Elon Musk’s social network is accused of propagating Islamophobic messages. There is no habit in the jihadist rhetoric of directly threatening civil and business figures from the West
In the one that is his first video message since taking over the al-Qaeda branch in Yemen, Saad Bin Atef Al-Awlaki has released direct threats to US President Donald Trump and businessman Elon Musk, regarding the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
About half an hour, the video began to circulate this morning through channels associated with al-Qaeda on the Arabica Peninsula (AQAP, in the English acronym), regional arm of the jihadist group. In it, Al-Awlaki appeals to the action of “lonely wolves” to carry out murders from Egyptian leaders, Jordan, and Gulf monarchies-Arab countries accused of connivance or silence in the face of the destruction of Gaza.
The speech is interspersed with images of Trump and Musk, but also by photographs of the current US Vice President Jd Vance and Secretaries of State Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth-all names associated with the republican circle in the US. The assembly also includes logos from musk -arrested companies, including Tesla’s electric cars manufacturer.
“After what happened and what is still happening to our people in Gaza, there are no red lines anymore,” says Al-Awlaki. “Reciprocity is legitimate.”
Rhetoric is not new to jihadist propaganda, but this direct threat to western civil and business figures – particularly a businessman like Musk – is unusual. The South African-American tycoon has been at the center of controversies related to how its moderate social network X (former TWITTER) or no longer moderates, contents about the conflict in Gaza. It has also been accused by Jewish and Muslim organizations of giving stage both anti -Semitic discourses and Islamophobic messages.
The al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula is one of the oldest and most violent branches of the organization founded by Osama bin Laden. Although weakened by years of US drone attacks and internal rivalries-both with the Islamic State and with Yemeni tribal forces-AQAP remains active in southern Yemen, a country immersed in a devastating civil war since 2014.
Saad bin Atef Al-Awlaki, who belongs to an influential southern Iemenite tribe, climbed the leadership of the organization in 2023 after the death of the previous leader, Khalid Batarfi. His appointment was interpreted as an AQAP attempt to resume tribal alliances and recover local influence.
This latest message is inserted in the classic logic of al-Qaeda to denounce the complicity of Arab regimes with the West, positioning oneself as a defender of the Palestinians and trying to politically capitalize on Gaza’s suffering to recruit or radicalize.
None of the targeted personalities – neither Trump nor Musk; which are on their backs, ”he reacted publicly to Al-Awlaki’s video.
