The largest shopping center in the United States — the Mall of America — could be the next target of an attack by al-Shabaab, the Somali affiliate of Al Qaeda. The building has more than a dozen entrances and covers at least 80 acres of land.

Security personnel conducted a “lockdown drill” at 10 am local time and have planned a second one for later in the day. Other security measures – “seen and unseen” – have been put into place as well, officials said.

The moves came in response to a video call for jihad released by the group this past weekend.

The group used the video to recruit Western “Muslim brethren” to hit the Mall of America and shopping centers in Canada and the UK.

In 2013, 67 people died when the group staged a four-day siege at a shopping mall in Nairobi.

Department of Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson told news media on Monday that shoppers are “being warned to remain extra vigilant while shopping.” Calls for jihad are being issued via the Internet, videos and through various publications, he pointed out.

Officials at the shopping center, considered the largest mall in the United States, said, “At this time there is no credible threat associated with the Mall of America. We will continue to work together at all levels to evaluate this and other information with the authorities.”

White House spokesperson Josh Earnest told reporters at a briefing also on Monday the intelligence community is “not aware” of any current plot to attack the Mall of America.

Minnesota is home to the largest Somali immigrant community in the United States. According to Fox News, at least 15 members of that community left last year to join Daesh, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist organization.

A Canadian-based business family is not waiting for a terror attack before tightening security: the Ghermezian Brothers have already taken measures to prevent an attack. The four brothers – Eskandar, Nader, Raphael and Bahman – own a construction and real estate empire in addition to the shopping malls developed by the family patriarch, Jacob Ghermezian, who died in 2000.

The preparations came in response to a call to jihad against “American and Jewish-owned” shopping malls made in a video by the Al Qaeda-linked Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab over the weekend.

The Jewish Iranian-Canadian family is known for having developed some of the world’s largest shopping malls, and is no stranger to the need for security; its West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada has already put security measures into place to prevent an attack.

Edmonton Deputy Police Chief Brian Simpson told CTV News, “West Edmonton mall is very safe; I also feel that this community is very safe,” Jewish Business News reported.

In Bloomington, Minnesota, the family’s Mall of America stands out as the largest shopping mall in the United States – which made it one of the top targets for al-Shabaab. The terror group even provided the coordinates for its “Muslim brethren” in the West to more easily be able to find the shopping mall, in order to be able to attack it.

The Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) lifted a gag order Monday on the arrest of an Arab with Israeli citizenship who was tortured by Syrian forces after they caught him last year trying to enlist with jihadists fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The 20-year-old would-be terrorist was identified as Yousef Yaakub Nasrallah of Kalnsuwa, located east of Netanyahu. Security officials arrested him when he made his way back to Israel via Jordan.

Nasrallah’s father told Israel Radio that his son was in terrible shape emotionally as a result of the torture in Syria.

He travelled to Syria last April but enjoyed only several hours of the thrill of seeking out jihadist goons. Instead, pro-Syrian goons caught him and he was questioned, a euphemism for being tortured.

His captors forced him to tell them anything he knew about Israel and security locations.

The Shin Bet noted the growing trend of Arabs with Israeli citizenship travelling to Syria to join global jihad.

French police are still searching for the 3 Islamic terrorists who opened fire in the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, killing 12 people, including 2 policemen and an editor and cartoonist at the magazine. Four other people have been critically injured.

The three terrorists swapped cars after the attack, stealing another car for their getaway.

A witness who spoke to the terrorists before the attack and let them into the building, said they spoke perfect French and they said they were from Al Qaida.

The woman was there with her child, and they threatened to kill them if she didn’t let them into the building. The woman and her daughter hid under a table during the attack.

The terrorists asked for some of their victims by name.

Other witnesses to the attack said they heard them yell, “We’ve avenged the honor of the prophet” and “Allah hu Achbar.”

The terrorists have been described as clearly having professional military training.

Israel’s government cabinet decided Sunday to clear obstacles to the absorption of new immigrants in the labor market, in particular, those from France.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Aliyah and Absorption Minister Sofa Landver today described the decision to members of the French Jewish community in Israel.

“We want to see masses of Jews coming here,” Netanyahu said. “I appeal especially to the Jews of France; this is a community that I know, love and appreciate. We see you today not only as brothers and sisters but as our very flesh.”

That being the case, he pointed out, one would wonder why the government makes it so difficult for Jewish professionals to start over in Israel.

“Why don’t we allow Jewish professionals — and they have a splendid community in France, the talents and charms of which I have learned to recognize, who can make a tangible contribution to Israeli society, to the Israeli economy, and to Israeli security — to do so?” Netanyahu asked rhetorically.

“As a first step, we decided today that by January 1 we will demand that all Government ministries simplify, cut and shorten procedures” so as to allow French Jews to gain approval for a range of credentials already earned in fields, professions, degrees and diplomas, the prime minister said.

