Input data for COPILOT development of threat assessment

Antithesis Biology/Culture Ideologies repeatedly Dissimulate (Adapt, Discover, Improvise) until they reach thresholds to Overcome or are allowed to survive to repeat the process.

Why?

The Antithesis cultural ideology codex word categorisation of Other, and conflict resolution methodology do not change. "Research suggests words significantly shape a culture’s motivation, beliefs, and actions."

There is always a biology/culture ideology clarion call of freedom from, Freedom to

Freedom! Freedom! Freedom to do what to whom, for whose benefit for whose detriment.

Our own biology/culture ideology, Other biology/culture ideologies, geography, ecology, circumscribe our perceived notion of Freedom which does not exist it is a Plato form we can only ever have relative independence within in these constraints. My view is that the least threatening biology/culture ideology would be that which seeks to maximise each of the following

Utilise the following notions of freedom to create for each a valuation gradient from  0  to 10 against each biology/culture ideology  with 10 being the complete achievement of that freedom and 0 being no discernible existence within the biology/culture ideology. Contrast this with each biology/culture ideologies claims as to their systems delivering such freedoms as well as examining each biology/culture ideology  codex establishing the extent the codex supports these claims utilising the same 0-10 gradient.

Types of Freedom

·         Political Freedom: A condition where individuals can freely participate in the political life of their country. This includes the right to vote, run for office, and join a political party. It ensures people’s voices are heard and represented at all levels of governance. 

·         Economic Freedom: This refers to the liberty to conduct business and financial affairs without unnecessary interference. It includes an individual’s prerogative to manage their wealth and resources as they see fit. Economic freedom fosters entrepreneurial spirits and amplifies market competition leading to societal wealth and prosperity.

·         Religious Freedom: Religious freedom allows any individual to practice their religion of choice without fear of hindrance or reprisal. It includes both the freedom to express one’s faith privately and in public, and to change one’s faith or refuse religious adherence altogether. This type of freedom supports societal diversity and harmony.

·         Freedom of Speech: This denotes the right to articulate one’s views and ideas publicly without fear of censorship, reprisal, or legal punishment. Freedom of speech encourages the open dialogue necessary for democratic societies to function effectively. This freedom, however, does not protect hate speech or inciting violence and danger to others.

·         Freedom of Thought: Freedom of thought permits individuals to think and hold opinions freely, free from external influences or coercion. This refers not only to the content of one’s ideas, but also to the process by which these ideas are formed. It thus underpins almost all other forms of freedom, including freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

·         Freedom of Assembly: Freedom of assembly secures the right of individuals to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their common interests. Whether for a political, religious, or social cause, this liberty is key to democracy, allowing peaceful protests and rallies. However, it does not extend to gatherings that incite lawlessness or violence.

·         Freedom of the Press: The fundamental freedom of the press signifies the lack of interference from both, the authorities and any other controlling bodies. It ensures the media’s ability to gather and distribute news and opinions freely. This independent and unfiltered flow of information is pivotal for a democratic society.

·         Freedom of Movement: This freedom involves the individual’s right to move freely within a country or to travel out of it. The freedom of movement includes the liberty to choose where to live, subject to respect for the rights of others. Any limitations, such as imposed due to a pandemic, must be lawful, necessary, and proportionate.

·         Freedom of Choice: Freedom of choice signifies an individual’s right to make decisions about their life without external coercion. Whether this involves personal matters like lifestyle choices or more public affairs like voting, this freedom empowers personal autonomy. However, it doesn’t grant permission to harm others or violate laws.

·         Intellectual Freedom: Intellectual freedom ensures the right to access, explore, and express ideas without fear of censorship or retribution. It encourages the pursuit of knowledge, creativity, and progress across many fields. This underpins academic, artistic, and journalistic pursuits where open information exchange is vital.

·         Artistic Freedom: Artistic freedom enables artists to create and express without censorship or government interference. It involves respect for artists’ creative processes, their right to reflect diverse perspectives, and explore sensitive or controversial topics. This freedom fuels cultural diversity and societal commentary.

