An Unwelcome Reunion - Spain and the Jihadists
by Charles Colson
July 27, 2006
If you know where to look, it's easy to find evidence of Spain's
Islamic past: You can see it in Spanish architecture and in the faces
of the people. You can hear it in Spanish music, especially flamenco,
and in the Spanish language itself.
Despite these undeniable historical links between Spain and the Islamic
world, Spaniards have no interest in turning back the clock, not after
their ancestors spent seven centuries expelling the Muslim invaders who
forced themselves on Spain. However, there is one group that remains
committed to such a "reunion": Islamist radicals.
A few weeks ago, the FBI arrested eight men in charge of
plotting to
blow up the underground rail tunnels that link New Jersey and New York.
The suspects included members of al-Qaeda living both in and outside of
the US.
An overlooked detail in the story was the name of one of the alleged
masterminds of the plot: "Emir Andalusi." As with many terrorists,
that's not his real name but, instead, what the French call a nom de
guerre, a war-time alias. And as with most such aliases, it provides an
insight into his and other jihadist motivations and aspirations.
"Andalusi" comes from "Al Andalus," the Arabic name for southern Spain,
the part known as Andalusia today. As one Israeli writer has pointed
out, references to "old Muslim Spain are . . . [increasingly] common
among jihadists who have set themselves against the Western world."
The best-known such reference is Osama bin Laden's 2001 video message
that declared that al-Qaeda would not permit the repeat of "the tragedy
of Andalusia" in Palestine. The "tragedy" he was referring to was the
expulsion of the Muslim invaders by Spanish Christian forces.
In case the Western world didn't get the point, al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's
number two, "later swore that 'the tragedy of Al Andalus' must not be
repeated."
It isn't just al-Qaeda that wants to force this. Hamas isn't just
interested in Israel. It has "demanded the return of the city of
Seville to Islam" and what it calls "the lost paradise of Al Andalus."
These dreams of "Al Andalus" make Spain a target as the Spanish have
already learned the hard way. And Spain isn't a target because of its
policies toward the United States or the Middle East, but because its
existence is regarded as a "tragedy" by the jihadists. As former
Spanish Prime Minister Aznar put it, the problem with al-Qaeda has been
1,300 years in the making.
Unfortunately, the current Spanish Prime Minister, Zapatero, seems to
share the same sense of denial that the British elites do as described
in Melanie Phillips's book Londonistan, which I have talked about on
"BreakPoint." He has demonstrated open contempt for Spain's Catholic
heritage while increasingly accommodating Islamic interests. Some five
hundred years after the fall of the last Islamic stronghold in Spain,
his government is financing the teaching of Islam in public schools.
What's it going to take for the West to wake up? There is a real clash
of worldviews, and it's deadly. And just like between the two great
world wars, Europe is asleep.
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