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Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi's Blog

al-Hajj Dhu al-Fiqar of Hezbollah

While Hezbollah has announced the killing of its overall leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior figures in the organisation, not all its 'martyred' commanders have been equally publicised. Another leading figure who was killed yesterday/overnight by Israeli strikes on Beirut is one 'al-Hajj Dhu al-Fiqar' (photo below).

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Wed, October 2, 2024 1:31 PM  |  Permalink

Hezbollah Statement on Death of Ali Karaki

Following on from yesterday's announcement of Hassan Nasrallah's death in an Israeli strike, Hezbollah has now announced the death of Ali Karaki- one of the Hezbollah leaders identified by the Israelis in a chart of the group's eliminated leadership. The statement from Hezbollah confirms that Ali Karaki occupied precisely the role that the Israelis attributed to him- a testament to the depth of Israel's intelligence penetration of the organisation.

What accounts for the precision of Israel's information and penetration of Hezbollah in comparison with what appears to be much less precise intelligence on Hamas in the Gaza Strip?

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Sun, September 29, 2024 1:28 PM  |  Permalink

Hezbollah Statement on Death of Hassan Nasrallah

As was predictable from the nature of the massive Israeli strike on Beirut yesterday (clearly designed to penetrate through to underground structures used by Hezbollah beneath apartment blocks in the Dahiya region where the group wields political and military influence) and the confidence of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announcement this morning, Hezbollah has now confirmed the death of its long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah. A few observations:

1. Although some will debate the morality of the strike given that it likely also killed many civilians in the vicinity, it is obvious that the Israelis launched the strike because they had precise intelligence as to the whereabouts of the Hezbollah leadership. If one struggles with questions of morality, the clearest position to adopt on this matter is simply one of consistency: that conversely, if Hezbollah had precise intelligence on IDF commanders holding a meeting in an underground facility concealed by apartment buildings in Tel Aviv, there should be no qualm or complaint about Hezbollah's targeting of the meeting, even if the strike destroys the apartment buildings above it and kills civilians. That Hezbollah leaders have been holding meetings in and beneath civilian apartment buildings in Dahiya is a matter of gross irresponsibility on their part.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Sat, September 28, 2024 1:27 PM  |  Permalink

Islamic State in the Congo: Killing, Imprisoning and Converting Christians

On almost a daily basis, the Islamic State's 'Central Africa wilaya' (Central Africa province) publishes reports about its activities, which primarily take place in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and are framed (sincerely) as a war on 'disbelieving Christians' and the 'Crusader' Congolese army. This war, as I have emphasised, needs to be understood as an ideological war: that is, it is a war that is waged on Christians for being Christians, whose fault in the Islamic State's eyes is that they have not converted to Islam or accepted a dhimmi pact that would grant them 'protection' of their lives and property in exchange for paying a poll tax and abiding by various restrictions. Therefore, what we are witnessing in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere with the Islamic State's affiliates in Africa can properly be called persecution of Christians.

In this light, this week's report in the Islamic State al-Naba' newsletter on the Central Africa wilaya's activities is fairly standard, though there is one special section that deserves comment.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Fri, September 27, 2024 1:25 PM  |  Permalink

Islamic State Editorial on the Israel-Hezbollah Conflict

Amid the escalation in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Islamic State has published an editorial in its al-Naba' newsletter that does not explicitly mention Hezbollah or Lebanon but has nonetheless been clearly written in light of the escalation, highlighting the conflict between "the Jews" and "the Rafidite axis" (i.e. the Shi'a-led 'axis of resistance') and discussing how (Sunni) Muslims worldwide should view the escalation, and what path they should pursue. The main points are as follows:

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Fri, September 27, 2024 1:23 PM  |  Permalink

New Book: "al-Fua and Kafariya: A Story of Glory and Defiance"

I am pleased to announce that I have recently published a translation of a memoir entitled "al-Fua and Kafariya: A Story of Glory and Defiance." The book, originally written by Muhammad Hasan Taqi (who served as head of the crisis management committee in al-Fua and Kafariya), tells the story of the villages of al-Fua and Kafariya during the Syrian civil war. These two villages, whose original inhabitants were Twelver Shi'a, are located in Idlib province in northwest Syria.

During the course of the war (specifically after the city of Idlib fell to the insurgents in March 2015), the two villages came under siege as loyalist outposts in the province, and eventually the original inhabitants were completely evacuated by July 2018 in deals that were brokered by Iran within the framework of the 'Four Towns Agreement' (the other two towns being Madaya and al-Zabadani, which were besieged by the Syrian government and its allies).

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Wed, September 25, 2024 1:22 PM  |  Permalink

Syria and the Israel-Hezbollah Escalation

With the recent escalation in the exchange of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah, questions have been raised as to what role, if any, Syria is playing or will play in the events. Some observers have noted a generally muted response from the Syrian government to the recent escalation and have even suggested that the Syrian government has somehow 'betrayed' Hezbollah, which has deployed fighters to Syria to support the Syrian government, with thousands killed and wounded as a result.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Wed, September 25, 2024 1:21 PM  |  Permalink

Islamic State Report on Insurgent Operations in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is a predominantly Shi'i Muslim country and its government is secular in nature. However, some of the country's Sunni minority did mobilise and go to fight in the Syrian civil war, including those who joined the Islamic State. Further, there are some within Azerbaijan who declare their allegiance to the Islamic State. The Islamic State itself has previously advertised the existence of affiliated fighters in Azerbaijan, featuring them giving allegiance to the group's second caliph Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi in 2019, as can be seen below.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Thu, September 19, 2024 1:19 PM  |  Permalink

Defining Terrorism

In the wake of mass detonation of Hezbollah members' pagers and other communication devices, which were almost certainly rigged with explosives by Israel, it has been frequent to describe these events as acts of 'terrorism.' Conversely, journalist Matthew Petti suggests to me that in general, the term terrorism is not a meaningful word. Petti's point is not a defence of Israel's actions in this case, but rather alludes to how the term tends to be used polemically by various actors simply to label opponents they particularly dislike.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Wed, September 18, 2024 1:17 PM  |  Permalink

Houthi Fetishism: Further Thoughts

Following on from the earlier post I wrote on what I termed the phenomenon of 'Houthi fetishism' among some Western leftists and how I believe such fetishism to be detrimental to Palestine advocacy and ultimately beneficial to Israel, I thought it would be worthwhile to clarify some points and address the broader question of whether there is any sound logic to supporting the 'axis of resistance' as part of advocacy for the Palestinian cause.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Mon, September 16, 2024 1:11 PM  |  Permalink

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