NEO-ZARQAWISTS TARGET THE ARAB CHRISTIANS OF JORDAN
Murad Batal Al-shishani
Jamestown Foundation
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Nov 13 2009
On October 15, the State Security Court of Jordan imposed jail
sentences of 15 to 20 years on 12 alleged Jordanian members of al-Qaeda
accused of attacks against a church in the Kingdom last year (Al-Ghad
[Amman], October 16; Al-Rai [Amman], October 16). In a reaction similar
to those seen in trials of Salafi-Jihadis, plot leader Shaker al-Khatib
and the rest of the convicted group prostrated themselves, thanking
Allah as a sign of defiance against the court (al-Jazeera, October 15).
Al-Khatib and four others in the group, aged between 19 and 28,
received the death penalty, but the court commuted the sentence to 20
years in prison "because they are young and should be given a chance
to repent." The other seven were handed 15-year sentences.
This group was charged in July 2008 with carrying out terrorist attacks
and manufacturing and using explosives. According to a Jordanian
official, "The al-Qaeda members tried to attack a Latin church in Irbid
[in North Jordan] in July last year after a Christian boy allegedly
insulted the Prophet Muhammed, but the attempt failed…Following
that, they attacked the same church again using Molotov [cocktail
bombs] and a Christian cemetery in Irbid, but caused no casualties"
(AFP, October 16).
Targeting Christians or their churches in Jordan seems to be a
significant development in jihadi violence in Jordan. This switch
appears to be inspired by the alleged targeting of Iraqi churches by
the late leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,
before he was killed in June 2006 (see Terrorism Focus, February 6).
The Christians of Jordan are an original part of Jordanian society,
which explains their integration into the tribal system of Jordan
and their attainment of high political and military ranks. Prior to
these attacks, there were no records of sectarian incidents against
them in Jordan. The Christians and their places of worship were not
formerly major targets for the Salafi-Jihadis, but it seems that the
new generation of Salafi-Jihadis (the neo-Zarqawists) is inspired by
al-Zarqawi’s legacy of targeting the "non-believers," such as Shiites,
Christians, and Jews.
Jordanian Christians represent between 4-5% of the total population.
In January 2009, Jordanian authorities designated the "Council of
Church Leaders in Jordan" as the only Christian body recognized by
the government. The council includes leaders of the four traditional
Christian faiths: the Bishops of the Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic
(Melkite), Roman Catholic, and Armenian Orthodox Churches. There are
other Christian churches that are not represented in the council,
such as the Evangelist Church, Assemblies of God Church, Church of
the Messiah, the Coptic Church and the Maronite Church. The decision
by the Jordanian government came after its decision to extradite
Protestant evangelists because they "were trying to convert members
of Jordan’s older Christian faiths" (ammonnews.net, January, 30).
American evangelist movements have targeted the traditional churches
of the Middle East (Coptic, Syriac, etc.) for conversion since the
19th century.
In his criticism of al-Zarqawi, his former mentor Shaykh Abu
Muhammad al-Maqdisi urged young jihadis not to target churches,
elderly tourists, or other civilians on the grounds that such targets
are typically chosen because they are easy, not because they have
strategic value to jihad (al-Jazeera July 6, 2005; al-Hayat, July
10, 2005; see also Terrorism Monitor, July 9). Al-Zarqawi responded
by denying that al-Qaeda in Iraq targeted Arab Christians or other
civilians. "Even though these are non-Muslim groups, they have not
demonstrated to us that they have become partners of the Crusaders
in their fighting against the jihad fighters, and they do not play
the base role played by the Shiites" (al-Hesbah, July 2005).
Despite his claims of innocence regarding the killing of Christians
and civilians, the legacy of al-Zarqawi has played a major role
in creating a more radical generation of jihadis, especially in the
Levant region. The Jordanian trials of jihadis started in the early
1990s but did not show Christians to be among the jihadis’ targets
before 2004, when the plots related to al-Zarqawi started to appear.
In 1991 the Jaysh Muhammad (Army of Muhammad) case revealed that the
defendants felt they were permitted to steal from Christians in order
to use the funds for the sake of jihad based on an old fatwa (religious
ruling) issued by the Egyptian Gama’a al-Islamiya terrorist group in
the early 1980s. In a later case known locally as the "Conspiracy
of the Millennium," a Christian site was among the tourist-related
targets that the group planned to attack in late 1999.
However, this site may well have been chosen largely because of the
media exposure it would garner.
Last March, the State Security Court of Jordan sentenced three
Jordanians to 22½ years in prison for plotting a suicide car bomb
attack on a church in Amman. Their plan called for bombing a Roman
Catholic Church in Amman’s eastern district of Marka after initially
planning to strike against a police battalion. Convicted ringleader
Majid Muhammad Nasr was apparently radicalized in prison by al-Qaeda
operatives linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq, including Iraqi Ziyad Karbouli,
who is serving his sentence in Jordan (Al-Riyadh, June 27, 2008;
for Karbouli, see Terrorism Focus, May 31, 2006).
Following a long period of co-existence, the various plots against
Christian targets that have emerged in the last year and the
recruitment of Tha’ir Abd-al-Qadir al-Wahidi by Jordanian Islamists
to attack a visiting Lebanese Christian Choir in Amman in January
demonstrate a major shift in the Islamist view of traditional Arab
Christians in Jordan, a change that can ultimately be traced back
to the influence of al-Zarqawi on a new generation of jihadis (Dar
al-Hayat, January 28; see also Terrorism Focus, February 6).
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