Tuesday, March 31, 2015

British jihadists: The friends who want to be martyrs

BBC News, British jihadists: The friends who want to be martyrs also see BBC News, Tracking Britain's Jihadists

Turkish Militant Group Takes Prosecutor Hostage at Istanbul Courthouse

Vice.com, LIVE UPDATES: Turkish Militant Group Takes Prosecutor Hostage at Istanbul Courthouse

Washiqur Rahman: Secular blogger killed in Bangladesh

Washiqur Rahman: Secular blogger killed in Bangladesh - CNN.com "When American writer Avijit Roy was hacked to death on a Dhaka, Bangladesh, street in full view of horrified onlookers, blogger Washiqur Rahman doubled down.



 "Fundamentalists were choking free thought in his secular nation, he wrote. But they couldn't silence it."

Video: Palestinian rappers DAM take on patriarchy

aljazeera.com, Video: Palestinian rappers DAM take on patriarchy

Mosul under ISIL: 'No internet, no shaving'

aljazeera.com, Mosul under ISIL: 'No internet, no shaving' "Worried that functioning telecommunications systems might help its enemies reach out to dissidents within Mosul, ISIL also shut down telephone and internet services in December. That deepened the sense of isolation that many residents already felt."

ISIS followers send ‘up to 100,000 tweets a day’ warns EU police chief

alarabiya.net, ISIS followers send ‘up to 100,000 tweets a day’ warns EU police chief "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) supporters are sending up to 100,000 messages a day on social networking site Twitter to plan attacks, the European Union’s law enforcement agency chief has warned."

Friday, March 27, 2015

Court Blocks Jihadist Website Used to Recruit Turks to Islamic State

NY Times, Court Blocks Jihadist Website Used to Recruit Turks to Islamic State "A website popular with jihadists that has been used to recruit Turks to the Islamic State was blocked by a court here on Wednesday, after years of publishing extreme Islamist content and evading Turkey’s strict Internet regulations."

Pro-ISIS magazine in Istanbul bombed

Pro-ISIS magazine in Istanbul bombed - CNN.com  "The magazine "Adimlar" regularly publishes angry anti-American content, including articles that celebrate convicted Venezuelan terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as "Carlos the Jackal.""

Haqiqah Launched

imamsonline.com, Haqiqah – What is the Truth Behind ISIS? links to a new online magazine. Also see BBC News, Imams try to 'reclaim the internet' with Haqiqah magazine  

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Impatient ISIS Supporters Can't Wait For Another Snuff Video

vocativ.com, Impatient ISIS Supporters Can't Wait For Another Snuff Video

Arab Coalition Bombs Yemen, Attacks The Houthis

vocativ.com, Arab Coalition Bombs Yemen, Attacks The Houthis "The Houthi rebels responded on their social media pages, replying that “Yemen will become a cemetery for the invaders.” They posted graphic images of children allegedly killed by the allied airstrikes, along with threats to invade the Saudi kingdom."

IS 'CyberCaliphate' Hacking

RFE/RL, IS 'CyberCaliphate' Hacked 600 Russian Websites In 2014, Security Company Says "According to Group-IB's research, several pro-IS hacking groups appear to have been involved in the attacks on Russian websites. As well as the "CyberCaliphate," the research also found groups calling themselves Team System Dz, Global Islamic Caliphate and FallaGa Team were involved in the hacks."

Italy arrests three suspected ISIS militants

alarabiya.net, Italy arrests three suspected ISIS militants " One of the three, a 20-year-old Italian with Moroccan roots, is suspected of being the author of a 64-page Italian-language document which outlines the goals and principles of the Islamic State group and has been circulated on the Internet and social networks."

The Britons signing up for Jihad

Dominic Casciani, BBC News, The Britons signing up for Jihad "BBC News has been tracking the story of these men and women - and boys and girls - for the past few months in an attempt to map the scale of the jihad in Syria and Iraq."

