{"id":3209,"date":"2015-10-12T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T16:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thediplomaticenvoy.com\/?p=3209"},"modified":"2015-10-12T11:53:13","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T15:53:13","slug":"isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"ISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Matthew Schaller<\/a><\/strong>
\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite ideological differences, both sides of the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State utilize the same tool for recruitment: social media. It\u00a0is a prominent\u00a0example of how technology is able to shape the human psyche on both sides of this\u00a0complex spectrum, whether it be a troubled teen in suburban America being courted by the radical group, or battle-hardened war veterans trying to escape their mundane lives by fighting alongside the Kurdish People\u2019s Protection Units, or the YPG.<\/p>\n

For both sides,\u00a0recruitment is easy. According to the New York Times, a manual written by Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the precursor to the Islamic State, entitled, \u201cA Course in the Art of Recruiting,\u201d states that recruiters should \u201clisten to his conversation carefully\u201d and \u201cshare his joys and sadness\u201d in order to draw the prospective recruit closer.<\/p>\n

This 24-hour online recruitment effort by the Islamic State caught the attention of Alex, a 23-year-old Sunday school teacher and recent college dropout who was increasingly adrift. Eventually, she struck a relationship with an Islamic State fighter named Monzer Hamad, whose kindness and curiosity struck Alex.\u00a0 In due course, she started communicating online\u00a0with\u00a0over a dozen radical sympathizers of the Islamic State, and not even Twitter users including @KindLadyAdilah could help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know they seem sweet,\u201d @KindLadyAdilah\u00a0warned. “They are grooming you.\u201d<\/p>\n

This same phenomena can be witnessed in the Kurdish YPG\u2019s recruitment of foreign fighters to support the cause against the Islamic State. A Facebook group called\u00a0\u201cThe Lions of Rojava\u201d has recruited fighters from Europe, America, and as far away as Ghana in West Africa. When Clay Lawton, a former Army veteran, received videos via email from a friend\u00a0of the atrocities committed by the Islamic State, he immediately Googled \u201chow to fight ISIS.\u201d Eventually, Lawton got\u00a0in contact with a representative from the website, and soon took\u00a0a one-way trip to Sulaimaniya, Iraq.<\/p>\n

However, despite both the two sides of this radical spectrum being lured by\u00a0social media in order to quench the first for a more meaningful existence, the cracks started\u00a0to show the moment they entered.<\/p>\n

Alex\u2019s acceptance into\u00a0the group caused an increased isolation from her family, which led them to contact the FBI.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, foreign soldiers fighting with the YPG were brought together by feelings of adventurism and delusions of grandeur. Eventually, what resulted were purposeless days of fighting alongside inexperienced Kurdish soldiers with no sense of military tactic. What resulted from this, according to the New York Times, was the death of six foreigners at the hands of ISIS by the end of this summer.<\/p>\n

Anna Erelle, a French freelance journalist, wanted to explore this phenomenon further by posing as a helpless youth\u00a0on the path to complete radical transition. After a few months of correspondence with an Islamic State member from Syria named Abu Bilel, she realized the importance of these recruiters in targeting the weak and promising them a fresh start in the Holy Land, similarly to what happened in relation to Alex. Additionally, Erelle\u2019s affection for children also caught the attention of Bilel, who suggested that she could be a surrogate mother to orphaned children, in the same way that the Kurdish YPG took advantage of the mundane lifestyles of their foreign recruits.<\/p>\n

According to the British Home Office, charges could be brought forward \u201cthat will depend on the nature of the conflict and the individual\u2019s own activities.” Another determinant of charges\u00a0is the YPG\u2019s connection to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the British Home Office, charges could be brought forward \u201cthat will depend on the nature of the conflict and the individual\u2019s own activities.” Another determinant of charges is the YPG\u2019s connection to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,386,388],"tags":[465,496,545,569,570],"class_list":["post-3209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-news","category-asia","category-mid-east","tag-isis","tag-social-media","tag-pkk","tag-islamic-state","tag-kurdistan-workers-party"],"yoast_head":"\nISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media - The Diplomatic Envoy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media - The Diplomatic Envoy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to the British Home Office, charges could be brought forward \u201cthat will depend on the nature of the conflict and the individual\u2019s own activities." Another determinant of charges is the YPG\u2019s connection to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Diplomatic Envoy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-12T16:00:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/12\\\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/12\\\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"ISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-12T16:00:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/12\\\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":610,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"ISIS\",\"social media\",\"PKK\",\"Islamic State\",\"Kurdistan Workers' Party\"],\"articleSection\":[\"International News\",\"Asia\",\"Middle East\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/12\\\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/12\\\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/12\\\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\\\/\",\"name\":\"ISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media - The Diplomatic Envoy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-12T16:00:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/12\\\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/12\\\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/12\\\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Diplomatic Envoy\",\"description\":\"Words Beyond Borders\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media - The Diplomatic Envoy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media - The Diplomatic Envoy","og_description":"According to the British Home Office, charges could be brought forward \u201cthat will depend on the nature of the conflict and the individual\u2019s own activities.\" Another determinant of charges is the YPG\u2019s connection to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/","og_site_name":"The Diplomatic Envoy","article_published_time":"2015-10-12T16:00:20+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"ISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media","datePublished":"2015-10-12T16:00:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/"},"wordCount":610,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["ISIS","social media","PKK","Islamic State","Kurdistan Workers' Party"],"articleSection":["International News","Asia","Middle East"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/","name":"ISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media - The Diplomatic Envoy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-10-12T16:00:20+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/10\/12\/isis-rivals-recruit-fighters-on-social-media\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ISIS, Rivals Recruit Fighters on Social Media"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/","name":"The Diplomatic Envoy","description":"Words Beyond Borders","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3209"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3222,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3209\/revisions\/3222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}