WhatsApp video encourages Malaysian, Indonesian militants to head to Gaza to ‘wage jihad’ on Israel

Name: China offers to mediate Gaza conflict amid international protests against Israel
Uploaded: 2021-05-18T15:53:17.000Z
Duration: 4 min 48 s
Description: China offers to mediate Gaza conflict amid international protests against Israel

Video of Malaysian fighters celebrating Eid in Syria was taken in 2014, but is being used to fan sentiment against Israeli attacks in Gaza: security sources

It follows a joint statement by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei criticising Israeli attacks and calling for a ceasefire

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A still from the video featuring Malaysian fighters in Syria, which experts say was taken in 2014. Photo: Centre for Radicalism and Deradicalisation Studies

Amy Chew

Published: 11:53pm, 18 May 2021Updated: 8:51pm, 19 May 2021

A video of Malaysian militants celebrating “impending martyrdom” during Eid in Syria is circulating on social media in Indonesia, in what security sources say is an attempt to encourage jihadis to travel to Gaza to fight against Israel.

The video surfaced as the Gaza Health Ministry announced 213 people, including almost 36 women and 61 children, had been killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks over the past week. Israel’s medical service has reported 10 deaths, including two children, since the beginning of the latest batch of fighting, which flared when Israeli police clashed with Palestinians near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.

A senior Malaysian security source told This Week In Asia that the video had been produced in 2014 and almost all the men in it were now dead, except for the fighter who filmed the footage.

“The person who took the video eventually returned home in August 2014. We have arrested and charged him. He is still serving his prison sentence,” said the source. “The video has re-emerged maybe to create or fan jihadist sentiment among Malaysians against the Israeli attacks in Gaza.”

Muh Taufiqurrohman, a senior researcher at the Jakarta-based Centre for Radicalism and Deradicalisation Studies (Pakar), said the video was aimed at encouraging Indonesians and Malaysians to go to the Palestinian territories to “wage jihad against Israel”.

04:48

China offers to mediate Gaza conflict amid international protests against Israel

On Tuesday, hundreds of demonstrators in Jakarta waving Palestinian and Indonesian flags protested outside the United Nations building before marching to the US embassy.