Why al-Qa'ida Is Racist

Just two weeks after the US Presidential election, Al Qaeda second-in-command Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri has released a message, which he claims is specifically in response to the election of Obama.

Zawahiri says


Barack Obama has won the presidency of the United States of America, and on this occasion, I would like to send several messages.”

In the message Zawahiri calls Obama “the direct opposite of honorable Black Americans”. He points out that Obama was born to a Muslim father, but “chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims, and pray the prayer of the Jews, although … claim to be Christian, in order to climb the rungs of leadership in America”.

He calls Obama and Secretaries Rice and Powell “House Negroes”, claiming they are confirmation of the words of Malcolm X.

This is not the first time Zawahiri has used the term “abayd al bayt”, which literally translates as slaves or servants of the house. Zawahiri takes the phrase from a statement by Malcolm X, which Zawahiri has quoted in the past. In an interview with As Sahab in May 2007, Zawahiri includes old video footage of Malcom X saying:

"You have to read the history of slavery to understand this. There were two kinds of Negroes: there was that old house Negro and [there was] the field Negro”.

In that message as well, Zawahiri suggested that former US Secretary of State Colin Powell and current US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice were “House Negroes”, the same term that he now applies to US President-elect Barack Obama.

The influence of Adam Gadahn is apparent in these Zawahiri comments, which seem to reflect Gadahn’s perception of current race relations in the United States.

Zawahiri congratulates Abu Umar al Baghdadi, citing the Obama election as evidence that the US has been defeated in Iraq. He encourages the mujahideen in Somalia to continue fighting.

He concludes the message with a threat towards the west:

As for my final message, it is to the American people. I tell it: you incurred defeat and losses from the foolish actions of Bush and his gang, and at the same time, Shaykh Usama bin Ladin (may Allah preserve him) sent you a message to withdraw from the lands of the Muslims and refrain from stealing their treasures and interfering in their affairs. So choose for yourself whatever you like, and bear the consequences of your choice, and as you judge, you will be judged.

This comment is reminiscent of the words of Bin Laden in his pre-election video tape of October 2004, when Bin Laden said:

Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands. Any nation that does not attack us will not be attacked.