The study was conducted by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at Israel’s Center for Special Studies (C.S.S.).
“Palestinian and international terrorist organizations make massive use of the Internet to spread propaganda supporting terrorism and as a means of maintaining contact between organizations (and headquarters), their infrastructures and their target populations (often over enormous distances),” reads the report.
The study focuses on the Islamic Jihad as representative of the phenomenon of Islamic groups using Internet sites supported by Western (mainly American) companies to spread their message. Using Islamic Jihad for the case study is particularly significant because the web sites are hosted in the United States and Europe despite US and EU policies banning the group as a terrorist organization.
According to the case study, Islamic Jihad operates three main websites, hosted in Iran, Englewood, Colorado and Baltimore, Maryland. The terror group runs several subsidiary sites as well. The study does not include sites that support the Islamic Jihad but do not officially belong to the organization.
The first site is qudsway.com, which “posts current notices from the terror organization, archival material about its activities, publication of books and articles sponsored by the Islamic Jihad, encouragement of terrorism against Israel and praise for the suicide bombers.” A nearly identical site is entitled palestineway.com, and the most sinister of the three main web addresses is sarayaalquds.com. “This is the site of the organization's operational-terrorist wing (the Jerusalem Battalions). It includes updated documentation about the Battalions, archival material about the organization's terrorist activities, publication of books and articles sponsored by the Islamic Jihad, encouragement of terrorism against Israel and praise for the suicide bombers.”
The secondary sites are rabdullah.com and shikaki.com, dedicated to the current (Ramadan Abdallah Shalah) and past (Fathi Shikaki) leaders of the terror group. The sites document their pronouncements, activities and worldview in favor of an uncompromising armed insurrection for the "liberation" of "all Palestine" and the establishment of an Islamic state. It posts articles, lectures, speeches, pictures and biographies of Shalah and Shikaki.
“Insofar as can be verified, the organization's Internet infrastructure is supported by Western companies located mainly in the United States,” reads the report. Although Islamic Jihad and other Islamic groups are listed as terror organizations in the U.S. and E.U., United States and Western companies are largely chosen to host the ‘internet Jihad.’ “It is not a matter of chance but rather convenience,” reads the report, explaining that terror groups can “easily ‘disappear’ among so many Western companies, while being shielded from any serious consequences by extensive freedom of expression laws.
“[I]t is worthwhile to note that other Palestinian terrorist organizations, such as Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, as well as international terrorist organizations such as - paradoxically - Al-Qaeda, all extensively use Western companies and technology, particularly those in the United States.”
“The importance of the Internet as a means of marketing terrorism became significantly greater after …September 11, 2001,” concludes the study. “That was because the Web makes it relatively easy for [terrorists and their supporters] to evade the difficulties imposed by various governments (particularly the American government). It also enables them to exploit liberal Western laws ensuring freedom of speech to spread their propaganda without effective supervision and with no censorship whatsoever.”
The full study, including the names and contact information of the companies who host the terror-sites, can be viewed here.
“Palestinian and international terrorist organizations make massive use of the Internet to spread propaganda supporting terrorism and as a means of maintaining contact between organizations (and headquarters), their infrastructures and their target populations (often over enormous distances),” reads the report.
The study focuses on the Islamic Jihad as representative of the phenomenon of Islamic groups using Internet sites supported by Western (mainly American) companies to spread their message. Using Islamic Jihad for the case study is particularly significant because the web sites are hosted in the United States and Europe despite US and EU policies banning the group as a terrorist organization.
According to the case study, Islamic Jihad operates three main websites, hosted in Iran, Englewood, Colorado and Baltimore, Maryland. The terror group runs several subsidiary sites as well. The study does not include sites that support the Islamic Jihad but do not officially belong to the organization.
The first site is qudsway.com, which “posts current notices from the terror organization, archival material about its activities, publication of books and articles sponsored by the Islamic Jihad, encouragement of terrorism against Israel and praise for the suicide bombers.” A nearly identical site is entitled palestineway.com, and the most sinister of the three main web addresses is sarayaalquds.com. “This is the site of the organization's operational-terrorist wing (the Jerusalem Battalions). It includes updated documentation about the Battalions, archival material about the organization's terrorist activities, publication of books and articles sponsored by the Islamic Jihad, encouragement of terrorism against Israel and praise for the suicide bombers.”
The secondary sites are rabdullah.com and shikaki.com, dedicated to the current (Ramadan Abdallah Shalah) and past (Fathi Shikaki) leaders of the terror group. The sites document their pronouncements, activities and worldview in favor of an uncompromising armed insurrection for the "liberation" of "all Palestine" and the establishment of an Islamic state. It posts articles, lectures, speeches, pictures and biographies of Shalah and Shikaki.
“Insofar as can be verified, the organization's Internet infrastructure is supported by Western companies located mainly in the United States,” reads the report. Although Islamic Jihad and other Islamic groups are listed as terror organizations in the U.S. and E.U., United States and Western companies are largely chosen to host the ‘internet Jihad.’ “It is not a matter of chance but rather convenience,” reads the report, explaining that terror groups can “easily ‘disappear’ among so many Western companies, while being shielded from any serious consequences by extensive freedom of expression laws.
“[I]t is worthwhile to note that other Palestinian terrorist organizations, such as Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, as well as international terrorist organizations such as - paradoxically - Al-Qaeda, all extensively use Western companies and technology, particularly those in the United States.”
“The importance of the Internet as a means of marketing terrorism became significantly greater after …September 11, 2001,” concludes the study. “That was because the Web makes it relatively easy for [terrorists and their supporters] to evade the difficulties imposed by various governments (particularly the American government). It also enables them to exploit liberal Western laws ensuring freedom of speech to spread their propaganda without effective supervision and with no censorship whatsoever.”
The full study, including the names and contact information of the companies who host the terror-sites, can be viewed here.