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An article in Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs on August 20, 2008, says: “Offshoots of al-Qaeda in Gaza include Jaish al-Islam (the Army of Islam), the Army of the Umma, and Fatah al-Islam. Following a series of violent clashes, Hamas and Jaish al-Islam established a joint committee to regulate relations between the groups and to solve disputes between them. In essence, Hamas recognized Jaish al-Islam as a legitimate armed movement inside the area under Hamas jurisdiction.” Current developments show that Jaish Al-Ummah (“The Army of the Islamic Nation”) is emerging as Al-Qaeda in Palestine operating from Gaza Strip. To go back a little: Al-Qaeda was criticized in the Muslim world – among the jihad-mongering mujahideen/supporters and also others that Al-Qaeda was off target at it was indulging in killing innocent Muslims (largely because of the late Abu Musab Al Zarqawi's striking suicide attacks in Iraq) and was ignoring the “Palestinian cause”. So, Ayman Al Zawahiri (the second-in-command in Al-Qaeda) in response, claimed that Al-Qaeda was not killing innocent Muslims and was not averse to kill those Muslims who associated with the “infidels” [US, Israel et al]. And, also called for supporting “brothers” in Palestine. Osama bin Laden in May 2008 suggested: “liberate Palestine and rescue our people from the hands of the Jews”; he further stated: “The Palestinian cause has been the main factor that, since my early childhood, that ignited my desire, and that of the 19 freemen (911 bombers), to stand by the oppressed, and punish the oppressive Jews and their allies”. Whatever could be Al-Qaeda's reasoning, it is clear that nearly after two decades it has embraced the “Palestinian cause” – this clearly shows how adaptable and keen Al-Qaeda is to win more supporters in the Muslim world, constantly. At the same time, existing local terrorist organizations and new ones are also influenced by Al-Qaeda's ideology as it overtly propagates religious outcomes – creating global caliphate or Ummah based on Sharia (Islamic law). This ideology also lifts local groups to the global level – global brothers in arms, and “global platform”.
Jaish Al-Ummah in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has been overtly following Al-Qaeda's ideology. In mid October (2008) a pro-Salfi jihad website posted pictures of Jaish Al-Ummah's terrorist training in Gaza. Al Arabia, a UAE based TV channel, in mid November (2008) showed a video of the same training that is available on youtube and other video podcast websites – which were posted by a “self-identified” pro-salafi jihadi Indonesian. Jaish Al-Ummah's leader is considered to be Abu Hafs, and the organization denies any link with Al-Qaeda (as per a pro-salafi jihad website). However, in a video released by Jaish Al-Ummah includes: “footage of the purported launch of the rockets, and a statement read by two masked militants in front of the official banner used by Al-Qaida's 'Islamic State of Iraq' (ISI). The spokesmen indicated that the rocket bombardment, labeled 'The Battle of Abdul Rashid Ghazi', had been carried out in honor of the late head cleric at Lal Masjid (a.k.a. 'The Red Mosque') in Islamabad, Pakistan. Ghazi was killed on July 10, 2007 during a raid on the besieged Islamabad mosque by Pakistani military forces. During their recorded communiqué, the two Jaish al-Ummah militants also hailed the victories of their fellow 'brethren' in various other locales, including Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan” (see [source:] NEFA Foundation's website). Right after the Red Mosque siege, Al Zawahiri released a statement to avenge the death of Abdul Rashid Ghazi and Red Mosque siege. All of these developments encapsulate the global jihad brotherhoodness – what happens in country A triggers a response in country B and so on. So, probably, this could be regarded as a visible first step of Al-Qaedafication of Palestinian conflict. However, it should be noted that it is still early days.
In sum, to combat global jihadi