The Counterrevolution Will Be Televised: Propaganda and Egyptian Television since the Revolution

The Counterrevolution Will Be Televised: Propaganda and Egyptian Television since the RevolutionArab Media & Society new issue out now. Including: The Counterrevolution Will Be Televised: Propaganda and Egyptian Television since the Revolution



Abstract: "In a concise and critical read, Amr Khalifa draws attention to the Egyptian state’s influence on shaping the narratives propagated by national and local media, particularly television. Using initial coverage of the 2011 Revolution as a jumping off point, Khalifa argues that the same mechanisms for controlling the media have been used and reused by successive governments and examines new limitations on freedom of expression, which he argues are morestringent than the tight control seen under Gamal Abdel Nasser."

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Is this the most dangerous Isis propaganda?

Independent, Is this the most dangerous Isis propaganda? "

Much attention is paid to the extreme, distressing and sadistic propaganda disseminated by Isis, who go to great lengths to circulate violent images and videos of the atrocities it commits.



"Yet little attention is paid to what could arguably be considered to be the most dangerous propaganda emerging from the group – the pictures and videos that attempt to normalise and even glamorise life within Isis. It is these pictures that are used as a recruiting tool for the extremist group."

New book - Branding Terror: The Logotypes and Iconography of Insurgent Groups and Terrorist Organizations | Digital Islam

digitalislam.eu, Book: Branding Terror: The Logotypes and Iconography of Insurgent Groups and Terrorist Organizations




The 40 Most Innovative Global Muslim Startups 2015

Ummah Wide, The 40 Most Innovative Global Muslim Startups 2015 - Towards A Global Muslim Startup Ecology very interesting listing, with some specific apps and IT related concepts in the mix.

It's Sunnah To Swipe With Your Right Hand

buzzfeed.com, Community Post: It's Sunnah To Swipe With Your Right Hand: The Muslim Spouse Search Goes Mobile " If you’re a single Muslim in North America, you know the thirst is real. Well, you can finally leave the ISNA hotel lobby. (Seriously, it’s past 5 a.m.) At least four matchmaking (yes, matchmaking, because “dating” would be too scandalous for your parents) apps for single young Muslims plan to launch this month and save you from a future as “cat aunty” or “creepy uncle.”"

Thursday, March 19, 2015

RIP Internet Explorer, how you were mocked

BBC News, RIP Internet Explorer, how you were mocked

Dark web spurs spying 'arms race'

BBC News, Dark web spurs spying 'arms race' "The more people who use it, the easier, in theory, it will be for terrorists to hide their own messages amongst its terabytes of data. But the dark web does have benign uses and while it presents a growing challenge to counter-terrorism authorities this is a phenomenon that is unlikely to disappear anytime soon."

'#JeSuisBardo’ trending on Twitter in solidarity with Tunisia

alarabiya.net, '#JeSuisBardo’ trending on Twitter in solidarity with Tunisia

Hip hop hijabis: Meet the Muslim women who rap in headscarves

Mail Online, Hip hop hijabis: Meet the Muslim women who rap in headscarves Also see:

The Use of the Internet by Islamic State in Syria

Nico Prucha, War Studies, King's College - The Use of the Internet by Islamic State in Syria [scroll down for the sound file]. I have yet to listen to this.

Prisons and radicalization in France

Farhad Khosrokhavar, opendemocracy.net, Prisons and radicalization in France "The two terrorist attacks that caused 17 deaths among the French people were the results of a radicalization that bears four main features. The people who perpetrated them were from the French poor suburbs, the so-called banlieues, where there is a concentration of populations mostly of North African origins, with a higher rate of joblessness and criminality, and a deeply antagonistic attitude of its male youth towards the rest of the society.

"Many spend part of their youth in the prisons and those who become Jihadists are "born again" Muslims with no previous Islamic culture, having gone through a deep up rootedness in terms of their cultural identity before being attracted towards Radical Islam by a guru, through Internet or the influence of their buddies."

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Mothers living under ISIS share photos of children posing with guns

Mail Online, Mothers living under ISIS share photos of children posing with guns "Depraved mothers who gave up their lives in the West to live under the rule of Islamic State terrorists in Syria are taking photographs of their newborn children sleeping alongside handguns and assault rifles in a sickening game of one-upmanship on social media."

