Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood leader Tareq Sweidan (aka Tariq Al-Suwaidan) gave an interview on Al-Quds TV in which he called on the Islamic “nation” to provide “direct support to the armed resistance” against Israel as well as urging Islamic youth to undertake “electronic Jihad” in order to destroy Israeli websites. According to a MEMRI translation of the interview:
Following are excerpts from an interview with Kuwaiti Islamist preacher Tareq Sweidan, general manager of Al-Resala TV, which aired on Al-Quds TV on June 4, 2011:
Tareq Sweidan: Israel cannot withstand the will of the people. Ultimately, there will be a decisive battle. We must postpone this battle, because we are not ready, but we will get to this battle.
[…]
The entire nation, and especially the countries bordering with Israel, must provide direct support to the armed resistance, and not just pay it lip service. Secondly, the Palestinian youth must realize that it has no alternative – and indeed, none of us have – other than armed resistance. That is the only solution for this nation.
Therefore, any regime, or authority, that does not support this approach, and does not embrace the option of armed resistance… In such a case, your Palestinian youth must shout the slogan: “The people wants to topple the regime that does not want the resistance.” Wishy-washy regimes that don’t know what they want…
Interviewer: You bear the responsibility for what you are saying…
Tareq Sweidan: You are not responsible for this… I’d like to say one thing, with your permission. The Palestinian Authority, with its spineless positions, has a major part in the loss of the Palestinian cause. When the PA is replaced, and becomes serious about confronting the Zionist enemy, and about the option of resistance – that’s when we will have hope. That’s why I call upon the Palestinian youth to adopt the slogan: The people wants to change the PA to an authority that views resistance as its strategic option.
[…]
The other day, I was asking myself: why shouldn’t I personally go on Jihad? First of all, my body cannot stand it. Secondly, is what I am doing any less important than Jihad?
I would like us all to feel that we are in the same trench. There is such a thing as media Jihad, political Jihad, and a form of Jihad that I strongly encourage young people to undertake – electronic Jihad. Some of our youth are extremely clever. I hope that a group of hackers will get together, and will wage resistance over the Internet, targeting Israeli and Zionist sites and destroying them electronically. I view this as better than 20 Jihad operations. “
Tariq Al-Suwidan is one of the most important leaders of the Kuwait Brotherhood as well as the General Manager of Al-Resalah Satellite TV, the brainchild of Saudi businessman Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. In May 2007, Al-Suwaidan was listed by federal prosecutors in a group of U.S Muslim Brotherhood members named as part of a large group of Unindicted Co-Conspirators in the terrorism financing case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, convicted of providing funds for Hamas. Al-Suwaidan is also the author of the anti-Semitic “Encyclopedia of Jews.” A previous post discussed both his background and the struggle to control his Wikipedia page. Given his role as manger of Al-Resalah TV, Al-Suwaidan is well positioned to conduct “media jihad” and another post discussed the possible role of Al-Resalah in a media campaign aimed at influencing world opinion to lift the Israeli blockade of Gaza.