TerrorismOsama bin Laden's son calls on Syrian Islamist groups to unite “to free Palestine”
Hamza bin Laden, Osama bi Laden’s son, has called on jihadists in Syria to unite, saying that fight for spreading the jihadists’ message in Syria is but a prologue to “liberating Palestine.” “The Islamic umma (nation) should focus on jihad in al-Sham (Syria) … and unite the ranks of mujahideen there,” Hamza bin Laden said in an audio message posted online.
Hamza bin Laden, Osama bi Laden’s son, has called on jihadists in Syria to unite, saying that fight for spreading the jihadists’ message in Syria is but a prologue to “liberating Palestine.”
“The Islamic umma (nation) should focus on jihad in al-Sham (Syria) … and unite the ranks of mujahideen there,” Hamza bin Laden said in an audio message posted online. “There is no longer an excuse for those who insist on division and disputes now that the whole world has mobilized against Muslims.”
The Jerusalem Post reports that his undated message comes after al-Qaeda’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, urged jihadists in Syria to unite, even though al-Zawahiri continues to reject ISIS and its caliphate.
“The matter of unity today is one of life and death,” Zawahiri said in an audio message posted online on Saturday. “Either you unite to live as Muslims with dignity, or you bicker and separate and so are eaten one by one,” he added, according to SITE Intelligence, a research group.
Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate al-Nusra Front is a rival of ISIS, although the two Islamist groups at times cooperate tactically.
Hamza Bin Laden said Syria is the “best battlefield” leading to “liberating al-Quds”, the Arabic name for Jerusalem. “The road to liberating Palestine is today much shorter compared to before the blessed Syrian revolution,” he said.
