The Female Jihad

[AdamG]

Beautiful - live in the west, collect unemployment, foment jihad.

From the NYTimes:

BRUSSELS — On the street, Malika El Aroud is anonymous in an Islamic black veil covering all but her eyes.

Malika El Aroud, seen in her living room in Brussels, has become one of the most prominent Internet jihadists in Europe.

In her living room, Ms. El Aroud, a 48-year-old Belgian, wears the ordinary look of middle age: a plain black T-shirt and pants and curly brown hair. The only adornment is a pair of powder-blue slippers monogrammed in gold with the letters SEXY.

But it is on the Internet where Ms. El Aroud has distinguished herself. Writing in French under the name “Oum Obeyda,” she has transformed herself into one of the most prominent Internet jihadists in Europe.

She calls herself a female holy warrior for Al Qaeda. She insists that she does not disseminate instructions on bomb-making and has no intention of taking up arms herself. Rather, she browbeats Muslim men to go and fight and rallies women to join the cause.

“It’s not my role to set off bombs — that’s ridiculous,” she said in a rare interview. “I have a weapon. It’s to write. It’s to speak out. That’s my jihad. You can do many things with words. Writing is also a bomb.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/wo.../28terror.html

[Chris Albon]

It is a small world after all:

Ms. El Aroud began her rise to prominence because of a man in her life. Two days before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, her husband carried out a bombing in Afghanistan that killed the anti-Taliban resistance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud at the behest of Osama bin Laden. Her husband was killed, and she took to the Internet as the widow of a martyr.

[SteveMetz]

I can't imagine why the rest of the Europe doesn't move toward the UK model in which inciting criminal violence is itself a crime. One of the most telling lines is that she is living on public assistance while inciting violence against those who work to feed her. If I were a Belgian citizen (particularly a terrorism victim), I'd be moved to take action.