Friday, February 27, 2015

UK Police Want to Remove ISIL Instruction Manual From Internet

UK Police Want to Remove ISIL Instruction Manual From Internet / Sputnik International "Earlier this month, the militant group operating in Syria and Iraq published "Hijrah [journey to an Islamic country] to the Islamic State," a guidebook for would-be fighters planning to join IS ranks in Syria."

Spain breaks up online network

Spain breaks up online network recruiting young women for Islamic State - Telegraph 

Fighting Islamic State in Brooklyn

WSJ, Fighting Islamic State in Brooklyn  "Federal agents monitoring an obscure Uzbek-language website, Hilofatnews, provided the initial thread that would lead to the unraveling of the terrorist plot. Hilofatnews promotes the ideology of Islamic State (aka ISIS or ISIL) and encourages its readers to join. In August 2014, an individual using the handle “Abdullah ibn Hasan” asked on the website if “it was possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs . . . by “shoot[ing] Obama and then got shot ourselves” in order to “strike fear in the hearts of infidels.”"

ISIS Beheader ‘Jihadi John’ Unmasked

The Daily Beast, ISIS Beheader ‘Jihadi John’ Unmasked AP, UK spies face questions about failure to stop 'Jihadi John'

Monday, February 23, 2015

Australia to Challenge Radical Islam Online

VOA, Australia to Challenge Radical Islam Online "The Australian government plans to monitor social media in real time to try to combat terrorist propaganda on the Internet."

Thursday, February 19, 2015

U.S. Muslims Take On ISIS’ Recruiting Machine

NYT, U.S. Muslims Take On ISIS’ Recruiting Machine "Imam Mohamed Magid tries to stay in regular contact with the teenager who came to him a few months ago, at his family’s urging, to discuss how he was being wooed by online recruiters working for the Islamic State, the extremist group in Syria and Iraq."

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Kayla Mueller

Guardian, Family of Isis hostage Kayla Mueller confirms aid worker has been killed

Anonymous v. ISIS

mic.com, Anonymous Just Released a Haunting Video Alleging Major Cyber-Attacks Against ISIS also see countercurrentnews.com, Anonymous Adds THOUSANDS To The List of Downed and Exposed ISIS Accounts

U.S. blacklists German ISIS rapper

alarabiya.net, U.S. blacklists German ISIS rapper "The United States added German former rapper Denis Cuspert to its list of “terrorists” over his role as a fighter with the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, the State Department said Monday."

Book Review: ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror

ISIS, Inside the Army of TerrorJoshua Landis, Book Review: ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror this looks like a useful book, based on this review. ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, Michael Weiss & Hassan Hassan (Simon & Schuster - UK version publisher page) 

German-Based Cyber-Daʿwah 2.0

Erik Munder, German-Based Cyber-Daʿwah 2.0: Back to the Roots with Forward Technology journal article - looks interesting, but there is an expensive pay wall, so I have yet to see it.

Monday, February 09, 2015

Isis

Hassan Hassan, Guardian, Isis has reached new depths of depravity. But there is a brutal logic behind it, 8 Feb 2015 "Savagery is part of Isis’s ideological DNA. The danger of the group lies in its effort to transform the concept of jihad not through individual fatwas, as al-Qaida does to justify suicide bombing in civilian areas, but through a fully fledged ideology. To do so, Isis uses stories from Islamic history and modern jihadi texts to change the paradigm of how to understand and conduct jihad." Useful article.

British ISIS hostage John Cantlie appears in latest propaganda film

Daily Mail, British ISIS hostage John Cantlie appears in latest propaganda film "The Islamic State has released a new propaganda video featuring John Cantlie in which the captured British journalist gives a guided tour of Aleppo."

Experts Debate the Compatibility of AI and Religion

bigthink.com, Experts Debate the Compatibility of AI and Religion | Big Think refers to Zoltan Istvan, Gizmodo, ​When Superintelligent AI Arrives, Will Religions Try to Convert It? " As artificial intelligence advances, religious questions and concerns globally are bound to come up, and they're starting too: Some theologians and futurists are already considering whether AI can also know God."

