Many observers in the jihadism analysis community were probably anticipating that the Islamic State would say something in its official media about the current wave of protests in the U.S. that have garnered worldwide attention. As it happens, the matter is the focus of the editorial in this week's edition of its al-Naba' newsletter released today. It is this kind of attention that should be subject to more scrutiny, rather than what some fans of the group might say online on a daily basis.
In summary, the argument is as follows: the world is making the same mistake with the U.S. protests as it made with the coronavirus epidemic when it broke out in China: that is, treating the problem as a curiosity particular to one country, and ignoring the possibility of the spread of the problem to other lands. The possibility of the spread of the current disturbances and unrest in the U.S. to other countries, the editorial argues, is particularly strong in light of the global negative effects of the coronavirus on the economic life and employment, contributing to a sense of despair among youth and the feeling of the need to smash the present system. In fact, what is occurring in America may be a much lesser version of what plays out in other lands. In any case, the hoped for advantage is that the 'disbelieving states' will be even more distracted by events in their own countries, preventing them from aiding the 'Tawagheet' (idolatrous tyrants) and 'apostates' in the fight against the true Muslims and mujahideen.
Below is the editorial translated. Any parenthetical insertions in square brackets are my own.
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
'American' chaos after the 'Chinese' virus
When the news of the epidemic began leaking from China, the other states received the story from the basis of mockery, cursing and gratification, such that some of the people thought that this illness is particular to the people of China and does not affect others besides them at all. And things got to the point with some of them that they called the virus 'Chinese' to indicate that.
And the governments ignored the probability of the catastrophe spreading inside their countries after a few months, and showed lack of concern for the matter. As a result they received much criticism later.
And those disbelieving governments ignored the fact that the circumstances of infection with the illness are available among them as they were in the place in which it first appeared, and they lack like the government of China the effective means of protection against infection with it, and effective medicines to cure it.
And today the news of the protests in America overshadows the news of the epidemic that gained hegemony over all the other events of the world for months, and the disbelieving governments are repeating their old mistake in reception of the matter, by limiting their reception of it to cursing the Taghut Trump and his state, and their taking up the matter in mockery, and spending time in analysing the causes of these violent events, and offering advice to the Americans, as though this important event in this time of great sensitivity in history will be an exclusively American affair, with no relation to the rest of the disbelieving governments in the world.
And whoso looks at the state of the world today, after the epidemic crisis that stopped economic activities, impeded and bled governments, and spread unemployment and poverty in the societies, will find that the predominant condition is the labyrinth, for no one- except God Almighty- knows upon what the circumstances of this world will be tomorrow. And no one dares to predict the form of political and economic systems that will rule the world during the coming years. And no one of the people is capable of expecting what his state of affairs will be in the coming period of his life.
And this labyrinth has made the majority of people go into a state of loss, except the one God has guided to a straight path, and hardly any region of the world is safe from this state of affairs, and no place will be safe as a result from its consequences.
And the state of the global labyrinth that we witness today has many phenomena, among them the impeding of the disbelieving governments and their inability to take decisive decisions in any direction, and the lack of confidence in them on the part of the people they rule, and the lack of ability of any of them to offer the successful program that will please them and realise for them security and assurance for their future worldly life, in besides which they are not interested.
And likewise the retreat of economic growth in most of the countries, and the spread of the bankruptcy of the companies, and the laying off of workers, and what follows from that from the spread of poverty, unemployment, crime and disturbances, without the presence of hope for an end to this nightmare that has gained hegemony over their livelihood in a short time.
And this thing nurtures among the youth the one despairing in those areas, and holding the current governments responsible for what has befallen them, and their being convinced of the necessity of intervention to bring about some sort of change. But for the most part they do not realise the direction that they must work to drive the situation towards.
For the idea present in the minds of many of them today is the necessity of blowing up the present situation, then thinking of how to build an alternative to it, and the direction is towards destroying the structure, not changing its form or functions.
And indeed the explosion of the situation in America- even if its direct cause is the superior status of some of the disbelievers over others, and the enmity of some of them against others, and it has been a continuous matter in the land since its foundation, and the protests and violent disturbances because of that set off every few years- they [the protests etc.] are accompanied today with the bad effects of the epidemic on the economy of the country overburdened with debts, and exhausted with consecutive crises. This gives this recent explosion a serious thrust and serious results on the stability of the situation there.
And most of the countries that have been struck by the epidemic in the east and west of the land, have been struck with what struck America from feebleness, weakness and impeding of life- something that makes their resistance to the social, economic and political ills that have been eating away at their infrastructure for a long time become extremely weak, while the remedies that have been used multiple times to quell the disturbances and appease the protests are of little effectiveness.
Therefore the entire world is exposed- by the permission of God Almighty- to this American form of chaos and disturbances, and their impacts in the different countries will differ according to the force of the illnesses that reside in them, and the ability of their political, security and economic systems to resist the catastrophe of the protests and overcome them without there occurring a complete collapse in them. And perhaps what we see in America will be insignificant compared to what may afflict others besides them, on account of the force of the American internal regime, and its long experience in dealing with disturbances of this kind during a century of time.
And to the extent that the systems of the disbelieving states delay in taking off again with their economies and societies that are living in a state resembling death for months, and to the extent that opportunities that aggravate the illnesses they are suffering from increase, and to the extent that their ability to prevent them from destroying them decreases gradually, in addition to the possibility of curing them and recovering from them, it is what will be by the permission of God Almighty [i.e. it will be the case that the events will be much worse in other countries].
And this entire matter will be a factor of additional exhaustion for the disbelieving states, reducing their interest in what is occurring in the lands of the Muslims, and weakening their ability to wage war on them and help the Tawagheet and apostates against them. And that will be if God Almighty facilitates it- another help from the Exalted to His oppressed servants, helping them to strengthen themselves, inflict damage on their enemies and realise the aims of their jihad, even if it takes a while. And praise be to God the Lord of the Worlds.