(AKI) - In an apparent change of strategy Al-Qaeda has called on Egyptian Muslims to pressure their government to re-open the key Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip via industrial action rather than holy war. The terror network's second-in-command, Egyptian-born Ayman Al-Zawahiri, launched the appeal in a new video posted by Al-Qaeda's media arm Al-Sahab to jihadist websites ."What problem could there be if students and workers went on strike to end the embargo against Gaza? Why can't they all go on strike together?" said al-Zawahiri. "All that is needed is for workers and students not to go to work or attend school for a week, or two or three, until the embargo against Gaza ends," he said, urging Islamist and jihadist websites to spread his message.
The 90-minute video titled 'The Lion's Den' appears to have been made in October and makes no reference to this week's deadly terrorist attacks in the Indian financial capital Mumbai. The video shows al-Zawahiri answering questions put to him by an interviewer who is off-camera.
"This embargo will only be broken by exerting pressure, and doing so is the task of the entire Islamic Nation and especially of Egyptians. Egyptians must organise violent protests and put pressure on governments like Egypt's to force them to break off their relations with the Jews.
"If the Egyptians began an uprising (intifada) using their tongues, their pens and their hands, this would be able to break a thousand embargoes," al-Zawahiri stressed.
He urged students and workers to elect their own union leaders and reject those "imposed on them by institutions".
The Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing and all other entry points into the besieged Gaza Strip, have been closed since since 4 November. Israeli forces and Palestinian militants have since then been engaged in almost daily tit-for-tat attacks. The aid dependent territory is completely sealed off with only the occasional humanitarian supplies being allowed in.
Besides the situation in Gaza, al-Zawahiri also discussed the current situation in Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, where he said: "The Crusader campaign has failed."
"The head of British forces in Afghanistan has confirmed they cannot win against the Taliban, and Afghanistan's Defence Minister has told the Americans the country's problems cannot be resolved through force," al-Zawahiri concluded.