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New York - American al Qaeda Member Cites His Jewish Ancestry |
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Adam Yahiye Gadahn, also known as Azzam the American, is seen in an earlier al Qaeda video.
In the video, Adam Yahiye Gadahn, also known as Azzam the American, discusses his roots as he castigates U.S. policies and deplores Israel's offensive in Gaza that started in late December 2008 and continued into January.
"Let me here tell you something about myself and my biography, in which there is a benefit and a lesson," Gadahn says, as he elicits support from his fellow Muslims for "our weapons, funds and Jihad against the Jews and their allies everywhere."
"Your speaker has Jews in his ancestry, the last of whom was his grandfather," he says.
Growing up in rural California, Gadahn embraced Islam in the mid-1990s, moved to Pakistan and has appeared in al Qaeda videos before.
He was indicted in the United States in 2006 on charges of treason and material support to al Qaeda, according to the FBI. Gadahn is on the FBI's Most Wanted List, with a reward of up to $1 million leading to his capture. FBI records show Gadahn's date of birth as September 1, 1978.
The video -- in which Gadahn speaks Arabic, with English subtitles -- surfaced on Saturday. This account is based on an English transcript provided by As-Sahab Media, the media production company used by al Qaeda.
Gadahn's Jewish ancestry has been reported in the news media. But terrorism analyst Laura Mansfield says it is the first time Gadahn acknowledged his Jewish ancestry in an official al Qaeda message.
Gadahn says his grandfather was a "Zionist" and "a zealous supporter of the usurper entity, and a prominent member of a number of Zionist hate organizations."
"He used to repeat to me what he claimed are the virtues of this entity and encouraged me to visit it, specifically the city of Tel Aviv, where relatives of ours live," says Gadahn, referring to Israel.
He says his grandfather gave him a book by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called "A Place Among the Nations" -- in which the "rabid Zionist" sets out "feeble arguments and unmasked lies to justify the Jews' rape of Muslim Palestine."
But Gadahn says that despite his youth at the time, he didn't heed his grandfather's words.
"How can a person with an ounce of self-respect possibly stand in the ranks of criminals and killers who have no morals, no mercy, no humanity and indeed, no honor?" he says in reference to Zionists and Israel.
"Isn't it shameful enough for a person to carry the citizenship of America, the symbol of oppression and tyranny and advocate of terror in the world?"
Mansfield thinks the video may have been made between late April and mid-May, before President Obama's speech in Cairo, Egypt, addressing U.S. relations with Muslims.
Gadahn notes Obama's inauguration, Netanyahu's election in February, and Obama's speech in Turkey in April.
Specifically mentioning the Gaza offensive and citing other hot spots such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Somalia, where the "Zio-Crusader alliance" is fighting his "brothers," he says "this open-faced aggression" comes as Obama has risen to power.
He scorns Obama's statements in his inaugural address and in Turkey that America isn't and won't be at war with Islam, and "other deceptive, false and sugarcoated words of endearment and respect." He says Obama's language is similar to words Netanyahu uttered in the Knesset in 1996.
Gadahn also backs the idea of targeting "Zio-Crusader" interests anywhere in the world, not just "within Palestine."
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Read Comments (20) — Post Yours »
1
Jun 13, 2009 at 10:22 PM Anonymous Says:
he must of belonged first to NK.
2
Jun 13, 2009 at 10:47 PM ??????????? Says:
It says his grandfather was jewish was his mother jewish and that is what really matters.
3
Jun 13, 2009 at 10:25 PM just wondering Says:
are you sure he's not really neturei karta? he seems to be quoting them verbatim!
4
Jun 13, 2009 at 10:24 PM Dov Says:
Ok finally a merger Jewish Taliban. Started on Egged
5
Jun 13, 2009 at 11:23 PM not jewish Says:
“ It says his grandfather was jewish was his mother jewish and that is what really matters. ”
His father was Jewish and converted to some new-age brand of Christianity. His mother was never Jewish.
6
Jun 13, 2009 at 11:16 PM Anonymous Says:
“ It says his grandfather was jewish was his mother jewish and that is what really matters. ”
How would it matter? Jew or not (and he is not, and the whole Jewish grandfather story probably isn't true either), the guy is a sonai yisroel.
7
Jun 13, 2009 at 11:05 PM Anonymous Says:
Sounds like he had no respect for his grandfather and took his feelings out on Israel.
8
Jun 13, 2009 at 11:04 PM Anonymous Says:
He looks jewish
9
Jun 14, 2009 at 12:12 AM Anonymous Says:
How can a person with an ounce of self-respect possibly stand in the ranks of criminals and killers who have no morals, no mercy, no humanity and indeed, no honor?
is he talkin bout al Qaeda???
10
Jun 14, 2009 at 05:44 AM Anonymous Says:
“ He looks jewish ”
So do many other muslims.
11
Jun 14, 2009 at 05:37 AM Anonymous Says:
That's what we get when yidden start to assimilate!
12
Jun 14, 2009 at 03:32 AM Answer Says:
“ How would it matter? Jew or not (and he is not, and the whole Jewish grandfather story probably isn't true either), the guy is a sonai yisroel. ”
Exactly that is the point I was trying to getto. That is why I phrased this question. Not everyone who claims to be jewish is a jew. It just makes it harder for us yidden because don't understand this concept.
13
Jun 14, 2009 at 12:51 AM Milhouse Says:
Why is this of any interest to anyone?
14
Jun 14, 2009 at 12:18 AM bunim1 Says:
Whens the last time he was in contact with his grandfather that he recieved a book authored by BIBI?
15
Jun 14, 2009 at 09:52 AM Anonymous Says:
This guy looks much too healthy to be in some cave in Afghanistan in his videos. Same thing for the videos of Al Zawahiri. I have a feeling they are part of the Boogeyman policy of elements of the CIA and Mossad to keep people scared. They probably operate off a yacht in the Caribbean.
16
Jun 14, 2009 at 10:40 AM Anonymous Says:
“ It says his grandfather was jewish was his mother jewish and that is what really matters. ”
who cares thats not the point!!
17
Jun 14, 2009 at 02:02 PM FVNMS Says:
“ He looks jewish ”
He looks malodorous.
18
Jun 14, 2009 at 05:00 PM Boruch N. Hoffinger Says:
BS"D
Emotional problems or money are/is motivating him.
Every honest person knows, whether the secular Zionists say it
or not, that G-d gave The Holy Land to the Jewish nation.
SHEKER!
19
Jun 14, 2009 at 06:18 PM PMO Says:
He wants to be Al Qaeda? Good! He should die like a rodent in the street with the rest of them.
20
Jun 14, 2009 at 10:42 PM Anonymous Says:
“ It says his grandfather was jewish was his mother jewish and that is what really matters. ”
Your run-on-sentence appears to read: "It says his grandfather was Jewish. Was his mother Jewish? That is what really matters".
If the last Jewish ancestor he had was his grandfather, then how could his mother be Jewish?