·         Educational Freedom: Educational freedom allows individuals (or their parents) choice in the type and manner of education received. It can involve decisions about attending public vs private schools, home-schooling, or the desire for specific programming including special needs or gifted education. This freedom supports diverse learning styles and needs.

·         Freedom of Association: Freedom of association recognizes individuals’ rights to organize themselves into groups for purposes of their choice. This could range from forming labor unions to creating special interest clubs, to assembling political parties. This freedom enables collective bargaining and fuels democratic representation.

·         Informational Freedom: Informational Freedom is the right to seek, receive, and distribute information without restriction. It covers the realms of the internet, data protection, and privacy laws. This freedom ensures a transparent and informed society, but must be balanced with respect for private data and national security.

·         Personal Freedom: Personal freedom is the holistic right to live your life as you see fit, without undue restrictions, provided you respect the rights of others. This encompasses myriad more specific freedoms including freedom of thought, speech, and action. It supports personal growth, life planning, and fulfillment.

·         Freedom from Fear: Freedom from fear represents the rights to personal security and peace of life. It safeguards individuals from violence, threats, intimidation, and state aggression. Maintenance of this freedom forms the crux of public safety and law enforcement work.

·         Freedom from Want: Freedom from Want encapsulates rights to basic needs such as food, shelter, and healthcare. It posits that no one should live in poverty, and underlines the importance of social welfare systems. Protecting this freedom is a key aim of equitable economic policies and human rights legislation.

·         Sexual Freedom: Sexual freedom involves the rights to express one’s sexuality and engage in consensual sexual activity. It also guarantees freedom from sexual violence and coercion. This freedom underscores the significance of consent, sexual education, and equality law.

·         Medical Freedom: Medical freedom safeguards individuals’ rights to choose their healthcare treatments. This involves the right to accept or refuse specific treatments and to make informed decisions about personal health. Balance between this liberty and public health interests can sometimes result in societal debates, like during vaccination campaigns.

·         Emotional Freedom: Emotional freedom refers to the right to express one’s emotions without fear of stigma, ostracism, or repression. This encompasses mental health acceptance and the right to seek help for mental and emotional distress. Support for this freedom promotes psychological wellbeing and social cohesion.

·         Digital Freedom: Digital freedom involves the rights to access the internet, use digital resources, and engage in online activities without unnecessary restriction or surveillance. It ensures the liberty to express views, seek information and communicate online safely. This freedom is coming increasingly into focus as we push further into the digital age.

·         Freedom of Expression: Freedom of expression constitutes the individual’s right to articulate their opinions, ideas, and emotions. It encourages honest dialogues, debates, and a marketplace of ideas vital for societal progress. While this freedom has wider scope than freedom of speech, it does not include the right to incite actions that harm other people.

·         Scientific Freedom: Scientific freedom permits researchers to explore and experiment within their field without hindrance, often to discover or infer how the universe or particular aspects of it work. It encompasses the abilities to publish findings and engage with the international scientific community. Balance should be maintained between this and ethical considerations, as outlined in research protocols.

·         Academic Freedom: Academic freedom guarantees educators and researchers the liberty to teach, study, and publish without interference or fear of retribution. It champions intellectual debate and the growth of knowledge across disciplines. Universities and colleges worldwide regard it as vital for academic progress.

·         Freedom of Conscience: Freedom of conscience is the right to have and express your own thoughts, beliefs, and moral judgments freely. It allows individuals to act in line with their deep-seated convictions and refrain from actions contrasting with these, provided they don’t infringe on others’ rights. This freedom acknowledges the spectrum of human beliefs and experiences.

·         Freedom of Identity: Freedom of identity pertains to one’s right to establish and express their self-identity without fear of discrimination or reprisal. It includes elements such as gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, and culture. Recognition and protection of this freedom promote human dignity and social cohesion.

