al Qaeda is extending their magazine line
Why do al Qaeda’s publication ventures always sound like Onion parodies?
Radical Islamists have launched a new magazine publication on the internet especially for women.
The first edition of the magazine uses fierce language similar to that found on Sawt-al-Jihad.
One of its encouragements to jihad reads: “The blood of our husbands and the body parts of our children are our sacrificial offering.”
The main objective of the magazine seems to be to teach women married to radical Islamists how to support their husbands in their conflict with the authorities.
It also gives them specific advice on how to bring up their children in the path of jihad, how to provide first aid and what kind of physical training women need to prepare themselves for fighting.
Most of the articles are written as if by women, although it is not clear if they actually were.
Some take a somewhat patronising attitude, dwelling on supposed female weaknesses that must be overcome in the cause of jihad – such as over-dependence on home comforts like TV and air conditioning.
Okay. That may be different from Cosmo by 180 degrees. Who’s advertising in this thing?
A section on current affairs also devotes some space to an attack on the recent development of having women presenters on Saudi TV, suggesting it is a kind of prostitution.
The issue of Saudi women’s rights also comes in for scorn.
Sounds like a good time to point to an Onion parody about Cosmoplitan, actually. (I particularly draw your attention to the historical issues of Cosmo starting at 1:10.)
Dubbed ‘Jihad Cosmo’, the glossy magazine’s front cover features the barrel of a sub-machine gun next to a picture a woman in a veil.
Cosmo has never done that, though they have…
And the ‘beauty column’ instructs women to stay indoors with their faces covered to keep a ‘clear complexion’.
They should ‘not go out except when necessary’ and wear a niqab for ‘rewards by complying with the command of Allah Almighty’.
A woman called Umm Muhanad hails her husband for his bravery after his suicide bombing in Afghanistan.
And another article urges readers to give their lives for the Islamist cause.
It advises: ‘From martyrdom, the believer will gain security, safety and happiness.’Â
More traditional content for a women’s magazine includes features on the merits of honey facemasks, etiquette, first aid and why readers should avoid ‘towelling too forcibly’.
A trailer for the next issue promises tips on skin care – and how to wage electronic jihad.
Eventually they’ll have to amp up the words “Sex” so as to stand out at the supermarket check-out line.
Anyway, on one of these links you can take a look at the magazine and compare and contrast with our Cosmo.