742 Al-Shabaab calls for 'Westgate-style' attacks on Jewish-owned Westfield shopping centres

Al-Shabaab calls for 'Westgate-style' attacks on Jewish-owned Westfield
shopping centres

Newsletter published on 24 February 2015

(1) West caught in war between Judaism & Islam
(2) Islamist group suggests attacks on Jewish-owned Westfield shopping malls
(3) Al-Shabaab calls for attacks on Jewish-owned shopping centres
(4) Terror group calls for 'Westgate-style' attacks on Westfield
shopping centres
(5) Video urges attacks on American or Jewish-owned shopping centers
across the world
(6) ISIS plan to conquer Europe by infiltrating Asylum-seekers from Libya
(7) Libya crisis 'created by NATO intervention' - scholar

(1) West caught in war between Judaism & Islam - Peter Myers, February
24, 2015

Many blogs have alleged that Islamic State is aided and abetted by
Israel. Until recently, it did not target Israel or Jews.

However, the Paris attack had an anti-Jewish theme - the attack on the
kosher grocery store. And the recent Copenhagen attack targeted a synagogue.

The Al-Shabaab video calling for attacks on American and, in particular,
Jewish-owned, shopping centers around the world brings the contest
between Zionism and Islam to the fore.

The West has often acceded to the demands of the Jewish Lobby, e.g. for
war in Iraq and for the toppling of Gaddafi. Now, the true cost of those
policies is being realiized.

(2) Islamist group suggests attacks on Jewish-owned Westfield shopping malls

http://www.jwire.com.au/islamist-group-suggests-attacks-on-shopping-malls/

Islamist group suggests attacks on shopping malls

February 23, 2015 by J-Wire Staff

Westfield have responded to a report that a Somalia-based insurgent
group has posted a video on the internet suggesting attacks on shopping
malls mentioning  "the 100 or so Jewish-owned Westfield shopping centres
dotted around the Western world."

The group, known as Shebab, posted a documentary type video of the 2013
Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi which claimed the lives of 67 people.

At the end of the clip a masked militant suggests that copycat attacks
could take place in other parts of the world, mentioning Westfield".

A spokesperson Scentre Group which operates the shopping centre giant
said: "There is no evidence of an imminent threat to our shopping
centres but as always Scentre Group will take every available step to
keep our shopping centres safe for staff, retailers and customers.

Scentre Group's policy is to not publicly discuss security procedures,
however our heads of security continue to coordinate their activities
with police and government agencies.

As usual, significant resources continue to be devoted to security
arrangements in our offices and shopping centres and they continue to
operate as normal."

Westfield operates in the UK, USA and New Zealand as well as Australia.
The video did not specify Australia, New Zealand or any of their malls
as a possible target.

(3) Al-Shabaab calls for attacks on Jewish-owned shopping centres

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11428309/Al-Shabaab-calls-for-attacks-on-Oxford-Street-and-Westfield-centres-in-new-terror-threat.html

Al-Shabaab calls for attacks on Oxford Street and Westfield centres in
new terror threat

Somalia-based terror group releases video threatening some of the
world's busiest shopping areas

  {photo} A terrorist dressed in army fatigues and his face covered then
warned: "Can you imagine what a dedicated mujahideen (soldier) in the
West could do to the American and Jewish-owned shopping centres across
the world."  {end}

By Tom Whitehead, and Peter Foster

6:38PM GMT 22 Feb 2015

Islamist terrorists have called for attacks on London's Oxford Street
and the Westfield shopping centres in the latest jihadist threat to the UK.

A video released by the Somalia-based fanatics al-Shabaab called on its
followers to "hasten to heaven" by attacking some of the country's
busiest shopping areas.

It also threatened venues in America and Canada as well as
"Jewish-owned" centres.

Counter-terrorism police in the UK were assessing the video while the
head of US homeland security warned shoppers to be "particularly careful".

The video, which lasts more than an hour and was released over the
weekend, centred on the fall out from al-Shabaab's attack on the
Westgate shopping centre in Kenya in 2013 that left 62 people dead and
more than 100 injured.

A terrorist dressed in army fatigues and his face covered then warned:
"Can you imagine what a dedicated mujahideen (soldier) in the West could
do to the American and Jewish-owned shopping centres across the world."

He names Oxford Street and the two Westfield centres in London,
alongside coordinates for them, adding: "What would be the implications
of such an attack, one can only imagine and all it takes is a man with
firm determination, of which our Muslim ummah (community) has plenty of.

"So hurry up, hasten towards heaven and do not hesitate."