YouTube to remain blocked in Pakistan indefinitely, says official

Tech2, YouTube to remain blocked in Pakistan indefinitely, says official "YouTube will remain blocked in Pakistan ‘indefinitely’, an official said Saturday, as experts have failed to find a way to filter content deemed offensive and blasphemous in the Muslim majority country."

Tech-skeptic Erdogan sends first tweet

alarabiya.net, Tech-skeptic Erdogan sends first tweet " “Get a grip of yourself against this poison,” Erdogan wrote, using the hashtag #SigarayaTeslimOlma (Don’t give in to cigarettes) and signing off with his initials RTE."

Social media's fruitful exchange with Gulf women

yourmiddleeast.com, Social media's fruitful exchange with Gulf women "Many high-profile women in the Gulf have taken to social media platforms, from Saudi Arabia’s Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel, a regional leader in women’s education development, to the United Arab Emirates’ Noura Al Kaabi, leading the region in digital business development. Where women’s exposure was once shied away from, women role models are now making bits of their personal and public lives accessible to large audiences on Twitter and Instagram. With a mobile penetration of over 110% in the Middle East, people are increasingly engaging with social media, which has activated a key group: women."

Slaying, Slaughtering, and Burning: ISIS, the Cinematic Caliphate

Islam Sakka, al-akhbar.com, Slaying, Slaughtering, and Burning: ISIS, the Cinematic Caliphate "Watching the latest videos posted by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS), it is easy to see the changes in cinematic technique and the group’s choice of English as the main language. Their latest video, showing Jordanian pilot Moaz Kasasbeh being burned alive, sets a new precedent for brutality, ruthlessness, and high quality propaganda."

Thursday, February 05, 2015

'Average Mohamed'

USA Today, Average Mohamed tries to thwart Islamic State "Frustrated by a slick social media campaign on the Internet by the Islamic State that authorities say has helped lure dozens of young Muslim Americans to the fight in Iraq and Syria, Ahmed has already poured thousands of dollars of his own money over the last six months into producing a series of animated cartoon messages to rebut the extremist group's messaging." Check out Average Mohamed here- and here's an example of one of the videos:



'Watch Out For Satanic Earrings!' IS Publishes Women's Manifesto

RFE/RL, 'Watch Out For Satanic Earrings!' IS Publishes Women's Manifesto "A manifesto for women published by the Islamic State (IS) group has criticized Western attitudes to women, saying that this so-called "Western model" has failed, that a woman's place is in the home, and that Western women's fashions, like earrings, are the work of the devil. "

Google's bid to ban IS footage

Mail Online, Google's bid to ban IS footage: Internet giant hires Arabic speaker to help crackdown on jihadi groups using YouTube to radicalise recruits

How Online Radicalization Is Drawing Young Western Women to the Islamic State

Vice, How Online Radicalization Is Drawing Young Western Women to the Islamic State "The internet is the main tool for radicalizing these young women and creating a culture of peer pressure. And a report by the UK-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) released last week studied the tweets of 12 Western female migrants who have traveled to join the Islamic State, in an attempt to unravel their journey and better understand the phenomenon. The paper, titled Becoming Mulan, also explores the reality of their lives there and the potential threat they pose." I haven't read this report.

Jihadists increasingly wary of internet, experts say

AFP/ABC, Jihadists increasingly wary of internet, experts say "After using the internet profusely for propaganda and recruitment, jihadist organisations have realised that investigators are gleaning crucial information from their posts and are increasingly concealing their web presence."

Source: ISIS video may show woman linked to kosher grocery attack

Source: ISIS video may show woman linked to kosher grocery attack - CNN.com "French authorities say a woman in the latest video released by French-speaking ISIS fighters may be Hayat Boumeddiene, who is believed to have knowledge about the deadly January 9 attack on a Paris kosher grocery, a source close to the investigation told CNN."