Assad’s Atrocities, ISIS Executions Are Threatening Syria’s Activist Storytellers With Disappearance

raqqa-sl.com, Assad’s Atrocities, ISIS Executions Are Threatening Syria’s Activist Storytellers With Disappearance "With more than 36,000 followers on Facebook and more than 20,000 on Twitter, Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently provides daily updates on ISIS movement in Raqqa, U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, the horrors of civilian life under ISIS rule — and has even provided information on ISIS hostages, most of whom were kept and killed in Raqqa. Throughout its activity for most of Syria’s civil war, now in its fourth year, the group’s members learned to work in secret."

Isis: Foreign fighters 'live like kings'

IB Times, Isis: Foreign fighters 'live like kings' in Syrian Raqqa stronghold of Islamic State "Foreign Islamist fighers in Al-Raqqa are living in the best houses with free electricity and health care and treating local Syrians "like slaves", according to an activist living in the Islamic State (Isis) stronghold."

ISIS commander mocked online for ‘shawarma’ outfit

alarabiya.net, ISIS commander mocked online for ‘shawarma’ outfit

Islamism in the IS age

Marc Lynch, Islamism in the IS age  "The “IS-ification of Islamist politics,” in Khalil al-Anani’s felicitous phrase, has reshaped the ideological and strategic incentives for Islamist groups and their adversaries. It has also posed a new challenge to the categories, concepts and expectations of the academics who study them. In January, the Project on Middle East Political Science brought together more than a dozen leading scholars of Islamist movements to discuss the Islamic State and its effects on the broader terrain of Islamist politics. Some of the papers prepared for that workshop have been published on The Monkey Cage already and all are now collected into a new edition in the POMEPS Studies series “Islamism in the IS Age,” available for free download here."

Monday, March 16, 2015

Anonymous reveals list of ISIS-linked Twitter accounts

alarabiya.net, Anonymous reveals list of ISIS-linked Twitter accounts the listing is here

Islamist Websites in Turkey Manage to Evade Strict Internet Censorship

NY Times, Islamist Websites in Turkey Manage to Evade Strict Internet Censorship "The websites of an atheist association, the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Kurdish separatist organization are blocked to Turkish Internet users. But many sites that promote extreme Islamist messages — even some that are outright sympathetic to the Islamic State, the militant organization that has marauded through Iraq and Syria — escape Turkey’s censors."

Kyrgyzstan launches first-ever Islamic magazine

www.eng.24.kg - Kyrgyzstan » Kyrgyzstan launches first-ever Islamic magazine "Zakir Chotayev, deputy director of the State Commission on Religious Affairs, welcomed the debut of the Islamic magazine.



""Such periodicals are badly needed now; the more of them are released, highlighting positive aspects and trends, the better," he said. "They will help to push our citizens away from the radical, extremist movements that seek to attract new followers through internet propaganda and recruiters. Thanks to these journals, it will be possible to educate yourself and find your place in society in Kyrgyzstan without feeling the need to go abroad."

Fitnah of Internet: Islamic Tips for Spending Time Online

Fitnah of Internet: Islamic Tips for Spending Time Online - Muslim Ink | Muslim Ink article includes reference to 'Islam in the Digital Age' and 'Virtually Islamic'

Sharmeena Begum

Mail Online, Revealed: First British schoolgirl to join jihadis

ISIS executes nine men in second video to surface this week

Mail Online, ISIS executes nine men in second video to surface this week "The masked ISIS commander who introduces the latest senseless propaganda video says the men 'were sentenced to death for betraying the religion of Allah'."

“Abu Azrael”

alarabiya.net, Iraqi fighter gains social media following in fight against ISIS "Pictures of a combat gear-clad bearded man dubbed “Abu Azrael,” or Angel of Death, holding a rifle in one hand and an axe in another have flooded Twitter and Facebook."

#AskHamas

#AskHamas Twitter campaign backfires in Gaza | The National "Hamas launched a campaign on Twitter on Friday aimed at improving its image, but was immediately hit by a barrage of sarcastic and mocking messages.