He warned that disbelievers had no right to feel safe.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: "The MPS Counter Terrorism Command is
aware of the video and is assessing the content.

"We remind the public that downloading extremist material may constitute
an offence."

Jeh Johnson, the US homeland security secretary, said the call for
local-based militants to attack prominent shopping districts, also
including the giant Mall of America in Minnesota and the West Edmonton
Mall in Canada, represented a new evolution in terror.

"This latest statement from al Shabaab reflects the new phase we've
evolved to in the global terrorist threat, in that you have groups such
as al Shabaab and ISIL publicly calling for independent actors in their
homelands to carry out attacks," Mr Johnson told the CNN.

"We're beyond the phase now where these groups would send foreign
operatives into countries after being trained some place," he added.

Asked specifically about the threat to Mall of America, one of the
world's largest shopping complexes, he said: "Anytime a terrorist
organisation calls for an attack on a specific place, we've got to take
that seriously."

"I would say that if anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America
today, they've got to be particularly careful."

Minnesota is home to a sizeable Somali population and US intelligence
has said that dozens of people from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, many
of them Somali-Americans, have travelled or attempted to travel overseas
to support groups such as Islamic State or al Shabaab since 2007.

A Minnesota man was indicted last week on charges of conspiring to
support Islamic State and lying to federal agents investigating
recruitment by militant groups.

The Mall of America, which attracts some 40 million visitors a year said
it was monitoring events with the help of federal, state and local law
enforcement agencies.

"Mall of America has implemented extra security precautions, some may be
noticeable to guests, and others won't be," the mall's management said.

(4) Terror group calls for 'Westgate-style' attacks on Westfield
shopping centres

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2964431/Terror-group-al-Shabaab-calls-Westgate-style-attacks-Westfield-shopping-centres-chilling-new-threat-militants-bloody-Kenya-siege.html

'Do not hesitate': Terror group calls for 'Westgate-style' attacks on
Westfield shopping centres in chilling new threat from militants behind
bloody Kenya siege

     * Westfield shopping centres singled out in terror group video
threat     * Threat was released by the al-Shabaab jihadist organisation
who were responsible for the bloody 2013 Westgate siege     * The
Australian shopping company co-founded by Frank Lowy owns scores of
stores in Australia, the UK and the United States     * 'Just imagine
what the dedicated mujahideen could do in the West to American or Jewish
shopping centres across the world,' jihadist said     * Malls in America
and Canada were also listed as potential targets by the group

By Daniel Piotrowski for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 10:30 EST, 23 February 2015 | Updated: 11:40 EST, 23 February
2015

An al-Qaeda linked terror group has issued a chilling propaganda video
threatening Western shopping centres and singling out 'Jewish owned'
Westfield malls as targets.

In a 76-minute long message issued overnight, a masked militant
purportedly from the al-Shabaab organisation encouraged Islamic
fundamentalists to strike at shopping centres around the world.

Dressed in military fatigues, the spokesman named complexes owned by
Frank Lowy's Australian group as among potential targets, dwelling on
two Westfield malls in East and West London.

'If just a handful of mujahideen fighters could bring Kenya to a
complete stand-still for nearly a week, just imagine what the dedicated
mujahideen could do in the West to American or Jewish shopping centres
across the world,' he said.

Chilling: A new video, apparently released by Al-Shabaab, calls for
'Westgate-style' attacks on shopping centres including two malls owned
by the Australian company Westfield in London

'What if such an attack on the Mall of America in Minnesota or the West
Edmonton mall in Canada or in London's Oxford Street. Or any of the
hundred or so of the Jewish owned Westfield shopping centres.

'Take the Westfield shopping centre in (London's) Stratford or White
City for example, what would be the implications of such an attack, one
can only imagine.

'All it takes is a man with firm determination, of which our Muslim
ummah (community) has plenty of.

'So hurry up and hasten to Heaven and do not hesitate.' [...]

(5) Video urges attacks on American or Jewish-owned shopping centers
across the world

http://www.voanews.com/content/us-homeland-security-chief-calls-for-vigilance-following-new-video/2654676.html

US Homeland Security Chief Calls for Vigilance Following New Video

Victor Beattie

February 23, 2015 5:02 AM

WASHINGTON--

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is appealing for public
vigilance following the release of a video purportedly by the
Somali-based al-Shabab terrorist group calling for attacks on Western
shopping malls. Johnson said the latest video underscores the fact that
the global terrorist threat has entered a new phase.

