Al-Qaeda has shrewdly seen to it that, along with the sword, they also employ the pen in their Holy War. In order to vindicate their actions and rally support, they have orchestrated a series of carefully constructed messages. These messages fall into two distinct genres, each revealing a different goal.
From Nationalism to Fascism to Terror
On occasion, one finds a historical pattern that provides a paradigm useful for interpreting contemporary world events. One such paradigm is the almost eerie parallel between Germany’s history — its progress from Nationalism to Fascism and ultimately Terror — and the recent history of the Arab world.
Doubleday’s al-Qaeda Book Has Industry Jawing
Publishers Weekly January 24, 2005 The news last week that Doubleday has acquired a book based on the writings of the al-Qaeda braintrust has reverberated through the industry, as nearly everyone has something to say about the house’s daring move. A publishing attorney called it dangerous, a retailer was anticipating a big sale and a […]
Raymond Ibrahim and The Al Qaeda Reader
by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online Raymond Ibrahim was a former student of mine in Classics and Middle Eastern history, now living and working in Washington. He contacted me for some advice, as his former MA thesis advisor, months ago, saying that as part of his job as an archivist he had accidentally come […]
Arts, Briefly; Al Qaeda Anthology
by Edward Wyatt New York Times Doubleday will publish a collection of the translated writings of Al Qaeda leaders next year and will donate profits from the book to charities that are aiding American victims of terrorism. The book, tentatively titled “The Al Qaeda Reader,” will consist of writings by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s second […]
New York publisher faces fierce opposition to al-Qa’eda tome
The Telegraph When news of the deal first broke in the American publishing press last week, the company said that it had not decided how to use the expected profits from the book. After angry protests that it stood to cash in on the 9/11 attacks, however, Doubleday announced that all the proceeds from the […]
Truce or Taqiyyah
Osama bin Laden is apparently certain that the vast majority of Americans, including their policy-makers, are ignorant of al-Qaeda’s goals and strategies. His recent “extended truce” offer to the Americans suggests as much: after offering the truce, he qualifies its earnestness by asserting “for we [Muslims] are a Nation whom Allah has forbidden from breaking pacts and lying.” And this is definitely true — the Koran and Tradition of the Prophet clearly censure acts of perfidy and deception.
Al Qaeda book battle
CNN NEW YORK (CNN) — It’s to be titled the “Al Qaeda Reader.” Publisher Doubleday says it will include writings by Osama bin Laden and his second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri, from the 1990s. News of the book prompted at least one publisher to raise a red flag about profits. “How do you deal with […]
It’s Osama on Osama: Book to tell Al Qaeda tale
by Paul D. Colford New York Daily News IT’S COMING TO A bookstore near you – the radical views of Osama Bin Laden and his second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. New York publisher Doubleday said yesterday that next year it will release “The Al Qaeda Reader,” a history of the terror network in its leaders’ own words, […]
Osama, Call Your Agent!
Is Doubleday violating Bin Laden’s copyright? by Brendan I. Koerner Slate Doubleday, an American publishing house owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, is planning to release The Al Qaeda Reader in 2006. The book will consist primarily of translated writings by Osama Bin Laden and Egyptian Jihad founder Ayman al-Zawahiri, along with a smattering of other jihadist […]