Abū al-Khayr — “Oh Knights of al-Quds Dismount”
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New nashīd from Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Brigades’ (Liwā’ al-Tawḥīd) Abū al-Khayr: "Oh Knights of al-Quds Dismount"
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Dear Aaron,
I’ve been thinking of writing to you about this for some time. I really think someone needs to put together a movie based on ISIS films entitled “ISIS in Their own Words”. It needs to be a film that is subtitled and goes through the full scope of the group’s ideology. Leave out the gratuitous violence. I am so sick of having go betweens explain very briefly what ISIS says. There needs to be a documentary that just simply lets them speak for themselves. I believe this could be the most powerful anti-Jihadist effort we could make. I’d put my own money into it (I don’t have much). What do you think? Is anyone considering this? We surely have all the material we need for it.
Dave Cashin
Dear David,
Sorry, that I’m not Aaron, but as great as an idea as that is, I just don’t think it would help anti-Jihadist efforts. The people joining the Islamic State are well aware of their content, they know very well the brand they’re embracing. The Islamic State is kind of achieved a branding that can adapt and evolve to suit any scenario, as they’ve destroyed any middle ground between what they consider to be a Muslim and a non-Muslim/apostate. By doing so and making religion so binary, the horrible videos and press Western countries gave them only added to their recruiting. More recruits are more power. More military power, more knowledge power, more money, and even more recruiting. This is why Obama was so careful with his airstrikes and why we are trying to make it very clear that we are not at odds with Islam, but with Islamism/militant Islam/terrorism. The Islamic State will capitalize on any mistake the West makes in blurring the lines between terrorism and Islam. No rational person can sit there and watch that Jordanian pilot burn alive and not have their stomach turn….but what about when they say, “Eye for an eye”. You bomb and burn innocent children and civilians, we burn you. Some Muslims somewhere will see that and be influenced by the Islamic State’s propaganda. To them, it may look like they are just defending their state, their people, and their religion. Their brand is a powerful one and fighting it by splicing together atrocities or their ideology won’t do it justice because the Islamic State will dish out excuses and misinterpreted Quranic verses. Even their own recent movie about the US currency, federal reserve, bretton woods system, and petro-dollar, by my own admission, really kicked ass. It’s unfortunate because it’s really strong propaganda. Especially when they pack it full of truths. “I am so sick of having go betweens explain very briefly what ISIS says.” They stick mostly to their own hardline Islamic doctrine. They have an English magazine called Dabiq and produce English videos and films through their Al-Hayat Media Center. Everything is layed out quite well in those sources. They’re putting out material in enough languages that you don’t need go betweens to figure it out.