Rival protests in front of the parliament building in the Tunisian capital of Tunis on Saturday saw secular forces face off against Islamists. As a report from Euronews put it, many of the latter “supported Ennahda, the moderate Muslim party most successful in October’s elections.” But look carefully to the right of the image at about the 0:07 point of the Euronews video. You will see at least two demonstrators waving the distinctive black flag of al-Qaeda.
The flag can also be seen in a photo that accompanies detailed reporting from the protests on the Tunisian news website, Tunisia-Live.net.
The Tunisia-Live caption reads: “Pro-Ennahda demonstrators arrive at #OccupyBardo.” The parliament building is located in the Bardo district of greater Tunis. Here is a closer look at the flag:
The appearance of the same flag recently in post-Qaddafi Libya sparked a remarkably scholastic discussion in American foreign policy circles as to whether the flag is “really” the al-Qaeda flag or merely “affirms support for Islam.” The writing on the flag represents the shahada or Islamic declaration of faith: “There is no god but God [Allah] and Mohammed is the messenger of God.”
The flag in question is that made famous by Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi’s al-Qaeda in Iraq, a.k.a. the “Islamic State of Iraq,” before being adopted by other al-Qaeda affiliates and numerous jihadist internet forums. The below image may serve as a reminder of the sort of context in which the flag gained notoriety. It shows nine members of the Iraqi security services being executed by al-Qaeda in Iraq:
— John Rosenthal writes on European politics and transatlantic security issues. You can follow his work at www.trans-int.com or on Facebook.
It is time that the West acknowledges that there are no "Moderate" Muslims. The "Moderates" have been cowed by the fanatics and nuts. The "Muslim" world is/has been taken over by the hard core, fundamentalists who have a solution for any opposition either within or without their faith--kill them. That is a rather effective and permanent solution to one's political opposition. In the Pacific we talk of the “Ring of Fire” when talking about the geologic makeup. In the Middle East we now have “The Ring of Blood” when talking about the theocratic makeup of the Mid East. It stretches from Morocco thru Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and soon to be Iraq where the hard line Muslims are taking over. This threatens Israel’s survival in the very near future, then Europe and all of the West. Sadly, Obama and his administration refuse to see the danger. This blindness puts the entire West and each and every American in peril.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSmell that democracy in the Arab Spring breeze?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLet's analyze complex political movements in distant countries with cultures we barely understand by playing hidden-object games with Reuters photos!
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"cultures we barely understand"?
Then try doing some homework before you deign to pontificate.
Fool.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have come to the conclusion that the West is on its death march. Take a good look. Europe is being overrun with Muslims. Being that I am Armenian, when Muslims meet me they think I'm another dhimmi Christian from the Middle East. Muslims tell me that Europe is over, then they start their attack on the US and Israel. The usual Jew hatred stuff. Then I let them know what I think of them. Everywhere I look the West is in retreat, bowing and scraping at the feet of the Other, thinking that committing suicide will make the Other like us. But it won't work and we will kill ourselves off. Almost all our VIPs are on the take for Muslim money, pushing Muslim interests in the West. Now Obama enables the Muslim Brotherhood in multiple countries in the Middle East. What a disaster. This is the biggest strategic mistake by the West since the 1500's. This will be an order of magnitude worse than stupid Carter enabling the Islamic revolution in Iran. The West is on its death march.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseKeep in mind that amongst republican supporters you may find people who are outright racists, this however is NOT reflective of republicans and it would be false to call republicans racist because of those supporters. Lone supporters for a political party should NEVER be confused with the position and policies of the party.
Aside from Ennahda there is also the more extreme Salafi islamists, but they did not have a political party in tunisia like they do in egypt. As such if members of the group wanted to vote they would have to default themselves to one of the other political parties and Ennahda, being the ONLY islamic party, was the natural choice.
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