Al Qaeda Murders 57 in Jordan

Al Qaeda in Iraq (the franchise run out of Baghdad) has just made a very big mistake. Rather than attacking the American “crusaders” or the British “imperialists,” three suicide bombers attacked three hotels in Amman, Jordan, that cater to locals as well as westerners. Fifty-seven people are dead, and the count may rise, most of them Jordanians at a wedding celebration. And more stupidly, Al Qaeda managed to kill four top Palestinian leaders. The question in the Arab world now becomes, which side is Al Qaeda on?

Located just a few hundred yards apart, the Radisson, Grand Hyatt and Days Inn hotels in Amman were bombed between 9 and 10 pm local time on Wednesday. For Ashraf al-Khaled, Wednesday was supposed to have been the happiest day of his life, his wedding day. Instead, the celebration at the Radisson was made the saddest. “I lost my father and my father-in-law and I saw many others dead. This is a horrible crime,” he told Jordanian State TV, “This is not Islam," he said. “This is a terrorist fighting our capital.” Then, he added, “The world has to know this has nothing to do with Islam. We should show people all over the world that this is not Islam because this cannot help us as Arabs or as Muslims. This is damaging our rule, it is harming us, it’s not getting anybody other than ourselves.”

In addition to Mr. Khaled’s family and friends, Al Qaeda murdered, Major General Bashir Nafeh, head of Palestinian military intelligence (who died at the Grand Hyatt), Colonel Abed Allun (advisor to the late Yasser Arafat), Jihad Fattouh, (brother of the Palestinian parliament speaker), and Mosab Khoma (whose function is unclear). The deaths were announced by chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat.

One of Al Qaeda’s main recruiting points in the Arab and Muslim world is the Israeli treatment of the people in “occupied Palestine.” Now, Al Qaeda has killed leading Palestinians who are theoretically its allies. The organization will claim it was accidental, that it regrets the mistake, but in addition to Mr. Khaled, many Jordanians aren’t buying that. Reuters reported, “About 300 people waving Jordanian flags and portraits of King Abdullah protested near the Radisson hotel on Thursday. ‘You are devils. Enough is enough,’ read one placard carried by the protesters. ‘Zarqawi, you are scum.’”

A guerrilla movement can only survive if it is welcomed among the masses; Chairman Mao said the people are the ocean and the guerrilla is the fish that swims in it. Al Qaeda has struck a blow against the very people it claims it is fighting to help, and in so doing, it has undermined its own position in the Arab and Muslim world. In the end, the victory over Fascislam will come from people like Mr. Khaled. The Kensington Review mourns with him.



© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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