Home > Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War > Al-Qaeda Flags Fly Over Rebel-Held Syria

Al-Qaeda Flags Fly Over Rebel-Held Syria

08/13/2012 Leave a comment Go to comments

By John Rosenthal, Asia Times – “There has recently been a small stir in the American media, as media organizations from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal to the Associated Press have finally gotten around to acknowledging a ‘presence’ of al-Qaeda and like-minded jihadist groups among the Syrian rebel forces seeking to topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

It is difficult to see what the cause of the excitement is. After all, such a presence has been blindingly obvious for many months: whether as a result of the dozens of suicide attacks that have plagued Syria or the numerous videos that have emerged showing rebel forces or supporters proudly displaying the distinctive black flag of al-Qaeda.

But observations made by German journalist Daniel Etter during a recent visit to rebel-controlled towns near the embattled city of Aleppo suggest that there is no mere ‘presence’ of jihadists among the rebels: religiously-inspired mujahideen is what the rebels are. The real question is whether there is a presence of anything else. Etter’s report, which appeared in the leading German daily Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, also provides evidence that rebel authorities are subjecting civilians to arbitrary detention and torture and summarily executing captured members of the regular Syrian armed forces.

In the town of Maraa, north of Aleppo, Etter saw some 120 prisoners, apparently civilians, ‘herded into a large classroom’ in what had previously been a school. Many of the prisoners showed signs of abuse. The prison director, whom Etter identifies only as ‘Jumbo,’ refused to allow Etter to speak with them alone. Etter notes that Jumbo ‘looks like his name.’ ‘Jumbo is not someone with whom you would like to pick a fight,’ …

In the neighboring town of Azaz, Etter encountered a less didactic form of Islamism: namely, in the person of rebel commander Abu Anas. Etter describes meeting Abu Anas in his office: a Koran and a ‘silver sword’ were lying on his desk and a black flag hung over it. An Arabic inscription on the flag proclaimed, ‘There is no God but God. Mohammed is his Prophet’ ‘It is the flag that al-Qaeda also used,’ Etter remarks.” Read more.

Flashback: Al-Qaeda Plants Its Flag in Benghazi, Libya – ‘Whomever Speaks Ill of This Flag, We Will Cut Off His Tongue’ – “Earlier this week, I went to the Benghazi courthouse and confirmed the rumors: an al Qaeda flag was clearly visible; its Arabic script declaring that ‘there is no God but Allah’ and a full moon underneath. When I tried to take pictures, a Salafi-looking guard, wearing a green camouflage outfit, rushed towards me and demanded to know what I was doing. My response was straightforward: I was taking a picture of the flag. He gave me an intimidating look and hissed, ‘Whomever speaks ill of this flag, we will cut off his tongue. I recommend that you don’t publish these. You will bring trouble to yourself.’” Read more.

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War
  1. Willard's avatar
    Willard
    08/13/2012 at 12:53 PM
    Reply

    Is this the Black Horse ??

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  2. STLloyd's avatar
    shekinah419
    08/13/2012 at 1:05 PM
    Reply

    Reblogged this on servehiminthewaiting and commented:
    It would be so refreshing if the American Media would just cover the real news. Thank goodness for the internet!

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  3. ICA's avatar
    ICA
    08/13/2012 at 8:35 PM
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    Willard, “Is this the Black Horse ??”

