Analysis: Local grievances are being sucked into 'global jihad'

YOU may know al-Qaeda wants to kill you, but does al-Shabaab, the Islamic militia fighting the UN-backed government of Somalia, perceive the West as a direct enemy? And does the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement – fighting for the ethnic Uighur people in China – wish to see the destruction of the "Crusader states"?
I could add to the list the militant Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, or the Pattani United Liberation Organisation in southern Thailand – Islamic, yes, militant, yes – but do they want to see London, Washington or Glasgow airport in flames?I've only mentioned a random group of Islamic militant organisations, but, as we struggle to understand the motivations of our current most obvious enemy, Afghanistan's Taleban, and their ties with al-Qaeda and other militant groups across the border in Pakistan, it is important to illustrate how different Islamic movements perceive who exactly their enemy is.A recent paper by Thomas Hegghammer, a senior research fellow at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and expert on Islamic militancy, paints a fascinating picture of how possibly legitimate regional grievances being addressed by Islamic groups are increasingly getting bound up with al-Qaeda's ideology of "global jihad" – that is to say, how "a little local difficulty" becomes "the clash of civilisations".Take the Uighur people of China's vast Xinjiang region. They are ethnically Turkic and Muslims. This year has seen the outbreak of serious unrest in the area between themselves and ethnic Han migrants from central China, dealt with punitively by Beijing.The Uighur seem to have a legitimate grievance. They feel increased migration is making them outsiders in their own land; that their language and culture are being undermined. They evidently fear a future in which they are marginalised.The recent trouble in Xinjiang has no doubt attracted greater attention from al-Qaeda and its affiliates. Here, after all, are an oppressed Muslim people in need of help – and who better to help them than their brothers in faith?But of course, as al-Qaeda come in one door, any sympathy or assistance from the West will go out the other.No doubt there is currently a fierce debate among politically active Uighurs: whether to involve themselves in the wider "jihad" or keep their focus on China.Another good example is Hamas. While Israeli propaganda would happily lump them as "militants" in the al-Qaeda ideological mould, that is far from the truth.Hamas keeps the focus of its struggle firmly on Israel. Despite the fact that, like al-Qaeda, it is a Sunni Muslim organisation, those engaged in "global jihad" regard Hamas with as much hatred as they do Tel Aviv. Hamas, with its roots in the pragmatic Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, refuses to tie itself up in a wider conflict. At the other end of the spectrum, Osama bin Laden avoided any "local" clash with Saudi authorities in al-Qaeda's early days for fear that such a "local" conflict would damage his global aspirations.In his paper, Hegghammer uses the terms "revolutionary" and "global jihadist" ideologies. He writes: "Revolutionary Islamism advocates military confrontation with Muslim regimes in order to topple them and capture the state. Global jihadism promotes military confrontation with the United States and her allies, to avenge and deter non-Muslim oppression of Muslims." He cites al-Shabaab in Somalia as being a good example of group with "hybrid" ideology. While the focus of its material struggle has so far been against the government in Mogadishu, it will attack UN forces and western civilians if it can. Its propaganda expresses admiration for al-Qaeda, hatred of the US and a view that it is involved in wider struggle.Importantly, Hegghammer sees this as weakness – an attempt to broaden its appeal to gain recruits in a competitive market.He also adds that the tendency to see enemies everywhere is a sign of "late-stage militancy".Mullah Omar, leader of the Taleban in Afghanistan, is aware of this ideological difference. A recent statement that the Taleban "posed no threat to its neighbours" was met with anger on al-Qaeda websites.At the moment, the two have an enemy in common – the West is directly keeping the government of Afghanistan in power.Whether Mullah Omar is interested in a "global jihad" is another question altogether.• The Ideological Hybridisation of Jihadi Groups by Thomas Hegghammer is published in Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, Hudson Institute.

Source: The Scotsman http://news.scotsman.com/world/Analysis-Local-grievances-are-being.5845665.jp