·         Environmental Freedom: Environmental freedom refers to the individual and societal right to live in a safe, sustainable and healthy environment. It includes aspects like access to clean air and water, and the conservation of natural habitats. This freedom underlines the urgency of climate action and environmental policies.

·         Technological Freedom: Technological freedom recognizes an individual’s right to use, understand, and develop technologies. It encompasses activities like coding, using software, and leveraging technology to facilitate everyday tasks. This freedom, while embracing technological advancements, must also consider privacy and security issues.

·         Freedom from Discrimination: Freedom from discrimination guarantees protection from differential treatment based on attributes such as race, gender, age, religion or nationality. It upholds the concept of equality, promoting fair opportunities for everyone. This freedom is a fundamental human right, guiding legislatures and societies worldwide.

·         Freedom of Privacy: Freedom of privacy is the right to keep one’s personal life and information secret from or inaccessible by others. It covers aspects like personal data security, protection from surveillance, and confidentiality. As technology advances, so does the importance of laws and norms maintaining this freedom.

·         Freedom from Violence: Freedom from violence encapsulates the right of every individual to safety and security, be it in public or private spaces. It acknowledges every individual’s inviolability and the state’s role in preventing, addressing, and sanctioning violent behaviors. It forms the basis of peaceful societies and is essential to human dignity.

·         Freedom from Torture: Freedom from torture guarantees individuals protection from cruel or degrading treatment. This ban applies regardless of circumstances, be it in times of peace, war, or public emergency. Human rights law vigorously defends this freedom, holding that torture, under no circumstances, can be justified.

·         Freedom from Slavery: Freedom from slavery prohibits all forms of human trafficking, forced labour, and child labour, treating them as grave human rights violations. It ensures every person’s right to liberty and rejection of subjugation. This freedom is absolute, carrying a universal and unconditional ban.

·         Freedom of Petition: Freedom of petition ensures the human right to address the authorities by way of petition, securing the responsiveness of governmental bodies towards its citizens. It thereby serves as a tool for public participation in governmental affairs, ranging from local to national issues. This freedom directly fuels democracy and state accountability to its citizens.

·         Freedom from Interference: Freedom from interference encapsulates protections of private life, family, and home from intrusion by the state and other entities. It ensures respect for one’s personal and private rights, allowing individuals to live without unnecessary disruptions. It’s important to balance such freedom against societal and law enforcement requirements.

·         Freedom of Contract: Freedom of contract allows individuals to freely enter into agreements with others, setting their terms within the limits of law. It forms the basis for many private interactions and transactions in society, from employment to housing contracts. This freedom, however, doesn’t permit arrangements violating societal norms, ethical standards, or law.

·         Freedom from Oppression: Freedom from oppression protects individuals from unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power. It upholds the right to live without systemic societal or political constraints or abuses. Building societies free from oppression requires constant struggle to uphold human rights, promote justice, and ensure equality.

·         Freedom of Action: Freedom of action primarily refers to everyone’s right to do as they please, so long as their actions don’t infringe upon the rights of others. It forms the cornerstone of individual liberty. While promoting personal exercise of agency, it also calls for responsibility and recognition of societal bounds.

·         Freedom from Exploitation: Freedom from exploitation guarantees protection from being used or treated unfairly for others’ benefits. It manifests in multiple specifics like child labor laws, minimum wage regulations, and protections against sexual exploitation. This freedom signifies a progressive socio-economic environment championing human welfare and dignity.

·         Freedom of Dissent: Freedom of dissent is the right to disagree or refuse to conform to official policies or prevalent opinions without fear of punitive action. It applies particularly in political and social contexts, enabling people to voice opposition and seek change. Ensuring such freedom fuels the democratic process and protects societal development.

