11-24-2017, 10:57 PM
*** 25-Nov-17 World View -- Egypt's worst terrorist attack in modern history kills 235 people in Sufi mosque
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Egypt's worst terrorist attack in modern history kills 235 people in Sufi mosque
****
![[Image: g171124b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g171124b.jpg)
Rescue personnel at the site of the bomb blast at Al-Rawda mosque in North Sinai. (Gulf News)
At least 235 people were killed on Friday when terrorists stormed the
Al-Rawda mosque in Bir al-Abed in Egypt's Northern Sinai with
explosives and gunfire with heavy weapons. This was the deadliest
terror attack in Egypt's modern history, the previous record having
been set by a terror attack on July 23, 2005, on Egypt's result city
Sharm el-Sheikh, killing 88 people. The 2015 downing of Metrojet
Flight 9268 killed all 224 passengers onboard, but investigation has
not yet revealed the cause of the crash.
Egypt's president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi promised revenge for these
"vile and treacherous" attacks:
<QUOTE>"The army and police will avenge our martyrs and
return security and stability with force in the coming short
period."<END QUOTE>
On Friday afternoon a military operation was launched, targeting
suspects in North Sinai. According to Egyptian media:
<QUOTE>"The response will be on the ground and will not stop
until the elimination of everyone involved in the attack. We are
taking our revenge now."<END QUOTE>
In 2014, al-Sisi declared a state of emergency in northern Sinai
following a suicide bombing that killed
33 soldiers. He said at the time that "the war in Sinai will last for
a long time, as there are a lot of terrorists hiding in the peninsula,
but this new level of attacks has put us in a new level of planning
too in order to combat the terrorism there."
Since then, Egypt's military has attacked in northern Sinai numerous
targets suspected of being terrorists. Al-Sisi's critics have called
the attacks a "scorched earth policy" that has embittered the Bedouin
tribes in northern Sinai, and encouraged them to support the terrorist
groups. Egyptian Streets and Al Ahram (Cairo) and Times of Israel and Al Jazeera
Related: Egypt in state of emergency after terrorist attack in Sinai (26-Oct-2014)
****
**** Friday's attack creates another roadblock for Hamas-Fatah unity
****
When the above-mentioned terror attack occurred in 2014,
it was a few weeks after the end of summer war between
Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and Egypt had mediated a truce that
ended the war. One of the terms of the agreement is that
the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would be
reopened, allowing people and goods to pass back and forth
between Gaza and Egypt. After the terror attack, Egypt closed
the Rafah border crossing again, and it's been opened only
sporadically since then.
On October 12 of this year, Egypt mediated a reconciliation and unity
agreement between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank. The two
Palestinian groups have been enemies since they were at war in 2008,
and multiple attempts at reconciliation have failed.
The new agreement requires that the Rafah border crossing be
opened permanently, with the crossing under control of Fatah rather
than Hamas. The border crossing was opened for the first time
last Saturday for three days.
It was scheduled to be opened again today (Saturday), but Egypt has
reportedly said that the reopening will be delayed indefinitely. It's
already been unclear that the Hamas-Fatah unity government would
succeed, because of a disagreement over whether Hamas must give up its
weapons, but this terror attack creates one more roadblock. AFP
Related Articles
****
**** Friday's attack is a major escalation in north Sinai terrorism
****
No one has yet claimed credit for Friday's attack on the Al-Rawda
mosque, but it's believed that the perpetrators were the Bedouin-based
Sinai terrorist group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM - Ansar Jerusalem -
Champions of Jerusalem), which changed its name to al-Wilayat Sinai
(Province of Sinai) when it changed its allegiance in 2015 from
al-Qaeda to the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh).
According to several analysts, this is a major escalation by ABM
because it targets so many civilians, and because it exhibits a skill
level not seen before. A detailed explanation was given on al-Jazeera
by Omar Ashour from Arab Center For Research And Policy Studies in
Doha (my transcription):
<QUOTE>"[ABM is the] most powerful armed non-state actor in
Egypt's modern history. Capable of operating in a conventional
special forces like way, capable of using light artillery, capable
of using guided anti-tank missiles, using guided anti-aircraft
missiles, and fighting partly in a conventional way, partly in a
guerrilla warfare way, but also using a long campaign of urban
terrorism.
So the tribal code here was violated: First time attack on a
mosque, first time attack on Sufis.
Usually the indiscriminate attacks are targeting Copts [Coptic
Christians], or targeting soldiers and officers from the army and
the police, or sometimes targeting Israel.
But those other attacks are very very discriminatory, especially
when it comes to informants. If there's somebody who's accused of
being an informant, they target him. They try to avoid his family
or his friends or the people around him.
The same thing applies to some of the militia tribesmen who fight
along with the army. They target the specific groups of
tribesmen, but they don't attack the whole tribe.
So this is new, in terms of its lethality, and in terms of its
indiscriminately targeting a large section of the
society."<END QUOTE>
Other analysts have pointed out that the particular mosque that was
targeted by terrorists on Friday was owned by a Bedouin tribe that had
been cooperating with Egypt's security forces. That would make
Friday's attack consistent with previous assaults, which had mainly
targeted security forces and Egypt's Christian minority. Gulf News and CNN
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Egypt, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi,
North Sinai, Al-Rawda, Sharm el-Sheikh,
Ansar Jerusalem, Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, ABM, Champions of Jerusalem,
Bedouins, Sinai Province, Al Wilayat Sinai,
Gaza, West Bank, Hamas, Fatah, Rafah border crossing
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Egypt's worst terrorist attack in modern history kills 235 people in Sufi mosque
- Friday's attack creates another roadblock for Hamas-Fatah unity
- Friday's attack is a major escalation in north Sinai terrorism
****
**** Egypt's worst terrorist attack in modern history kills 235 people in Sufi mosque
****
Rescue personnel at the site of the bomb blast at Al-Rawda mosque in North Sinai. (Gulf News)
At least 235 people were killed on Friday when terrorists stormed the
Al-Rawda mosque in Bir al-Abed in Egypt's Northern Sinai with
explosives and gunfire with heavy weapons. This was the deadliest
terror attack in Egypt's modern history, the previous record having
been set by a terror attack on July 23, 2005, on Egypt's result city
Sharm el-Sheikh, killing 88 people. The 2015 downing of Metrojet
Flight 9268 killed all 224 passengers onboard, but investigation has
not yet revealed the cause of the crash.
