The image is the cover page from the fourth booklet in a series called “bina’ al-shakhsiyya al-muslima” (“building the Muslim identity”) (caption at the top right corner), written by ‘Abd al-Majiid ‘Abd al-Maajid, a member of al-Qa’ida’s Majlis al-Shura (advisory council). The book’s title, which appears in the center of the image, reads: “al-sira‘ al-islami al-sahyusalibi-al-wajh al-haqiqi lil-sira‘” (“the Islamic-Zionist crusader struggle-the real meaning/direction of the struggle”). The compound word “sahyusalibi” is made up of a term often employed to relate to Israel–“the Zionist entity”–and the term for the Christian West (and more specifically in the last decade, the U.S.)-“salibi” (“crusader”). In the image, this word appears with the star of David replacing the letter ha’, and the letter lam is crossed to give the appearance of a cross. The background consists of inaccurate (yet recognizable) American and Israeli flags.
Group Name
Global Islamic Media Foundation (GIMF)
Group Type
Jihadist Group
Dominant Colors
Brown, Blue, Red
Secondary Colors
White
Language
Arabic
Isolated Phrases / Mottoes / Slogans
Al-sira` al-islami al-sahyusalibi - al-wajh al-haqiqi lil-sira`
Image Number
0339
Groups Region of Operation
Global
Geopolitical Symbols
Country Flag, Slogan
Geopolitical Analysis
U.S. and Israeli flags
Religious Textual References
Use of Calligraphy
Religious Symbols
Cross
Visual Themes
The American flag, or parts thereof (such as the stars and stripes), are widely used in jihadi propaganda to evoke negative sentiments towards U.S. foreign policy and military campaigns. The stars and stripes are also used to color other symbols in an image, thereby linking the symbols to U.S. foreign policy and military intervention in the Muslim world. The combination of the U.S. and Israeli flags here is a political protest against the close cooperation between the U.S. and Israel, and an expression of oft-repeated sentiments and conspiracy theories regarding Jewish world domination.
