ISIS video

alarabiya.net, Video: ISIS parades half-naked Syrian soldiers "Militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) released a video on Thursday showing the capture of dozens of Syrian regime fighters."

Isis threatens second journalist after 'beheading' of James Foley

Steven Sotloff: Isis threatens second journalist after 'beheading' of James Foley - Middle East - World - The Independent:

British imams say Isis 'is not what Muslims stand for'

British imams say Isis 'is not what Muslims stand for' - ITV News:


"Leading British imams and clerics have released a video rejecting the Islamic State's ideology following the apparent beheading of American journalist James Foley."

And here is the video:

James Foley

ISIS beheading U.S. journalist James Foley, posts video - CNN.com
"The militant in the video, who speaks English with what sounds like a British accent, says the other American's life hangs in the balance, depending on what Obama does next."


BBC News, James Foley 'beheading': West condemns 'barbaric' murder, 20 Aug 2014


Global Voices Online, ISIS Beheads Kidnapped Photojournalist James Wright Foley in Horrific Video Message to the US


Sam Thielman, Adweek, Islamic State Militants Exploit Digital Services to Disseminate Video of Apparent Murder Journos promote photos of victim in happier times to counter

alarabiya, British media reacts to James Foley alleged executioner’s accent

Attack analysis in the context of the Israeli-Hamas conflict

DDoS & Security Reports » DDoS and Geopolitics – Attack analysis in the context of the Israeli-Hamas conflict:



'via Blog this'

Meet the ‘Infoladies’

Meet the ‘Infoladies’: the women who get Bangladesh's villages connected | The FRANCE 24 Observers: "In Bangladesh, dozens of women on wheels are biking into remote villages and hooking up poverty-stricken families to the net. Thanks to ‘Infoladies’, tens of thousands of people are connecting with social media, chatting to loved ones, and getting government services."

From Syria to Ukraine, social media opens up warfare

Peter Apps, Reuters, From Syria to Ukraine, social media opens up warfare | 6 Aug 2014 "As conflict flares in the Middle East and Ukraine, the number of images posted on social media is increasing exponentially, giving observers half a world away unprecedented visibility of events on the ground."

#Gaza Social Media Visual Narrative by VJ Um Amel, a cyborg's voice

#Gaza Social Media Visual Narrative by VJ Um Amel, a cyborg's voice "Data set includes over 6,000 tweets collected over one hour on July 26, 2014 courtesy of R-Shief."

ISIS slideshow

ISIS, ISIS baby! 13 facts about the baddest boys of religious fundamentalism | Al Bawaba:

slideshow (not sure about the headline)

ISIS imposes media controls on activists in Deir al-Zor

ISIS imposes media controls on activists in Deir al-Zor | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR "ISIS has told activists in Syria’s Deir al-Zor province they must swear allegiance to it and submit to censorship, an anti-regime monitoring group said Friday."

Counter-Terrorism: Somali Women Take A Hit For The Cause

Counter-Terrorism: Somali Women Take A Hit For The Cause "The extent of the al Shabaab woes could be seen in 2013 when pro-terrorist Internet sites lit up with discussions and criticism of al Shabaab because of the many setback the Somali terrorists had recently suffered. Most fanboys (and a few fangirls) demanded that something be done (one way or the other) to revive al Shabaab."

Turkish women laugh off the misogyny

Diana Moukalled, Turkish women laugh off the misogyny - Al Arabiya News:
"There is an infection that has a positive effect on those who follow a particular hashtag -#direnkahkaha (resist laughter) - on Twitter. At least, that is how I feel."

Social Media Jihad

Social Media Jihad: Islamic State ramps up gruesome Internet campaign | Fox News Some interesting comments from Erin Evans (Human Rights Watch): " ... Evans questions whether the videos have had their intended effect in the region.


“I don't think this is an indication of their increased popularity in Iraq,” she said. “On the contrary, their brutality turns off most Sunnis I have spoken to in Iraq. The government's indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Sunni areas, on the other hand, does seem to radicalize people and exacerbate the sectarian nature of Iraq's conflict.”

Israel, Gaza, War & Data – The Art of Personalizing Propaganda

Gilad Lotan, Israel, Gaza, War & Data – The Art of Personalizing Propaganda · Global Voices "While war rages on the ground in Gaza and across Israeli skies, there’s an all-out information war unraveling in social networked spaces." Some interesting research - I've yet to read it all.

New Issue of the Journal of Arab and Muslim Media Research

New Issue of the Journal of Arab and Muslim Media Research | Digital Islam: "The Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research released its new issue (Vol. 6, Issue 2-3, 2013), edited by Noureddine Miladi from the Qatar University. The issue focuses on the role and impact of traditional and new media in the Middle East region."

Some interesting topics here, although each article has to be purchased.  One section includes reference to UK organisations in cyberspace. I'd like to see a review of this journal's content.

Israeli blogger asks: does the Gaza conflict make me look fat?

Israeli blogger asks: does the Gaza conflict make me look fat? - Al Arabiya News "An Israeli blogger has stirred controversy after she penned a blog post on the Times of Israel’s website lamenting that the conflict in Gaza - which has killed close to 1,800 Palestinians - had caused her to gain weight."

Bomb Gaza: the 'disgusting' games on Google's app store

Bomb Gaza: the 'disgusting' games on Google's app store - Telegraph: "Chris Doyle, the director of The Council for Arab-British Understanding, said that such games were in “very, very poor taste”.

"“These games glorify the horror and violence of the bombing of Gaza, sanitising for a younger generation what is a dreadful conflict that has killed thousands and decimated the lives of hundreds of thousands. It raises serious questions of Google’s ethical standards if these games remain hosted on its platforms,” he said."

Screen shot below is taken from the Android game 'Wack the Hamas'

International Society for Media, Religion and Culture conference

I gave a paper on 4th August entitled 'Islamic Big Data' at the International Society for Media, Religion and Culture conference in Canterbury, Kent. This was part of a panel I convened on Contemporary issues in Islam. It also featured Mona Abdel-Fadel ("'Frustration Creates Miracles': Islamist Women Activists before, during and after the Egyptian Uprisings"); Ibrahim Abusharif ("Arab Spring, Media and Islam"); and Vit Sisler ("Playing with Representations of Islam in Arab and American Video Games"). It was great to see the presentations from the rest of the panel, and to get several interesting questions afterwards. 

Islam Yaken, a cosmopolitan Egyptian who turned into ISIS fighter

Meet Islam Yaken, a cosmopolitan Egyptian who turned into ISIS fighter - Al Arabiya News "Egyptians on social media were abuzz over the weekend expressing bewilderment over a young man named Islam Yaken, who according to social media posts, had led a cosmopolitan lifestyle before teaming up with the radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)."

Saudi Arabia is Using Social Media to Entrap LGBTs

Saudi Arabia is Using Social Media to Entrap LGBTs | Care2 Causes:

"A Saudi Arabian gay man has reportedly been sentenced to 450 lashes and three years in jail after religious police used social media to entrap him, and sadly this isn’t the first case of its kind."