Egypt's president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi promised revenge for these
"vile and treacherous" attacks:
<QUOTE>"The army and police will avenge our martyrs and
return security and stability with force in the coming short
period."<END QUOTE>
On Friday afternoon a military operation was launched, targeting
suspects in North Sinai. According to Egyptian media:
<QUOTE>"The response will be on the ground and will not stop
until the elimination of everyone involved in the attack. We are
taking our revenge now."<END QUOTE>
In 2014, al-Sisi declared a state of emergency in northern Sinai
following a suicide bombing that killed
33 soldiers. He said at the time that "the war in Sinai will last for
a long time, as there are a lot of terrorists hiding in the peninsula,
but this new level of attacks has put us in a new level of planning
too in order to combat the terrorism there."
Since then, Egypt's military has attacked in northern Sinai numerous
targets suspected of being terrorists. Al-Sisi's critics have called
the attacks a "scorched earth policy" that has embittered the Bedouin
tribes in northern Sinai, and encouraged them to support the terrorist
groups. Egyptian Streets and Al Ahram (Cairo) and Times of Israel and Al Jazeera
Related: Egypt in state of emergency after terrorist attack in Sinai (26-Oct-2014)
****
**** Friday's attack creates another roadblock for Hamas-Fatah unity
****
When the above-mentioned terror attack occurred in 2014,
it was a few weeks after the end of summer war between
Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and Egypt had mediated a truce that
ended the war. One of the terms of the agreement is that
the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would be
reopened, allowing people and goods to pass back and forth
between Gaza and Egypt. After the terror attack, Egypt closed
the Rafah border crossing again, and it's been opened only
sporadically since then.
On October 12 of this year, Egypt mediated a reconciliation and unity
agreement between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank. The two
Palestinian groups have been enemies since they were at war in 2008,
and multiple attempts at reconciliation have failed.
The new agreement requires that the Rafah border crossing be
opened permanently, with the crossing under control of Fatah rather
than Hamas. The border crossing was opened for the first time
last Saturday for three days.
It was scheduled to be opened again today (Saturday), but Egypt has
reportedly said that the reopening will be delayed indefinitely. It's
already been unclear that the Hamas-Fatah unity government would
succeed, because of a disagreement over whether Hamas must give up its
weapons, but this terror attack creates one more roadblock. AFP
Related Articles
- Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas announce unity agreement (13-Oct-2017)
- Palestinian reconciliation talks ignore Hamas commitment to destroy Israel (12-Oct-2017)
****
**** Friday's attack is a major escalation in north Sinai terrorism
****
No one has yet claimed credit for Friday's attack on the Al-Rawda
mosque, but it's believed that the perpetrators were the Bedouin-based
Sinai terrorist group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM - Ansar Jerusalem -
Champions of Jerusalem), which changed its name to al-Wilayat Sinai
(Province of Sinai) when it changed its allegiance in 2015 from
al-Qaeda to the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh).
According to several analysts, this is a major escalation by ABM
because it targets so many civilians, and because it exhibits a skill
level not seen before. A detailed explanation was given on al-Jazeera
by Omar Ashour from Arab Center For Research And Policy Studies in
Doha (my transcription):
<QUOTE>"[ABM is the] most powerful armed non-state actor in
Egypt's modern history. Capable of operating in a conventional
special forces like way, capable of using light artillery, capable
of using guided anti-tank missiles, using guided anti-aircraft
missiles, and fighting partly in a conventional way, partly in a
guerrilla warfare way, but also using a long campaign of urban
terrorism.
So the tribal code here was violated: First time attack on a
mosque, first time attack on Sufis.
Usually the indiscriminate attacks are targeting Copts [Coptic
Christians], or targeting soldiers and officers from the army and
the police, or sometimes targeting Israel.
But those other attacks are very very discriminatory, especially
when it comes to informants. If there's somebody who's accused of
being an informant, they target him. They try to avoid his family
or his friends or the people around him.
The same thing applies to some of the militia tribesmen who fight
along with the army. They target the specific groups of
tribesmen, but they don't attack the whole tribe.
So this is new, in terms of its lethality, and in terms of its
indiscriminately targeting a large section of the
society."<END QUOTE>
Other analysts have pointed out that the particular mosque that was
targeted by terrorists on Friday was owned by a Bedouin tribe that had
been cooperating with Egypt's security forces. That would make
Friday's attack consistent with previous assaults, which had mainly
targeted security forces and Egypt's Christian minority. Gulf News and CNN
Related Articles
- Egypt's military action against Sinai Bedouins comes to a standstill (29-Aug-2012)
- Bedouins in Sinai threaten both Egypt and Israel (20-May-2012)
- Israel and Egypt cooperate against terrorists in Sinai (13-Jul-2013)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Egypt, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi,
North Sinai, Al-Rawda, Sharm el-Sheikh,
Ansar Jerusalem, Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, ABM, Champions of Jerusalem,
Bedouins, Sinai Province, Al Wilayat Sinai,
Gaza, West Bank, Hamas, Fatah, Rafah border crossing
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