"The movement, which controls the Gaza Strip and fought a 50-day war with Israel last summer, said its English-language initiative #AskHamas was designed so officials could answer questions from social media users."



Also see:



huffingtonpost.co.uk, #AskHamas Hashtag Goes Viral For All The Wrong Reasons



The #AskHamas Twitter feed is here 




View image on Twitter

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Arab Social Media Influencers Summit

Zawya, Internet giants support Arab social media summit " The Arab Social Media Influencers Summit (ASMIS), which will take place on March 17-18 in Dubai, is the first event of its kind in the region and will allow delegates and partners to network, share trends and support the positive use of social media platforms. It will also help identify best practices in the use of these channels." I'll be interested to observe this (unfortunately from a distance!)

Share first, verify later: When breaking news breaks the rules

Mail & Guardian, Share first, verify later: When breaking news breaks the rules "User-generated content can be both a media boon and a minefield, with hoaxes and propaganda competing with bona fide eyewitness accounts."

EU plans to target cyber-terrorism

BBC News, EU plans to target cyber-terrorism "The Internet Referral Unit would be part of law enforcement agency Europol and would seek to remove jihadist content from the internet."

Rare photos reveal Osama bin Laden's Afghan hideout

Rare photos reveal Osama bin Laden's Afghan hideout - CNN.com

The Real Target of ISIS’s Child-Soldier Execution Video

thedailybeast.com, The Real Target of ISIS’s Child-Soldier Execution Video "The timing of ISIS’s latest video, which appears to show a child soldier executing an Arab Israeli man accused of being a spy, is “aimed at emphasizing the rigid security apparatus of the Islamic State against spying and potential dissent,” said ISIS analyst Aymenn al Tamimi."

Australian teenage 'white jihadi' dies in Isil suicide attack in Ramadi

Telegraph, Australian teenage 'white jihadi' dies in Isil suicide attack in Ramadi " On Wednesday it was reported that Bilardi, who used the nom-de-guerre bu Abdullah Al Australia, had died in a suicide attack, driving a white van packed with explosives into a target in Ramadi, in Anbar province."

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Habibi funk

yourmiddleeast.com, Habibi funk: Listen to this rare vinyl mix of incredible Arab songs from the 60s/70s escapism!

ISIS 'Manifesto' Spells Out Role for Women

theatlantic.com, ISIS 'Manifesto' Spells Out Role for Women "Marriage and motherhood—not college degrees and careers—are the paramount goals for young girls living in the territory controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the fledgling terrorist organization known as ISIS. And girls need not wait until they’re in their 20s or 30s to attain either goal. That much can be gleaned from a "manifesto" on women that was recently disseminated by the group."

Tsarnaev Twitter

Boston Globe, Tsarnaev posted radical messages on second Twitter account, FBI agent testifies

Saudi Grand Mufti urges Muslims to use internet to fight terror

alarabiya.net, Saudi Grand Mufti urges Muslims to use internet to fight terror "Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh has urged Muslims throughout the world to use the internet and social media to help combat terrorism, state news agency SPA reported on Sunday."

How Isis built a global brand using Nutella, celebrity and social media

Independent, How Isis built a global brand using Nutella, celebrity and social media

Monday, March 09, 2015

‘Thugs wanted – bring your own boots.’

Guardian, ‘Thugs wanted – bring your own boots.’ How Isis attracts foreign fighters to its twisted utopia new book by JM Berger and Jessica E. Stern.

ISIS Issues Sign Language Propaganda In New Video

vocativ.com, ISIS Issues Sign Language Propaganda In New Video

Khelafabook

Independent, Isis has made its own version of Facebook, because it keeps getting banned. "Khelafabook had the appearance of a normal social network, but had a photograph of the world with Isis logos posted over its countries as its background. It appeared to have been built on a platform called SocialKit, which anyone can download and use to make social networks of their own." Also see vocativ.com, ISIS Opens Its Own Social Network

ISIS spread its reach through Twitter with 46,000 accounts

ISIS spread its reach through Twitter with 46,000 accounts - CNET also see Brookings, The ISIS Twitter census: Defining and describing the population of ISIS supporters on Twitter and the report here by J.M. Berger and Jonathon Morgan. The report looks comprehensive, but I have yet to read it in detail.