Brit jihadi justifies death of pilot because ISIS has bin collections

Daily Mail, Brit jihadi justifies death of pilot because ISIS has bin collections

ISIS execute two Imams and four civilians for condemning pilot's death

Mail Online, ISIS execute two Imams and four civilians for condemning pilot's death "ISIS militants have executed six people, including two Muslim clerics, for condemning the horrific execution of the Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh."


ISIL hated Moaz al-Kassasbeh because air strikes work

Crispian Cuss, aljazeera.com, ISIL hated Moaz al-Kassasbeh because air strikes work opinion "The air campaign, which started in August last year, has had a dramatic impact on the fortunes of ISIL. It has stopped their advances in their tracks and bought the Iraqi army breathing space in which to regroup and retrain."

ISIL hated Moaz al-Kassasbeh because air strikes work

Crispian Cuss, aljazeera.com, ISIL hated Moaz al-Kassasbeh because air strikes work opinion "The air campaign, which started in August last year, has had a dramatic impact on the fortunes of ISIL. It has stopped their advances in their tracks and bought the Iraqi army breathing space in which to regroup and retrain."

Fox News under fire for showing uncut ISIS video

alarabiya.net, Fox News under fire for showing uncut ISIS video "By posting the video, Fox News was propagating “exactly what ISIS wants to propagate,” counter-terrorism and radicalism expert Malcolm Nance told The Guardian." Correct.

Jordanian airstrikes kill 55 ISIS militants

alarabiya.net, Jordanian airstrikes kill 55 ISIS militants "Jordanian fighter jets flew over the hometown of a pilot killed by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group and the capital Amman on Thursday after completing a mission, state television said without giving the location of their sortie, Reuters reported."

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Jordanian pilot

Mail Online, ISIS supporters watch murder of Jordanian pilot on big screens

Mail Online, Is this where the pilot was torched to death? Syrian activists claim to have pinpointed location in Raqqa by identifying landmarks in execution video on aerial photographs

Mail Online, 22 minutes of sickening savagery: Carefully edited and highly choreographed footage that ISIS knows will horrify the West - and entice even more jihadists to their cause

Mail Online, ISIS knew burning Jordanian pilot alive would spark backlash in Islamic world - so prepared a list of justifications beforehand

Muadh al-Kasasbeh

thedailybeast.com, ISIS Snuff Films’ Sleight of Hand interesting article (not sure about the headline). "A horrifying video of Jordanian pilot Muadh al-Kasasbeh being set ablaze inside a cage by his ISIS captors shocked the world Tuesday and rocked governments in Washington and Amman. But the film may have also been an act of perverse theater, and one ISIS has performed before."

Clerics denounce burning alive of pilot as un-Islamic

alarabiya.net, Clerics denounce burning alive of pilot as un-Islamic "“This weakens the popularity of Islamic State because we look at Islam as a religion of mercy and tolerance. Even in the heat of battle, a prisoner of war is given good treatment,” said Abu Sayaf, a Jordanian Salafist cleric also known as Mohamed al-Shalabi who spent almost ten years in Jordanian prisons for militant activity including a plot to attack U.S. troops.



“Even if the Islamic State says Muath had bombed, and burnt and killed us and we punished him in the way he did to us, we say, OK but why film the video in this shocking way?” he told Reuters. “This method has turned society against them.”

Moaz al-Kassasbeh





 aljazeera.com, Jordan pilot's murder and the banality of evil





alarabiya.net, Hashtags flood Twitter in honor of slain Jordanian pilot





Washington Post, The logic of violence in the Islamic State’s war

Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Hackers stole from Syrian rebels by posing as women

yourmiddleeast.com, Hackers stole from Syrian rebels by posing as women "Hackers targeted Syrian opposition members with online "honey traps," posing as female supporters to steal battle plans and the identity of defectors, a security firm said in a report Monday."

Peter Greste

huffingtonpost.co.uk, What Your First Tweet Looks Like After Being Jailed In Egypt For 400 Days "After he was freed this weekend, Greste took to Twitter to post this joyful picture of himself standing in the sea, with arms outstretched making "peace" signs."

Monday, February 02, 2015