 

Biology /culture ideology dissimulate whilst they are in the process of persecuting Other by utilising believable apologists sometimes placed in a State powerful hierarch position, or significant leaders culture-ideology institutions who perform publicly apologizing for past-present persecutions, blame shifting to “extremist” groups walking directly from their own family, community and institution development floors where indoctrination training regards conflict resolution methodology of violence against Other internal and external can be clearly shown to have occurred pledging to uphold values of justice, peace, and love. This is generally accompanied  by highlighting the explicit text in their codex condemning  such behaviour inevitably in existence in most codex to assuage the conscience of the adherents and fear within Other arising from actual events on the ground and the other text within the codex which underwrites those actual events.

I for one believed in the Marxist communist ideal of economic democracy of the workers a 1960s idea of freedom within even Stalinism what I did not understand is what the "dictatorship of the proletariat” re-education of the masses meant in reality and the benefits one may derive from such a system say free child care, free medical care, free from the onerous nature of repetitive work, the illusion of workers control rather than draconian control meant in reality with millions oppressed and killed.

I for one believed you could have a rational conversation with any group who espoused peace and love for all from their codex I was wrong and here I am seeking to find a method by which humanity may discern threat before it manifests itself. Ignore what is said however elaborately presented and by whom with what lies on the ground.

391 AD: “Theophilus Patriarch of Alexandria released his monks to attack pagans who had occupied the Serupium, temple to Serapis, centre of an important library and lecture halls the museion, academy of arts and sciences founded in the 3rd century BC by King Ptolemy I. The Monks attacked the pagans, the argument was the pagans were secretly worshiping in underground sanctuaries, and this was against the laws recently passed by the Emperor Theodosius I. […] The result of this attack on the Serupium and museion was that classical Alexandria was essentially destroyed and Christian Alexandria emerged. Scholars and popular writers have viewed this destruction as a turning point, and there is a good reason to do so, the pagans that witnessed it, witnessed this destruction were absolutely intimidated and there are reports of conversions on the spot. […].. The Christians finally destroyed the pagan sanctuaries, where essentially between 391-414 wiped out that elite class that provided the neo-platonic philosophers.”
The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity, Professor Kenneth W. H

 

“It (Damascus-Syria) has seen empires and tyrants come and go; it offers a fantastic object-lesson in how people can live together creatively and in harmony. It is a wonderful city in which to be. …. a fantastic object-lesson in how people can live together creatively and in harmony"
British Historian Dan Cruickshank BBC series "Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture, Episode 5 Connections, Syria, Damascus 2008, First aired on BBC Two in April 2008

 

634 CE: Muslim Conquest and Initial Subjugation

In 634 CE, Damascus fell to Muslim forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid after a siege, ending Byzantine Christian rule. Christians, who formed the majority, were granted dhimmi status under the Pact of Umar, requiring payment of jizya tax and adherence to restrictions on religious practices. While not an immediate atrocity, early enforcement involved demolitions of churches built post-conquest and limitations on public worship, setting a precedent for subjugation. Reports from Byzantine chroniclers like Theophanes describe looting and killings during the siege, with estimates of several thousand Christian deaths. This event initiated a pattern of control over Christian communities.

7th–10th Centuries: Sporadic Persecutions Under Umayyad and Abbasid Rule

During the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE), headquartered in Damascus, Christians faced intermittent violence. In 722 CE, Caliph Yazid II ordered the destruction of Christian icons and churches, leading to widespread demolitions. The Abbasid era (750–1258 CE) saw further restrictions, including the 9th-century decree by Caliph al-Mutawakkil mandating distinctive clothing for Christians and barring them from public office. Historical accounts, such as those in Al-Tabari's chronicles, document forced conversions and executions for apostasy, though large-scale atrocities were rare in Damascus itself.

1840 CE: The Damascus Affair and Blood Libel

In 1840, the Damascus Affair involved false blood libel accusations against Jews, but it escalated into broader anti-Christian violence under Ottoman rule. Christian monasteries were attacked, and several Christians were arrested and tortured amid the chaos. This incident culminated in international intervention but highlighted sectarian tensions, with reports of dozens of Christian deaths and property destruction.