Friday, March 06, 2015

Study Explores Impact of Muslim Online Discussions of Sex

Study Explores Impact of Muslim Online Discussions of Sex | Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies

ISIS: What's a Poor Religionist to Do?

MRBlog | ISIS: What's a Poor Religionist to Do? - The Marginalia Review of Books "ISIS presents scholars of religion with a real problem. Rather than use the Islamic State as an opportunity to nuance the way we talk about religion in public discourse, this self-described caliphate has instead exposed some of the failures endemic to the discipline as currently conceived. Squabbling over whether members of ISIS (or Boko Haram or al-Qaeda, and so on) are “real” or “fake” Muslims takes us to the heart of an intractable debate plaguing the study of religion."

Tinder for Muslims

Daily Mirror, Tinder for Muslims dating app asks singletons to find love without posting a pic

Cyber Dating, duh…

tabsir.net » Cyber Dating, duh…



Monday, March 02, 2015

Boko Haram

naij.com, How Boko Haram May Benefit From Using Social Media "The danger is that if we allow Boko Haram to bring the war to social media, we will be dealing with something much bigger than we currently are. Those assuming Boko Haram is never going to find someone on social media willing to join the group are deceiving themselves. We once thought Nigerians would never get involved in suicide bombing. Now we know better."

Is Germany’s Top Terrorist Dead or Alive?

Is Germany’s Top Terrorist Dead or Alive? - Geopoliticalmonitor.com "All of the supposedly “new” Cuspert videos that have emerged since his reported death are in fact just short amateur videos, which appear to have been shot with cell phones or cheap camcorders. Cuspert is present in these clips, along with other German- or Arabic-speaking jihadists, but he is not the focus. The clips have been posted on the web – in one case by an anti-ISIS organization – but, unlike Cuspert’s own videos, they have not been released under the logo of known jihadist media."

China Net

techtimes.com, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Other Chinese Tech Titans Wipe Out More Than 60,000 Online Accounts "China's top Internet regulating body, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), said on its website that Baidu, Weibo, Tencent, and Alibaba have deleted more than 60,000 accounts because of usernames that were misleading, promoted pornography, or had links to terrorist groups."

Experts: Erasing personal information online easier said than done

CNN/mynews13.com. Experts: Erasing personal information online easier said than done

IRGC tightens monitoring of online crimes

PressTV, IRGC tightens monitoring of online crimes "The IRGC Cyber Security Command’s Center for the Investigation of Organized Crimes said in a statement on Sunday that it plans to expose the insecurity of Facebook for organized moral crimes."

Former Islamic State prisoner confirms Sotloff hid Jewishness

TimesOfIsrael, Former Islamic State prisoner confirms Sotloff hid Jewishness "A former Islamic State hostage confirmed that beheaded journalist Steven Sotloff successfully concealed his religion and Israeli citizenship from his captors."

ISIS Threatens Twitter Founder And Employees Over Blocked Accounts

buzzfeed.com, ISIS Threatens Twitter Founder And Employees Over Blocked Accounts "ISIS supporters on Sunday called on jihadis around the world to kill Twitter employees because of the company’s frequent blocking of their social media accounts."

Raif Badawi

Independent, Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes, may now face death penalty "Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian blogger whose punishment of 1,000 lashes has prompted international condemnation, may now face the death penalty."

Iran to allow Google to operate if it respects 'cultural' values

Guardian, Iran to allow Google to operate if it respects 'cultural' values "Iran could allow internet firms such as Google to operate in the Islamic republic if they respect its cultural rules, a senior official has said. “We are not opposed to any of the entities operating in global markets who want to offer services in Iran,” the deputy telecommunications and information technology minister, Nasrollah Jahangard, told the Fars news agency on Sunday."

A search for identity draws jihadis to the horrors of Isis - opinion piece

Guardian, A search for identity draws jihadis to the horrors of Isis | Kenan Malik