    The official colour of Islam is green. In Revelation 6:8 John describes the “fourth horseman of the Apocalypse” as being “chlōros”, literally translated as “green”. Green is the official color of Islam and is believed to have been Mohammed’s favorite. The “fourth horseman” is described as having power over the fourth part of the earth. Islam today has dominion over a fourth part of the earth. John describes the “fourth horseman” as having the power to “kill with sword.” Islam is spread through Jihad, the “Sword of Islam.”  The “fourth horseman” also kills with hunger/famine. Spiritual destitution aside, Islamists would even prefer to see children starve to death than have them receive life-saving aid from the “Christian West.” The “fourth horseman” kills with “death”, and the love of death in suicide and martyrdom operations against men, women and children for the cause of “Allah” permeates Islamic culture, so much that they openly declare to “love death more than you love life.” Lastly, the “fourth horseman” is described as killing with “the beasts of the earth.” The Greek word “thērion” here is, I believe, being used metaphorically to refer to “savage”, “brutal” and “bestial” men, a perfect description of what we see today in the radical world of Islam’s death seekers …

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  4. Willard's avatar
    Willard
    08/13/2012 at 10:11 PM
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    ICA – Having lived in the ME I know Islam is represented with the color green and the green horse. But I think an argument could be made that all four horses (a team so to speak may represent various stages of end days Islam) All four horses could be connected with Islam and the results of the Islamic religion – the white horse could represent deceit or a false religion – Islam has in history rode out as a conquer and will once again – as AHF once suggested on this blog that all four of these horse colors are seen in the Islamic flags that are enimies of Israel

    Back in 1973 when I lived and worked in the ME oil industry Islam did not seem like any kind of threat it seems to have evolved. It seems that the 1973 war which brought in the oil embargo and woke the Arab world as to the real power of oil

    Rev 6:2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

    Rev 6:3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
    Rev 6:4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

    Again the red horse could represent Islam and war and the large sword also fits the religion

    Rev 6:5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.
    Rev 6:6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

    Again there could be a connection if we get ME Islamic and world wars in progress and Islam lovers like Obama promoting Islam and suffering droughts like they have at tis very moment – just thinking ??

    Rev 6:7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”
    Rev 6:8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

    AS you have suggested Islam does cover on fourth of the earth – it also loves death – it kills with the sword –

    Rev 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained
    Again we see the souls who were slain and under the alter which Rev 20:4 expands on as being beheaded for Christ

    Seal six also connects with Matt 24 as there was a great earthquake. The sun turned black the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind – again sounds like judgment coming on the world which could be focused specifically on the Islamic nations

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  5. ICA's avatar
    ICA
    08/14/2012 at 12:02 AM
    Reply

    Willard, “I think an argument could be made that all four horses (a team so to speak may represent various stages of end days Islam) All four horses could be connected with Islam and the results of the Islamic religion – the white horse could represent deceit or a false religion – Islam has in history rode out as a conquer and will once again – as AHF once suggested on this blog that all four of these horse colors are seen in the Islamic flags that are enimies of Israel”

    Yes, but not end days Islam only. The four horsemen are likely the various stages of Islam, from its early days of Mohammed’s new religion and his thirst for conquest (white horse), to Muslim wars of attrition (red horse), to the devastating effects that Islam has had on nations in and around the Middle East (black horse), to what we now see today just prior to the Second Coming (green horse).

    Willard, “Again there could be a connection if we get ME Islamic and world wars in progress and Islam lovers like Obama promoting Islam and suffering droughts like they have at tis very moment – just thinking ??”

    Yes. All four are now in full gallop together. Now we have the white horse (conquering and to conquer), we have the red horse (taking peace from the earth), we have the black horse (of famine), and we have the green horse (with power over 1/4th of the earth — the Muslim world today is filled with war, famine, martyrdom, savagery).

    Willard, “Again we see the souls who were slain and under the alter which Rev 20:4 expands on as being beheaded for Christ”

    We’re seeing this now today. How much worse it will become is yet to be seen.

    Willard, “Seal six also connects with Matt 24 as there was a great earthquake. The sun turned black the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind”

    Yes. This is post-tribulational. The seals of Revelation 6 parallel Matthew 24. John begins Revelation 6 with the seals, providing a general overview of at least the past 1400 years until immediately after the tribulation. John then does a “rewind” to refocus on the judgments that take place during and immediately after the tribulation (called “trumpets”), and then refocuses his camera once more on the end-result effect of each one of the seven judgments (called “vials” or “bowls”). The seventh seal, seventh trumpet and seventh bowl all end together right around the same time in the eschaton. John used a Semitic writing style, something that we also find in the Genesis account regarding creation, which is why some skeptics claim that there are two different creation accounts when in fact there is only one.

