THE SHIITE JIHAD IN SYRIA AND ITS REGIONAL EFFECTS

THE NARRATIVE OF JIHAD n 11
In a February 2012 speech, Khamenei established the foundations for
a grand Western-takfiri alliance in Syria, contending that Western powers
and Israel were attempting to destroy “true Islam” through secular and
extremist proxies:
Be suspicious of the kind of Islam that is favorable to Washington, London
and Paris, be it laïcist and westernized or rigid and violent. Do not
trust the kind of Islam that tolerates the Zionist regime but confronts
Islamic denominations in a brutal way, the kind of Islam that extends a
hand of peace and friendship to America and NATO but fans the flames
of domestic sectarian and tribal conflicts, the kind of Islam that is cruel to
believers and compassionate towards unbelievers. 76
Nasrallah rehashed this theme in an August 2013 speech following extensive
Hezbollah combat engagements, including heavy fighting that May and June
in al-Qusayr:
[The West and Israel] invented another name, “Shi’a expansionism” [to
confuse and manipulate Muslims]. Please...Where is this Shi’a expansionism?...They
invented the enemy and they have tried to convince
many Islamic groups that Iran is the enemy, and their goal should be
to confront the Shi’a danger. The Shi’a ideology, Shi’a expansionism,
and Shi’a are a larger danger to the Ummah than Israel and the Zionist
project. For many people, Israel is no longer a danger...[T]hey have
made internal conflicts which are sectarian and this is dangerous...In
countries like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, or Bahrain they make it sectarian,
but the differences are political…Hasn’t the time come to realize that
someone wants to destroy this region, its countries, its armies, and its
people?...Until now we have not taken the time to point the finger [at
those responsible for sectarianism]...everyone who sponsors the takfiri
groups throughout the Islamic world...[benefits and assists] Israel
and America. 77
Hezbollah has made particular use of the Western-backed takfiri theme. During
his May 2013 speech commemorating seven years since the group’s 2006
war with Israel, Nasrallah blamed takfiris for a bomb attack in Beirut’s Hezbollah
stronghold of Dahiya. 78 During the speech, he upped the ante against
Syria’s rebels and declared, “If the battle with these takfiri terrorists requires
that I and all Hezbollah should go to Syria, we will go for the sake of Syria
and its people and for the sake of Lebanon and its people.” 79 Following the
attack, Hezbollah placed posters on the buildings surrounding the blast site
reading “Made in the U.S.A.” 80