“I think that this is essential; it is essential to other communities too, we are doing this as well. This should have been done decades ago but we are doing it now.

“I think this is very important and I reiterate and say one thing: This is your home, this is your state. This is a personal decision but I want you to know that we await you with open arms and we want to roll out the red carpet so that you can come and join in building up our country and in ensuring the future of our people here in our land.”

A business attorney who helps investors move their portfolios told The Observer in September that anti-Semitism in France is responsible for rising migration of wealthy Jewish families.

“France is a weird country because it has a large Jewish and large Muslim population, so there is a real tension, a real undercurrent of hostility and a threat. Now, it has become a lot easier for people to become a lot more open about their anti-Semitism and hate,” Marlen Kruzhkov said. “Even a year ago, they were shocked.”

The United States is a terrific place to do business, Kruzhkov said, with less tape than Israel, and provides great opportunity for investment. But the bottom line is, “the driving force is the anti-Semitism,” he emphasized, adding that an estimated $1.44 billion has moved from France to New York due to the rising hatred against Jews so far this year alone.

Now add to this the “jihad” factor — the issue of Islamic “holy war.”

At present there are between 3.5 to five million Muslims in France, representing between five to ten percent of the population, according to the Euro-Islam website. Islam is currently the second most widely-practiced religion in France, after Roman Catholicism.

Intelligence and law enforcement personnel in France are becoming increasingly concerned about Islamic radicalization as hundreds fall prey to the seductive call of murderous jihadists via the mosques.

For example, Islamic convert Maxime Hauchard, 22, grew up in Normandy a mild-mannered young man who liked movies and motorbikes. But last week he suddenly appeared as a cold-blooded killer with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist organization, wielding a Kalashnikov with two other men. The second in the trio seen in a video online burning their French passports was 26-year-old Abou Ossama al-Faranci, according to a report published in La Depeche du Midi.

(Posted on author’s website, The Ettinger Report}

Intra-Arab and Intra-Muslim terrorism – plaguing the Arab Street – has been a Middle East fixture since the 7^th century emergence of Islam, driven by religious, political, tribal and ethnic megalomaniac aspirations and violent intolerance.

It dominated the Middle East long before, and irrespective of, the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, the reestablishment of Jewish communities in Judea & Samaria, the controversy over Jerusalem, and the reconstruction of the Jewish State.

Against the backdrop of ruthless and persistent terrorism, which has targeted fellow-Arabs and fellow-Muslims, one should expect, at least, as ferocious Arab/Muslim terrorism against the “infidel” Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Jew in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, Canada, Australia and the USA. The latter is considered the chief threat to terrorist regimes, morally and militarily. Hence, the US is “the Chief Satan” and the lead target for Islamic terrorism.

The perpetrators of Arab/Muslim terrorism, in general, and Palestinian terrorism, in particular, are not “Lone Wolves.” They are the by-products of a centuries’ old intolerant ideology, supported by educational and religious infrastructures of indoctrination and incitement, operating systematically in kindergartens, schools, universities, mosques and regime-controlled media.

Arab/Muslim terrorists are not driven by social, economic and human rights grievances, but by an intense, fanatical worldview, which loathes civil liberties and considers freedom of religion, press, association and movement, including equal rights for women, an abomination. In fact, deprived groups in the non-Muslim world rarely resort to terrorism.

Arab/Muslim terrorists are adrenalized by the conviction that their actions bestow upon them the honorific title of Shaheed – a martyr on the altar of Islam – fulfilling a Muslim mission, and advancing the commandment of Jihad (Islamic struggle, resistance, war, expansion) against the “infidel” or the “apostate.” They expect to be rewarded by eternal glory, including the company of 72 pretty virgins in a sensual paradise, while women are, supposedly, rewarded by only one man.

The most effective production-line of Shaheed’s was established by Mahmoud Abbas in 1993, compliments of the Oslo Accord, through the Palestinian education system. For example, the 7^th grade’s part 2 of “Our Beautiful Language,” pages 11-13 and pages 28-29 in part 1: “We shall sow Palestine with [martyrs'] skeletons and skulls; we shall paint the face of Palestine with blood…. We are returning home to the plains and mountains [of pre-1967 Israel], led by Jihad flags, by bloody struggles and by the willingness to sacrifice ourselves as martyrs….” Or, the 8^th grade’s part 2 of “Islamic Studies,” pages 62-75: “Jihad reserves a key role for youngsters, just like those who sought martyrdom during the days of the Prophet Muhammad….” Many graduates of such an education system are potential terrorists – who unlike freedom fighters – target civilians deliberately and systematically, aiming to erode the confidence of Israelis in the homeland security capabilities of their government, frightening them into reckless concessions.