The U.S. Homeland Security Department says it is not aware of any
specific, credible plot against the Mall of America in Bloomington,
Minnesota or any other domestic commercial shopping center.

The statement follows release of a video late Saturday purportedly by
the al-Qaida-linked, Somali-based al-Shabab terrorist group, which calls
for attacks on Western shopping malls. The group claimed responsibility
for the September 2013 attack on Nairobi's Westgate mall in which 67
people died. The masked narrator spoke of that attack at length.

"If just a handful of mujahedin fighters could bring Kenya to a complete
standstill for nearly a week, then imagine what a dedicated mujihad in
the West could do to the American or Jewish-owned shopping centers
across the world. What if such an attack were to occur in the Mall of
America in Minnesota? Or the West Edmonton Mall in Canada? Or in
London's Oxford Street? Or any of the hundred or so Jewish-owned
Westfield shopping centers dotted right across the Western world," said
the narrator.

He warned of more attacks in Kenya following the country's military
operations against al-Shabab in neighboring Somalia. The authenticity of
the video could not be independently verified.

(6) ISIS plan to conquer Europe by infiltrating Asylum-seekers from Libya

http://rt.com/news/233335-isis-islamic-libya-europe/

ISIS plans to invade Europe through Libya - report

Published time: February 18, 2015 10:14
Edited time: February 18, 2015 17:14

ISIS' plans to conquer Europe via Libya have been revealed in letters
seen by an anti-terrorism group. Owing to its perfect location on the
continental doorstep, the terrorists plan to ferry fighters from North
Africa across the Mediterranean.

The plans, analyzed by anti-terrorism British think tank Quilliam,
outline a strategy to illegally ferry fighters across the sea from Libya
into southern Europe, into ports such as Italy's southernmost island of
Lampedusa, less than 300 miles (483km) away.

Libya "has a long coast and looks upon the southern Crusader states,
which can be reached with ease by even a rudimentary boat," an Islamic
State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) propagandist says in the letters seen by
Quilliam, according to the Telegraph.

That information originates from an IS supporter using the moniker Abu
Ibrahim al-Libim. The propagandist is believed to be a strong force in
IS recruitment online, with a focus on Libya.

The Telegraph could not independently confirm his identity, but the
online recruiter is believed by analysts to be a great inspirer of
troops and is widely-read.

"Twitter has shut down Libim's accounts several times and each time he
starts a new one he gets thousands of followers very quickly, which is
typical of an influential [IS] affiliate," Charlie Winter, researcher
for the Quilliam Foundation, told the newspaper.

The plans Libim reveals revolve around posing as illegal immigrants, to
then start an all-out attack on southern Europe by seeding chaos and
bloodshed. The terrorists reportedly hope to flood Libya with other
fighters from Syria and Iraq, with a whole army at the ready to invade.

"We will conquer Rome, by Allah's permission," he says in a Sunday video
depicting the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christian guest workers, the
video that led to Egypt organizing a bombing campaign on militant
positions in Libya. He also describes the country as having "immense
potential" for the terrorist group, while making references to the
spoils of war left after the ouster of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 -
tons of weapons, ammunition and oil.

Libim continues to explain how illegal immigration across into Italy is
"huge in number" and that "if this was even partially exploited and
developed strategically, pandemonium could be wrought in the southern
European states and it is even possible that there could be a closure of
shipping lines and targeting of Crusader ships and tankers."

The video and the letters come shortly after renewed calls in the West
to do something about Libya's security problem. President Obama's
strategy, for one, depended heavily on a president forced to step down
recently. Now, the country's security is at an all-time low, and the
various factions and jihadist groups vying for control of the oil-rich
state have plans to remake Europe in that image.

And owing to Libya's vast desert swaths and porous borders with
sub-Saharan Africa, the country has long been a firm favorite for
trafficking people into Europe.

However, after the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, Libya's status as a
terrorist hub shot through the roof and, according to the documents,
this could be a perfect country for an all-out incursion into southern
Europe.

Security bells are ringing, especially in Italy, which saw 2,164 illegal
migrants rescued in the space of 24 hours over the weekend. It could now
be faced with many that are terrorists, according to Egyptian Ambassador
to London Nasser Kamel. "Those boat people who go for immigration
purposes and try to cross the Mediterranean ... in the next few weeks,
if we do not act together, they will be boats full of terrorists also."

Just as these assessments came to light, Italy issued its own statement,
outlining just how great a risk there is of Libyan militants merging
with the IS. On Wednesday its Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni spoke of
an "evident risk" and that time for Libya was "running out". He called
for "a change of pace" from the international community.

IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has openly been claiming Libya for his
'caliphate' recently.

While still not completely submerged, the country is fast on its way, as
whole cities conquered by the group now adhere to its strict form of
Islam, complete with executions.

Navigating Libya's terrorist circles is also a daunting task: some are
allied with the IS, others with Al-Qaeda. All are fiercely
anti-government, though some have helped install a new government in
Tripoli, after banishing the internationally-recognized one to Tobruk in
the east.

"In terms of the demographics of [IS] support in Libya, we see a lot in
common with its base of support in Iraq and Syria - many of its fighters
are young, disfranchised men who have only bought into ISIL's brand of
Islamist zealotry because they are looking to forcibly empower
themselves in the penetrating absence of the state," Winter explains.

"The risks Europe faces from ISIL pre-eminence in Libya are substantial."

The onus would appear to be on the West to do something security-wise -
especially in places like Italy. But that country is already facing a
fierce backlash from UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, for seemingly
caring more about implementing stringent security policies on
immigrants, as opposed to caring for people's safety when they drown
just off the coast trying to make it to a better life.

More than 207,000 people have attempted the crossing to Europe over the
Mediterranean Sea this year - "almost three times the previous known
high of about 70,000 in 2011," the UN pointed out. That year saw a spike
on account of the Libyan civil war.

(7) Libya crisis 'created by NATO intervention' - scholar

http://rt.com/news/233283-libya-crisis-consequence-nato/

Published time: February 18, 2015 03:24

NATO's 2011 intervention created the devastation and chaos in Libya that
enabled the rise of Islamic State militants and the current crisis
surrounding the killing of 21 Egyptian Christians, an American scholar
told RT.

The current situation is "precisely the consequence of the kind of war
NATO waged in Libya, destroying the infrastructure, collapsing the
state, and allowing a bunch of different militia groups to be treated as
heroes," said Vijay Prashad, a professor at Trinity College in
Connecticut, and the author of "Arab Spring, Libyan Winter."

According to Prashad, the intervention "created the situation where
today there are two governments. And in that chaos, of course, what
breeds most effectively is this group that calls itself the Islamic State."

Militants proclaiming loyalty to the Islamic State (formerly ISIS) - a
terror group laying claim to parts of Syria and Iraq - captured and
beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians on Sunday. In response, the Egyptian air
force bombed the eastern Libyan city of Derna on Monday. Egyptian
president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also called for a United Nations
resolution mandating international intervention in Libya.

Following a February 2011 rebellion in eastern Libya, and a crackdown by
the government, the United Nations adopted Resolution 1973, authorizing
a no-fly zone in the country. NATO later expanded its operations to
include direct air support to rebels, resulting in the overthrow of
Muammar Gaddafi's government in October 2011.

"The question of impunity has to be on the table," Prashad said, noting
that NATO's lawyers responded to a UN request to have the intervention
audited, as per UN rules, with a note saying that "NATO does not conduct
human rights violations."

"The level of impunity is quite egregious," Prashad concluded.

Read moreEgypt President Sisi urges UN intl coalition to intervene in Libya

In the same way that the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq prompted
calls for another US invasion, now the former head of British
intelligence has started calling for renewed Western engagement in Libya.

"After Gaddafi was ousted, no one held the ring to help manage a
transition to something better, as the US, Britain and other allies had
done in Baghdad and Kabul," Sir John Sawers said in a speech at King's
College, London on Monday. "Libya had no institutions. Who or what would
take over?"

A strong US military presence in Iraq did not prevent the rise of the
Islamic State, however, and the Taliban continue to reclaim Afghanistan
from the Western-backed government.

READ MORE: Egyptian, Libyan airstrikes on ISIS targets in Libya after
terrorists behead 21 Copts

"During the Syrian crisis, Libyan fighters were funneled from various
parts of Eastern Libya, into Turkey, to cross the border into Syria and
join the fight against the Assad government," Prashad said. "There has
been, with the complete connivance of Western intelligence, Gulf Arab
intelligence, further radicalization of the youth from eastern Libya,
and now this is plainly blowback."

Some 200,000 Egyptian nationals are working in Libya, mostly in the oil
industry. Prashad criticized the fact that instead of evacuating their
nationals, the Egyptian government decided to send three jets to bomb Derna.

"I'm afraid nobody in the West understands the politics of North
Africa," he said. "There is no way that aerial bombardment, either by
the Egyptians or by the West, is going to solve this problem. It is
naïve to believe that."