1860 CE: The Damascus Massacre

One of the most severe atrocities occurred in July 1860 during sectarian riots in Damascus, where Druze and Muslim mobs targeted the Christian quarter, killing an estimated 3,000–6,000 Christians over several days. Churches were looted and burned, and women and children were subjected to rape and enslavement. The violence was fueled by Ottoman administrative failures and ethnic tensions, leading to French intervention and reforms.

1915–1918 CE: The Armenian Genocide's Impact on Damascus Christians

During World War I, the Ottoman Empire's genocide against Armenians extended to Syrian Christians, with Damascus serving as a deportation hub. Thousands of Armenian Christians were marched through Damascus to death camps, with local Christians facing reprisals for aiding them. Estimates indicate hundreds of Damascus Christians were killed or displaced.

2011–Present: The Syrian Civil War and Targeted Attacks

The Syrian civil war, beginning in 2011, has seen renewed atrocities against Christians in Damascus. Islamist groups like ISIS and al-Nusra Front have targeted Christian neighborhoods, with bombings of churches (e.g., 2012 attack on St. George's Cathedral) and kidnappings. In 2013, Maaloula near Damascus was seized by jihadists, resulting in church desecrations and 12 deaths. By 2025, amid ongoing conflict, reports document over 165 church destructions nationwide, with Damascus Christians facing arrests and forced conversions by regime forces and militias.

Christian Population Estimates at the Beginning and End

At the beginning of the timeline, in the 7th century CE, prior to the Muslim conquest, Christians comprised approximately 80% of Syria's population, with Damascus as a major Christian center under Byzantine rule. Estimates suggest 3.8 million Christians in Syria by 722 CE, out of a total population of around 4.75 million, indicating a similar proportion in Damascus.

By 2025, the Christian population in Syria has drastically declined to less than 2%, or approximately 300,000 individuals, from 1.5 million in 2011. In Damascus specifically, the Christian community has shrunk from a substantial presence to a small minority, with recent estimates indicating a few thousand remaining amid displacement and emigration.

 

“The discussions on The Amman Message were held in Amman, Jordan. This statement, issued by King Abdullah II of Jordan, aimed to clarify the true nature of Islam and promote unity among Muslims.” “

The Three Points of The Amman Message V.2

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

May peace and blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad and his pure and noble family

(1) Whosoever is an adherent to one of the four Sunni schools (Mathahib) of Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi`i andHanbali), the two Shi’i schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Ja`fari and Zaydi), the Ibadi school of Islamic jurisprudence and the Thahirischool of Islamic jurisprudence, is a Muslim. Declaring that person an apostate is impossible and impermissible. Verily his (or her) blood, honour, and property are inviolable. Moreover, in accordance with the Shaykh Al-Azhar’s fatwa, it is neither possible nor permissible to declare whosoever subscribes to the Ash`ari creed or whoever practices real Tasawwuf (Sufism) an apostate. Likewise, it is neither possible nor permissible to declare whosoever subscribes to true Salafi thought an apostate.

Equally, it is neither possible nor permissible to declare as apostates any other group of Muslims who believes in God, Glorified and Exalted be He, and His Messenger (may peace and blessings be upon him), the pillars of faith (Iman), and the five pillars of Islam, and does not deny any necessarily self-evident tenet of religion.

 

(2) There exists more in common between the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence than there is difference between them. The adherents to the eight schools of Islamic jurisprudence are in agreement as regards the basic principles of Islam. All believe in Allah (God), Glorified and Exalted be He, the One and the Unique; that the Noble Qur’an is the Revealed Word of God preserved and protected by God, Exalted be He, from any change or aberration; and that our master Muhammad, may blessings and peace be upon him, is a Prophet and Messenger unto all mankind. All are in agreement about the five pillars of Islam: the two testaments of faith (shahadatayn); the ritual prayer (salat); almsgiving (zakat); fasting the month of Ramadan (sawm), and the Hajj to the sacred house of God (in Mecca). All are also in agreement about the foundations of belief: belief in Allah (God), His angels, His scriptures, His messengers, and in the Day of Judgment, in Divine Providence in good and in evil. Disagreements between the ‘ulama (scholars) of the eight schools of Islamic jurisprudence are only with respect to the ancillary branches of religion (furu`) and some fundamentals (usul) [of the religion of Islam]. Disagreement with respect to the ancillary branches of religion (furu`) is a mercy. Long ago it was said that variance in opinion among the ‘ulama (scholars) “is a mercy”.