While Mahmoud Abbas does not emit the same message when speaking with Western, Israeli and Arab interlocutors, that which he teaches his children reflects his authentic worldview, reflected by the monthly allowances paid to relatives of suicide-bombers and the naming of streets, squares, summer camps and sport tournaments after terrorists. It has enticed Palestinian youth to idolize Shaheed’s, Jihad, bloodshed and families of suicide-bombers, while delegitimizing the Jewish State as an immoral entity deserving annihilation.

Palestinian terrorism has been driven not by the size – but by the existence – of the Jewish State, as evidenced by the waves of anti-Jewish Palestinian terrorism before Israel’s establishment (1920s, 1930s and 1940s), before the 1967 resumption of Jewish control of Judea & Samaria, and following a series of Israeli concessions, such as the 2005 uprooting of all Jewish communities from Gaza, the 2000 proposal by Prime Minister Barak to withdraw to the pre-1967 Lines, and the 1993 Israeli importation of the PLO from Tunisia to Ramallah and Israel’s withdrawal from 40% of Judea & Samaria, as well as all of Gaza.

Intra-Arab and Intra-Muslim terrorism – plaguing the Arab Street – has been a Middle East fixture since the 7th century emergence of Islam, driven by religious, political, tribal and ethnic megalomaniac aspirations and violent intolerance.

It dominated the Middle East long before, and irrespective of, the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, the reestablishment of Jewish communities in Judea & Samaria, the controversy over Jerusalem, and the reconstruction of the Jewish State.

Against the backdrop of ruthless and persistent terrorism, which has targeted fellow-Arabs and fellow-Muslims, one should expect, at least, as ferocious Arab/Muslim terrorism against the “infidel” Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Jew in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, Canada, Australia and the USA. The latter is considered the chief threat to terrorist regimes, morally and militarily. Hence, the US is “the Chief Satan” and the lead target for Islamic terrorism.

The perpetrators of Arab/Muslim terrorism, in general, and Palestinian terrorism, in particular, are not “Lone Wolves.” They are the by-products of a centuries’ old intolerant ideology, supported by educational and religious infrastructures of indoctrination and incitement, operating systematically in kindergartens, schools, universities, mosques and regime-controlled media.

Arab/Muslim terrorists are not driven by social, economic and human rights grievances, but by an intense, fanatical worldview, which loathes civil liberties and considers freedom of religion, press, association and movement, including equal rights for women, an abomination. In fact, deprived groups in the non-Muslim world rarely resort to terrorism.

Arab/Muslim terrorists are adrenalized by the conviction that their actions bestow upon them the honorific title of Shaheed – a martyr on the altar of Islam – fulfilling a Muslim mission, and advancing the commandment of Jihad (Islamic struggle, resistance, war, expansion) against the “infidel” or the “apostate.” They expect to be rewarded by eternal glory, including the company of 72 pretty virgins in a sensual paradise, while women are, supposedly, rewarded by only one man.

The most effective production-line of Shaheed’s was established by Mahmoud Abbas in 1993, compliments of the Oslo Accord, through the Palestinian education system. For example, the 7th grade’s part 2 of “Our Beautiful Language,” pages 11-13 and pages 28-29 in part 1: “We shall sow Palestine with [martyrs'] skeletons and skulls; we shall paint the face of Palestine with blood…. We are returning home to the plains and mountains [of pre-1967 Israel], led by Jihad flags, by bloody struggles and by the willingness to sacrifice ourselves as martyrs….” Or, the 8th grade’s part 2 of “Islamic Studies,” pages 62-75: “Jihad reserves a key role for youngsters, just like those who sought martyrdom during the days of the Prophet Muhammad….” Many graduates of such an education system are potential terrorists – who unlike freedom fighters – target civilians deliberately and systematically, aiming to erode the confidence of Israelis in the homeland security capabilities of their government, frightening them into reckless concessions.

While Mahmoud Abbas does not emit the same message when speaking with Western, Israeli and Arab interlocutors, that which he teaches his children reflects his authentic worldview, reflected by the monthly allowances paid to relatives of suicide-bombers and the naming of streets, squares, summer camps and sport tournaments after terrorists. It has enticed Palestinian youth to idolize Shaheed’s, Jihad, bloodshed and families of suicide-bombers, while de-legitimizing the Jewish State as an immoral entity deserving annihilation.

Palestinian terrorism has been driven not by the size – but by the existence – of the Jewish State, as evidenced by the waves of anti-Jewish Palestinian terrorism before Israel’s establishment (1920s, 1930s and 1940s), before the 1967 resumption of Jewish control of Judea & Samaria, and following a series of Israeli concessions, such as the 2005 uprooting of all Jewish communities from Gaza, the 2000 proposal by Prime Minister Barak to withdraw to the pre-1967 Lines, and the 1993 Israeli importation of the PLO from Tunisia to Ramallah and Israel’s withdrawal from 40% of Judea & Samaria, as well as all of Gaza.