not an American concern. next ...
On Wednesday, April 30, 2014 2:41:21 PM UTC-5, Travis wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > *04.30.14 > http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/30/islamic-extremists-now-crucifying-people-in-syria-and-tweeting-out-the-pictures.html > > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/30/islamic-extremists-now-crucifying-people-in-syria-and-tweeting-out-the-pictures.html> > * > Islamic Extremists Now Crucifying People in Syria—and Tweeting Out the > Pictures > > The jihadist group so radical it got kicked out of al Qaeda has apparently > hit a new and shocking low: It’s allegedly crucifying its enemies. > > Public crucifixions are mostly ceremonial these days, staged rituals that > some Christian communities enact as part of their Easter observance. But > the real thing may be returning to Syria. Two men were reportedly crucified > in Raqqa on Tuesday, their bloody corpses displayed in the center of a town > controlled by the most severe of Syria’s Islamist factions. > > Among the forms of slaughter that have become commonplace in Syria’s > civil war, crucifixion may be no more brutal than barrel bombs or sarin gas > attacks. But the revival of an ancient form of torture is one sign of what > life is like under the rule of one of Syria’s powerful Islamist factions. > And it’s an indication that, despite years of public hand-wringing in the > West over Syria’s bloody and rapid decline, the country is continuing to > plummet into new depths of the abyss. > > Below the photo of a crucified body, the message on a jihadist Twitter > account reads, “One of 7 people executed by ISIS in Raqqa today on > charges of planting IEDs,” or improvised explosive devices. The person > behind the account, which is not being linked here to prevent driving > traffic to a jihadist site, claims to be a member of the Islamic State in > Iraq and the ash-Sham (ISIS), an Islamist group that was repudiated by al > Qaeda in early 2014, in part for being so extremist that they became a > “liability > to the al-Qaeda > brand,<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/al-qaeda-disavows-any-ties-with-radical-islamist-isis-group-in-syria-iraq/2014/02/03/2c9afc3a-8cef-11e3-98ab-fe5228217bd1_story.html> > ” according to Aaron Zelin, a jihadi-watcher at the Washington Institute > for Near East Policy. > > The dead man in the photo hangs limply from a makeshift crucifix; blood > stains the wooden plank to which his outstretched arms are bound. The black > stripe of a blindfold covers his eyes. A young boy stands feet from the > strung-up body, at the front of a crowd gathered around the cross. > > Another photo of a different man’s crucifixion shows a similar scene. In > that image too, a young boy stands only feet from a lifeless corpse bound > to a cross and publicly displayed. > > It’s unclear whether those killed belonged to pro-regime factions or were > members of other anti-Assad Islamist groups that have been warring with > ISIS for control in Syria. > > [image: 140429-siegel-crucifixtion-embed]via Twitter > > The details surrounding the photos have not yet been verified but the > founder of a group called “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered,” Abu Ibrahim > Alrquaoui<http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/04/29/al-qaeda-linked-jihadists-accused-hanging-victims-on-crosses/>, > > claims that he was present at the crucifixions when they occurred and took > the photos. Little is known about Alrquaoui. > > Images of the crucifixion have been spreading over social media since > Tuesday morning, pushed out both by anti-ISIS accounts to show the group’s > brutality, and by proud members of ISIS who view the public crucifixions as > a sign of their strength and an effective recruiting tool. > > One jihadist twitter account commented on the crucifixion, ‘LOL become > new false jesus.’ Another replied, “the spy next to him started urinating > as soon as we tied him up.’ > > Congratulatory messages quickly appeared beneath the original tweet > announcing the executions in Raqqa and displaying the crucifixion. Another > jihadist Twitter account, fluent in both English and Internet-speak, > responded to the photo with gloating congratulations and a quip about the > image of the murdered man, “lol become new false jesus.” Egged on, the > original poster replied “the spy next to him started urinating as soon as > we tied him up, about 10 minutes after he was killed.” > > Raqqa, where the crucifixions reportedly occurred, was the first Syrian > province the Assad regime lost to the rebels when ISIS took control of the > area in 2013. Since planting the black flag of extremist Islam, ISIS has > placed Raqqa under its repressive rule. Earlier this year, the small > Christian community remaining in Raqqa received an ultimatum from ISIS > leaders demanding that they pay a tax and submit to a set of prescriptive > rules in exchange for a guarantee of their safety. In an official > statement <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26366197> ISIS > claimed to have met with Raqqa’s Christian leaders and presented them > with three choices: conversion to Islam, accepting the restrictions placed > on them, or death. > > The executions reported to have taken place on Tuesday were not the first > crucifixions carried out by ISIS since it took control of Raqqa. They were > only the first after this year’s Easter celebration. Last month, the > group publicly > crucified<http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/04/29/al-qaeda-linked-jihadists-accused-hanging-victims-on-crosses/>an > > accused thief. > > The crucifixions appear to document ISIS’s barbaric idea of justice and > the group’s use of terrorism, staging brutal symbolic acts of violence, > to maintain the complete obedience of the populace under its rule. The > crucifixions may be disturbing to Western eyes because of their Biblical > resonance. But the gruesome scene may be even more symbolically potent to > the Muslim residents of Raqqa as a message about what happens to those that > ISIS judges against. > > Any one individual victim’s death is final. But the image of bodies > hanging on crosses in the center of town serves as ongoing reminder about > ISIS’s power and a warning. > > > > > > > __._,_.___ > > > Visit Your > Group<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZTNtdHFrBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzEzOTg4ODU4MTE-> > > > > [image: Yahoo! > Groups]<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlMnIwODVmBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTM5ODg4NTgxMQ--> > > • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • > Unsubscribe <javascript:> • Terms of > Use<https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> > > __,_._,___ > > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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