 

(3) Acknowledgement of the schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Mathahib) within Islam means adhering to a fundamental methodology in the issuance of fatwas: no one may issue a fatwa without the requisite qualifications of knowledge. No one may issue a fatwa without adhering to the methodology of the schools of Islamic jurisprudence. No one may claim to do unlimited Ijtihad and create a new opinion or issue unacceptable fatwas that take Muslims out of the principles and certainties of the Shari`ahand what has been established in respect of its schools of jurisprudence.
(July 2005–July 2006) Total number of signatures: 552 * from 84 countries

 

“Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then Turkey’s prime minister, in 2008 presented himself as a moderate and modernizing Muslim leader, as Mr. Erdogan sought to secure a place for his country in the European Union.
Turkey’s descent into authoritarianism and crisis has destroyed whatever hopes remained that the country’s president might serve as a force for moderation.
In Western capitals a decade ago, Turkey’s now-paramount leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held promise as a potential beacon of democracy for a region rife with religious conflict.”
The West Hoped for Democracy in Turkey. Erdogan Had Other Ideas., NYT, By Peter S. Goodman, Aug. 18, 2018

 

"(Turkish) President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Europeans would not be able to walk safely on the streets if they kept up their current attitude toward Turkey, his latest salvo in a row over campaigning by Turkish politicians in Europe."
Toksabay, E. G., Tuvan (2017). Erdogan warns Europeans 'will not walk safely' if attitude persists, as row carries on. Reuters, Thompson Reuters.

 

ISIS emerged from al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2004. After being largely defeated, it reemerged in 2011 during the Syrian civil war, and in April 2013, it officially renamed itself "the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham" (ISIS). The group declared a caliphate in June 2014.

 

The Timeline of ISIS Atrocities

2014: Establishment of the Caliphate and Initial Massacres

In June 2014, ISIS declared a caliphate in captured territories across Iraq and Syria, marking the onset of systematic atrocities. The group executed approximately 1,700 Iraqi Shia soldiers in the Camp Speicher massacre near Tikrit, one of the largest single-day killings by ISIS. In August 2014, ISIS launched a genocidal campaign against the Yezidi minority in Sinjar, Iraq, killing over 5,000, enslaving 7,000 women and children as sex slaves, and displacing 200,000. This included mass executions, forced conversions, and sexual violence, recognized as genocide by the UN in 2016. By December 2014, ISIS had beheaded Western hostages, including journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, broadcasting videos to instill global fear.

2015: Expansion and International Attacks

ISIS's atrocities expanded beyond the Middle East in 2015. In January, the group claimed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, killing 12 in retaliation for cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. In March, ISIS attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunisia, killing 22 tourists. June saw the Sousse beach massacre in Tunisia, with 38 deaths, primarily British tourists. November's Paris attacks targeted the Bataclan theater and other sites, resulting in 130 deaths and over 400 injuries, involving coordinated suicide bombings and shootings. In October, ISIS downed a Russian Metrojet flight over Sinai, killing 224. Within Iraq and Syria, ISIS continued enslaving Yezidi women and executing minorities, with estimates of 3,000 Yezidi deaths by year's end.

