Exclusive: ’Daesh,’ Al-Qaeda Use Media Propaganda As Weapon to Sell World Crimes
How is it that notorious and remorseless extremist groups are able to attract many youth and older people, and natives as well as foreigners worldwide to commit unspeakable atrocities in an unjustifiable battle today?
How is it that they are able to convince them to become ‘one and the same’ by adopting their extreme beliefs, principles, and ideologies as well as their very practices?
In an exclusive interview with Al-Ahed News site, an expert in the Studies of “Islamic” Groups, Usama Munasfi, offers us with some insight and awareness into the ongoing propaganda and tactical techniques being exploited by the notorious so-called “Daesh” [ISIL] and al-Qaeda terror organizations.
Munasfi looks at the two extremist groups and their online publications of “Dabiq” magazine (published by “Daesh”), and the “Inspire” magazine (published by al-Qaeda).
According to Munasfi, while al-Qaeda and its likes have been successful in luring followers by taking advantage of media publications, the groups’ greatest success has been through the exploitation of social media. Reports from Western intelligence agencies also confirm this phenomenon and hold specialized conferences for this purpose, in order to counter the proliferation of al-Qaeda and “Daesh” over mass communication networks.
As for the specific techniques used to allure people and the public, Munasfi said that various methods are used for this matter; the extremist groups rely on exploiting religious discourse on one hand, by taking advantage of the crises of entities in the Muslim world and by doing so, they incite the youth to join the ranks of “jihadist” groups.
In addition, the groups also attempt as much as possible to use the finest, technical specifications to match the anti-”jihadist” propaganda. These groups are specialized in graphic design and writing, and they give the media work a kind of importance that could possibly exceed that of the battle itself, Munasfi adds.
The use of the ‘Palestinian cause’ as being central to one of the latest of al-Qaeda’s issues is no coincidence, Munasfi further says; Palestine has been echoed a lot by previous al-Qaeda leaderships. The extremists are therefore then inspired by the symbol of this cause which gets misconstrued in the process in order to attract supporters and followers, and to justify their ill-famed actions around the world.
Munasfi further points out that both “Dabiq” and “Inspire” published in the English language and is aimed at the public, while not solely being limited necessarily to the West; the magazines, he says, also address the peoples of the Islamic world in the language of the present times, that of English.
In the Arab world, there are multiple electronic versions that aim to influence the Arab public, he says.
Speaking about the differences involving the content of both magazines, Munasfi says this is due to the nature of the al-Qaeda and “Daesh” groups on one hand, and to the political and field priorities on another hand.
Al-Qaeda is a military organization which has made striking the United States its priorities, while “Daesh” is an ideological group that claims to create a “caliphate state” with its very own hands, Munasfi says.
Moreover, al-Qaeda is primarily running a military conflict, whereas the conflict by “Daesh” against its enemies often holds that of an ideological nature, he adds.
According to Munasfi, electronic media has recently witnessed the emergence of two productions of armed groups: One being “Dabiq,” which belongs to the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” [ISIL]; and the other being “Inspire,” belonging to the “al-Qaeda” organization.
Source: al-Ahed news
