A call for the U.S. government to begin stripping citizenship from Americans who leave “to take up arms with jihadists against America” is being renewed in the wake of the Islamic terror attacks in Paris that left more than a dozen dead.
“One thing that is very apparent from the tragic terrorist attacks in France is the mobility of these jihadists – able to move freely – in and out of France,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice.
“This should send a powerful message to the U.S. and the need to take legislative action to protect our homeland,” he continued. “If U.S. citizens leave this country to take up arms with radical jihadists abroad – if they join the fight with ISIS , the Islamic State, or al-Qaida – those Americans should pay the price.
“They should have their passports revoked and lose their citizenship. We urge the House and Senate to introduce and pass legislation without delay to do just that.”
In Paris Friday, police killed a hostage taker and the two brothers suspected in the Islamic jihadist attack Wednesday on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo that killed 12 and injured another 11.
The New York Times reported that one of the brothers, Said Kouachi, 34, traveled to Yemen in 2011 and was trained by an al-Qaida’s affiliate before returning to France.
The report said his younger brother, Cherif, 32, was arrested in 2008 for his involvement “in a Paris terrorist cell that had been recruiting French citizens to fight in Iraq.”
Sekulow’ is calling for U.S. citizens who leave to “take up arms with jihadists” to be banned from returning to the U.S.
Just weeks before the Paris attack, ACLJ launched a petition urging Congress to take action that now has collected more than 115,000 signatures.
The petition explains: “American jihadists are joining ISIS and other terrorist organizations. They’re traveling to Syria to be trained in jihad. And they’re still keeping their American passport, their American citizenship. That means they can travel back to the U.S. to commit acts of terror.
“We must strip their citizenship and seize their passports. They are traitors, not citizens,” the petition states. “The Obama State Department says it’s not ‘as black and white as that.’ They’re wrong.”
Experts have told WND that jihad “is the norm in Islam.”
Foreign affairs analyst Clare Lopez said, “History shows that it has been for over 1,300 years, and we must acknowledge and confront that if we wish to preserve Western civilization for our children and children’s children.”
She cited jihad that already has happened in the U.S., including the November 2009 attack by Maj. Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood, Texas, in which 13 fellow service personnel were shot dead and another 30 were wounded.
The Obama administration still refuses to call it a terrorist attack, even though Hasan claimed to be a follower of al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki, who praised Hasan for his actions.
Lopez also cited the 2013 Boston Marathon bomb attack by the Tsarnaev brothers, one of whom, Dzhokhar, is about to stand trial. His brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a firefight with police.
Lopez said the cases are just twp examples of the Islamic doctrine that says whenever Islam or Muslims or Muslim lands are under attack by “infidels,” every individual Muslim around the world is obligated to fight.