2016: Peak Territorial Control and Global Terror

In 2016, ISIS held maximum territory but intensified atrocities. March's Brussels bombings killed 32 and injured 340. June's Orlando nightclub shooting in the U.S., inspired by ISIS, killed 49. July's Nice truck attack in France killed 86. In Iraq, ISIS's Fallujah offensive involved chemical weapons and civilian shields, killing hundreds. In Syria, the siege of Aleppo included barrel bombs and executions, with UN estimates of 400 civilian deaths in ISIS-held areas. The group continued public beheadings and burnings, including caging and immolating prisoners.

2017: Territorial Losses and Retaliatory Attacks

As ISIS lost ground, atrocities shifted to retaliation. May's Manchester Arena bombing killed 22, targeting a concert. June's London Bridge attack killed 8. In Iraq, during the Mosul battle, ISIS used civilians as human shields, resulting in 2,500 civilian deaths. In Syria, Raqqa's liberation revealed mass graves with 6,000 bodies. ISIS affiliates in the Philippines besieged Marawi, killing 168 and displacing 360,000.

2018–2019: Defeat of the Caliphate and Affiliate Emergence

In 2018, ISIS's caliphate collapsed, but atrocities persisted. April's Kabul bombing killed 57. In 2019, Easter bombings in Sri Lanka, affiliated with ISIS, killed 259. Baghouz's fall marked territorial defeat, but mass graves in former areas revealed 12,000 bodies. Affiliates like ISIS-K emerged, conducting attacks in Afghanistan.

2020–2022: Resurgence Through Affiliates

Post-caliphate, ISIS affiliates committed atrocities. In 2020, ISIS-West Africa massacred 81 in Nigeria. 2021's Kabul airport bombing by ISIS-K killed 183. In 2022, ISIS-Mozambique beheaded 20 Christians, forcing conversions.

2023–2025: Continued Global Threat

In 2023, ISIS-K attacked a Kabul mosque, killing 35. 2024's Moscow concert hall attack killed 145. In 2025, ISIS affiliates in Syria executed 50 civilians in reprisals. The group continues recruitment, with estimates of 10,000 fighters globally.

 

“The French organizers noted that IS military defeats on the ground have not prevented the group from pursuing its terrorist activities, along with al-Qaida   especially in unstable regions of Afghanistan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Yemen, Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa.
Macron said “too many countries have nourished movements with direct or indirect links to terrorism.””
More than 70 countries commit to combat terror financing, France24, 2018-04-26

 

“U.S. military officials say ISIS has now been driven out of 98 percent of the territory it once controlled. But the group has reappeared in central Iraq, carrying out attacks in what The Washington Post described as “chillingly reminiscent of the kind of tactics that characterized the … insurgency in the years before 2014.” All this despite the billions the U.S. and its allies have spent to bolster Iraq’s security, its civic institutions, and its infrastructure.
This week’s suicide attack in al-Qaim, a district in Anbar province that is near the border with Syria, killed at least eight people. Separately, a suicide bombing in Kirkuk killed two police officers. ISIS is active in both areas.
“ISIS never went anywhere. It’s still on ISIS 1.0,” Michael Knights, an expert on Iraq at the Washington Institute, told me. “All they did was in every area where they lost the ability to control terrain, they immediately transitioned to an insurgency.”
ISIS Never Went Away in Iraq, KRISHNADEV CALAMUR, THE ATLANTIC, SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

 

"Khomeini nonetheless reassured his liberal revolutionary compatriots — just months before the revolution, while in Paris exile — that “women [would be] free in the Islamic Republic in the selection of their activities and their future and their clothing.” Much to its retrospective dismay, a sizable chunk of Iran’s liberal intelligentsia — both male and female — lined up behind Khomeini, some even referring to him as an “Iranian Gandhi.” Shortly after consolidating power, however, Khomeini and his disciples swiftly moved to crush opposing views and curtail female social and sartorial freedoms. “Islam doesn’t allow for people to [wear swimsuits] in the sea,” he proclaimed shortly after becoming supreme leader. We “will skin their hide!”
Women who resisted the mandatory veil were met with violence and intimidation, including lyrical taunts of “Ya roosari, ya toosari!” (“Cover your head or be smacked in the head!”). As Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi recently wrote, “Although the 1979 revolution in Iran is often called an Islamic revolution, it can actually be said to be a revolution of men against women.… The drafters of [the Islamic Penal Code] had effectively taken us back 1,400 years.”
The Ayatollah Under the Bed(sheets) In the Islamic Republic of Iran, all politics may not be sexual, but all sex is political. BY KARIM SADJADPOUR APRIL 23, 2012