    Here are all of the parallels between Matthew 24 and Revelation 6-7. This should help to solidify the placement of specific events. I’ll also pay particularly close attention to the details surrounding the sixth parallel itself:

    Parallel 1:

    * Matthew 24:5 — Many will come in Christ’s name and deceive many.
    * Revelation 6:2 — The 1st Seal – White horse and rider with bow who is given a crown; went out conquering and to conquer. (We know that Christ is God, the Prince of Peace, and although Mohammed — who was crowned a “prophet” — and his followers acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah and claimed to be following the true faith of God, a religion they call the “religion of peace”, Mohammed’s teachings denied Christ’s divinity and denied the Triunity of One God while claiming to be the final prophet of God).

    Parallel 2:

    * Matthew 24:6-7 — Wars, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom.
    * Revelation 6:3-4 — The 2nd Seal – Red horse to take peace from the earth.

    Parallel 3:

    * Matthew 24:7 — Famines and earthquakes.
    * Revelation 6:5-6 — The 3rd Seal – Black horse bringing famine.

    Parallel 4:

    * Matthew 24:15 — The Anti-Christ and the Abomination of Desolation.
    * Revelation 6:7-8 — The 4th Seal – Pale (Green) horse with Death and Hell. Green is the official color of Islam. He has power over 1/4 of the earth to kill by sword, famine, death and “wild beasts”.

    Parallel 5:

    * Matthew 24:9-13, 15-22 — Great Tribulation. Many are delivered up to be afflicted and killed. Many fall away from the faith.
    * Revelation 6:9-11 — The 5th Seal – Saints in heaven are told that fellow servants are to be killed.

    Now notice the 6th Parallel. I’ll include some verses and break it down into individual parts:

    Parallel 6a:

    * Matthew 24:29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken”

    As you pointed out above, this corresponds with:

    * Revelation 6:12-13, “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth …”

    Parallel 6b:

    * Matthew 24:30, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

    This corresponds with:

    * Revelation 6:15-17, “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

    Parallel 6c:

    * Matthew 24:31, “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

    This corresponds with:

    * Revelation 7:1-4,9,14 “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God … Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel … After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands … these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation.”

    In Revelation 7 “And after these things I saw …” is a continuation of the post-trib signs that John witnessed at the 6th Seal a few verses earlier (the text is inspired but chapter and verse divisions were added later by men). After John sees the post-trib cosmic signs he then witnesses the gathering of the elect — the 144,000 and then the great multitude that the angel says in Rev 7:14 “are the ones who come out of the great tribulation”. In order to come out of the great tribulation, they had to be in it. (For anyone else who may be reading, see the article called “The 144,000 and the Great Multitude – It’s Not What You May Think” for more thoughts in this regard).

    Willard, “sounds like judgment coming on the world which could be focused specifically on the Islamic nations”

    Yes, their judgment is coming. “Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, O LORD, Your mighty ones. Let the nations be aroused And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge All the surrounding nations” (Joel 3:11-12). The surrounding nations are today all Islamic and the Day is quickly approaching for Christ to return in power and great glory to deliver His people. “Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts [Shall come] upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up–And it shall be brought low …” (Isaiah 2:10-12).

    Even so, come, Lord Jesus …

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  6. Willard's avatar
    Willard
    08/14/2012 at 12:18 AM
    Reply

    Thank ICA for all the info

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  7. STLloyd's avatar
    shekinah419
    08/22/2012 at 2:04 PM
    Reply
  1. 09/12/2012 at 9:10 PM
    Al-Qaedas flagga « Yasers hörna

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