19-Apr-12: How the murder of three French children has become the launch of a new chapter in the conquest of Europe by the terrorists

London

The murders of three French servicemen followed shortly afterwards by the killing of four innocent Jews – a young schoolteacher and two of his small children and then a third little girl – are receding into the background. 

Not for the families, not for the friends. Perhaps not entirely for Toulouse and Montauban. But probably for France. Certainly for Europe and the rest of us. 

The tragedy becomes an event, and the event turns into a small bump in a long road. So it goes. 

But there are people out there who understand its significance and will not allow it to blend into the background. They are the jihadists. For them, the cold-blooded murder of four innocent Jews in France has become an inspiration, a treasure – literally. Astonishingly, they are terming it an “operation”, a “raid”, even a “battle”. 

A brief analysis, "Jihadis' New Toulouse Inspiration", published this week on the website of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), looks at how the killings are being celebrated by means of a widely circulated (and translated) essay called "Lessons and Treasures from the Battle of Toulouse". To remind us, the killer was Mohamed Merah, 24, a French citizen of Algerian origin, who boasted [The Guardian, March 22, 2012 ] to police negotiators that he had brought France to its knees and that his one regret was not having been able to carry out plans for more killings.

Madrid

The Merah killings are being represented as a turning point for Moslems born in Europe and other parts of the non-Arab world. The murders are

"particularly unique and noteworthy... Unlike other successful operations carried out by immigrants, Western-born Muslims are rejecting local governmental attempts to promote non-violent forms of Islam. The operation has also reminded jihadis about the importance of attacking France, which has been spared the successful mass attacks experienced in the United States and elsewhere in Europe. Ultimately, the goal of this raid and others like it, is to produce an al-Qaida "in Western dress with blue eyes" and with a "totally Western appearance."

The source of this terrorist self-worship is an online al-Qaida forum [click to view it]. It describes the murderer as being one of the "fighting men of a special class". The killings of the children are a "practical lesson in bravery". The essay was first released in late March and documented in early April by Middle East Media Research Institute. MEMRI is one of the few - and certainly among the most important - agencies making Arabic source materials available to non-Arabic readers.

IPT refers to other key points in the jihadist manifest:

• The al-Qaida essay targets the large class of unemployed and frustrated Muslim youth in Europe, touching on the frustration of young Europe-born Moslems with life in the West. It says their anger makes them "the best soldiers in al-Qaida's ranks". 
• "The hero of the battle of Toulouse will be an example and a role model for whoever is behind him among the Muslim youth in the West, especially those who have not joined up with Mujahid groups."
• The murders are "a realization of al-Qaida's call... the route to jihad is open and available". This is a way to join the "heroes for Islam". The murders embody "the rejection of the West's anti-extremism campaigns by a Western Muslim."
• "The hardest strike against the Crusader West" is that Western Muslim youth are still joining al-Qaida.
• These young European Moslems "have no social value, no jobs to mention, and no weight or consideration." As long as they believe in Islam's "divine law," they will be "marginalized and allegations would be made against them of being terrorists and radicals". If they get past those "allegations", they will find that Taliban, al-Qaida and Islamic law are the keys to their "honor" being restored. 
• The "wide margins of liberty" in the West, which the al-Qaida writer demonizes throughout his essay, prevent them from becoming downtrodden like the Arabs living under tyrannical rule in their home countries.



Toulouse

• "The economic and social drain on the West is just as much a success as the damage of the raids."
• Euromoslems are becoming "a special and distinguished type of hidden soldiers who are not known or cared about by many people and who are not easy for the enemy to spot, through whatever methods and ways are available to the enemy."
• The London and Madrid "operations" are role models of what can be achieved. 
• "In London and Madrid, local terrorists used explosives to kill dozens using buses and subways. In Mumbai, gunman targeted popular Western hangouts as well as a Jewish center. These "Mujahideen have broken the fear barrier and took the [Muslim] nation to a stage of challenge, by staging quick and unique attacks that target the enemy's economic, political, and military positions in their own homes".

Do we need to expand on why we call it This Ongoing War?