in a decline since the 70s due to an ever-expanding welfare-nanny state.
Sep 21, 2009 - 4:31 am 9. Scott:@ Zaza:
That is ashamed that the German people have fallen so far. The Germans were once a proud (and rightly so) people, it is ashamed that socialism has robbed them of their national will. Yes you can both admire the good of a people and abhor the bad. German immigrants contributed much to America ,and despite the actions of the Nazi’s the good qualities of the German people and culture remain. Too bad most Americans don’t even realize their own German heritage.
Sep 21, 2009 - 3:00 pm 10. he:Don’t worry – it’s still here, the German ‘genius’ and engineering which , e.g., took you to the moon and all the others into space. In the last 20 years even the ideas of the environmentalists (first labelled as ’socialist’, destroying the economy) have been turned into companies (wind and solar power) giving jobs to hundreds of thousands.
Sep 22, 2009 - 11:04 am 11. wancow:If Germany is “… an ever-growing welfare state … (where) a majority of germans prefer to discuss wether someone doing absolutely nothing should receive 500,- $ (as of now) or rather 800 $ in addition to a warm appartment and full healthcare … “(Zaza) – how can such a country with a ’socialist’ economy and poeple that “… now are only interested in the good life and spend most of their working days planning their next 6-week vacation (which is not to be confused with their 15 holidays per year (Bavaria) or their unlimited sick days)…” (Walt) exist, or even be successful? For quite a number of years (up to 2008) this little country (the size of Montana) has been exporting more to the world than the land of the free and the home of the brave.
3. eon: “The Islamists tried something similar in Spain, and it worked. The Spanish Socialist government has pretty much rolled over for them, not least because its PM makes no secret of how much he, personally, hates Israel.”
Yeah, you pretty much voiced my first thought having seen the headline…
1. caestal: “I don’t know why anyone gives idiots like this any air time/print space.”
Feed the enemy as much rope as they need to hang themselves I think is the thinking. It’s half of the strategy I agree with. The other half: treat a legitimate threat of violence like a brandished weapon. It’s justifiable self defence. Someone threatens you? you shoot them in the head and have done with it.
Sep 22, 2009 - 11:11 am