The Emir of Andalusia

Assem Hammoud, aka Emir Andalusi

(Mug Shot at Wikipedia)

I can't cover all the topics that interest me, so my various interests can only occasionally surface here on this blog, sometimes becoming a series of posts ... as regular readers know.

Anyway, in my efforts to keep up with informed news, I receive daily emails from The New Republic, and in a recent entry on its blog, The Plank, Martin Peretz reports that:

Last week when the Department of Homeland Security announced that a Lebanese man had been arrested abroad on charges of masterminding a plot -- to flood at least two tunnels underneath the Hudson River that would engulf the PATH train service between New Jersey and New York and also spill out over Manhattan almost -- no one noticed his name. Or what its message was. Well, he had chosen himself a nom de guerre that told a big story. The name is Emir Andalusi. If you want to know what it threatens, click here for an extremely informative analysis by Shelomo Alfassa, publisher of the International Sephardic Journal. Incidentally, another terrorist, linked both to Mohammad Atta and the bombing at the Madrid railroad station, had taken on the evocative surname.

The name behind the emir title is Assem Hammoud, but as Alfassa notes:

Emir Andalusi ... immediately gives away his ideology to those who are students of history. 'Emir Andalusi' is a name which translates from the Arabic as 'Prince of Andalus.' It was not his real name, which was Assem Hammoud, but his pseudonym told something of his outlook on the world, it was a window into his political agenda .... 'Andalusi' is reference to the once Islamic strong hold of Al Andalus, the Arabic language name given to the parts of Iberian Peninsula that were governed by Muslims from 711 to 1492. Utilization of a nom de guerre is quite common in the Arabic world, but those which are in reference to old Muslim Spain are being seen as increasing common among jihadists who have set themselves against the Western world. Using 'Andalus' as a surname was already common in 2000 when Amer Azizi, an Al Qaeda member in Istanbul, re-named himself Othman Al Andalusi (Othman of Spain). Azizi was later directly linked to 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta. He was also connected to the Madrid train bombers that in March 2004 killed 191 people and wounded 1,741 in their desire to reclaim the land of Spain as an Islamic trophy .... Reference to the once Muslim empire of Al Andalus are common among Islamic terrorists because one of the goals of radical Islam is the stated desire to control the world, specifically and firstly with the lands they lost on the battlefield, this includes modern Spain .... The Lebanese terrorist with an Arabic-Spanish name arrested this week on plotting to blow up New York is no different than any other Islamic terrorist. He, like they, have declared war against the entire world. We need to remember that Islamic terrorists committing violence in Jerusalem, London, Madrid or New York see those cities as the centers of the lifestyle they despise. In their world ... there are only two concepts in which society exists, Dar Al-Islam and Dar Al-Harb. Dar al-Harb (the world of war) refers to the territory under the supremacy of unbelievers (non-Muslims), this includes Spain, Israel and other countries. Dar Al-Islam (world of Islam) refers to the lands and people under Islamic control -- or that will soon be under Islamic control.

But to return to Assem Hammoud, aka Emir Andalusi, check out the July 9th issue of the Sydney Morning Herald, "The new 'Prince' of terrorism," for a photo of a very Western-looking Hammoud, arms around three girls. Why?

He was told not to grow a beard, wear Islamic clothing or show any sign of religious devotion. During his recruitment as a soldier in the global jihad, Assem Hammoud was told to act like a typical young, secular Lebanese man and warned not to attract attention....

This shouldn't be surprising to anyone who's been paying attention. According to the Al Qaeda Manual's third lesson:

The photograph of the brother in ... [identification] documents should be without a beard. It is preferable that the brother's public photograph [on these documents ]be also without a beard. If he already has one [document ]showing a photograph with a beard, he should replace it.

The purpose of this ruse is to hide one's true allegiance to radical Islam in the war between the Dar Al-Islam and the Dar Al-Harb. "War," after all, "is deceit." The Emir, however, as the Sydney Morning Herald further notes, proved to be an incompetent soldier:

His frequent presence in militant chat rooms and on websites was his undoing. Tipped off by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that an alleged plot to bomb tunnels in New York was being hatched on the internet, Lebanon's internal security branch tracked down Hammoud. The official said a special unit that monitors internet and phone activity identified him through the internet protocol address he was using to access Islamicist sites. Lebanese officials monitored his internet activity and phone calls for several months before arresting him on April 27. While he might not have learned how to properly hide his IP address, Hammoud did allegedly pick up the jihadists' penchant for symbolism. He used the pseudonym Emir Andalusi, which in Arabic means Prince of Andalus.

Consistent with the Emir's mockable incompetence and ridiculous self-importance, we all belong to a greater Andalusia dogged by a derisory dystopian Islamist vision of 'history,' but the consequences won't always be so risible.