"Haroun, 63, is the youngest of the six women remaining in a community that once numbered 75,000 when the first Arab-Israeli war broke out in 1948.".
In a bid to promote diversity, Egypt plans to restore Alexandria synagogue, Religion News Service, By Jacob Wirtschafter, July 27, 2017

 

“JALALABAD, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber struck a crowd of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus arriving to meet with President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday as he visited the eastern city of Jalalabad, an attack that killed at least 19 people and wounded 10 others, officials said.
The attack claimed the life of the only Sikh candidate running in elections in the country this year, a further blow to Afghanistan’s once celebrated diversity, which has been badly affected by decades of violence.
Once vibrant minority groups that numbered in the hundreds of thousands across Afghanistan, Hindus and Sikhs have suffered targeted persecution on top of the widespread war that ravaged Afghanistan. Community leaders estimate that only a couple of hundred families remain, with the rest migrating to India or the West over the past four decades.”
Sikhs and Hindus Bear Brunt of Latest Afghanistan Suicide Attack, NYT, By Zabihullah Ghazi and Mujib Mashal, July 1, 2018

“Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is suspected of orchestrating the murder of the 59-year-old Saudi journalist, was reportedly baffled by why his abrupt disappearance sparked such a backlash around the world.”

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince couldn’t understand why Khashoggi’s killing was so outrageous, news.com.au, Gavin Fernando, OCTOBER 23, 2018

 

“The conditions of the German prisoner of war camps in Russia baffled all description.”(Russell, 1954, p. 60)

 

”…from the very moment Hitler came to power he and the Nazi party began to put into execution the common plan or conspiracy whose aims had already been set out in Mein Kampf and which included the commission of crimes against peace, war crimes, and other crimes against humanity.

 …

From the Fuhrer at the fountain source, through Gauleiter, Kreisleiter, Ortsgruppenleiter, Zellenleiter, and Blockwart the stream of Nazi doctrine flowed into every home. (Russell, 1954, p. 5)

 …

”...during the early stages of the trial of major German war criminals at Nuremburg there appeared in the columns of a local newspaper an account of a visit made by some journalist to a camp in which SS prisoners were interned. All had asked him but one question: ‘What have we done except our normal duty?’ (Russell, 1954, p. 7)

 

 Nazi SS (Schutzstaffelon) mission:

”… Without pity we shall be a merciless sword of justice to all those forces of whose existence and activities we know, on the day the slightest attempt is made be it today, after a decade, or a century hands.”  (Russell, 1954, p. 8)

 

“In other days Jews were always prominent in the streets of the banking city (Frankfurt Germany) but on this occasion I saw none. There were none in the few night bars, there were none in the cabarets. Nor in the waking hours did I see but half a dozen Jews in the course of a whole day. They seem to have disappeared from the city.(Hillson, 1937, p. 59)

 

"…the Third Reich are moulding the German people into the most unified race in Europe. In that great unified people are looking for peace and friendship with Britain a basis for peace not only for themselves but for everyone else. A close cooperation with France at the expense of Germany can only serve to exacerbate a situation which may soon grow desperate. And it is worth it? Must we forever go on backing the wrong horse?”(Hillson, 1937, p. 296)

 

“When it suits their defence, they say they had to obey; when confronted with Hitler’s brutal crimes which are shown to have been within their general knowledge, they say they disobeyed. The truth is that they actively participated in all these crimes, or sat silent and acquiescent, witnessing the commission of crimes on a scale larger and more shocking than the world has ever had the misfortune to know.”(Russell, 1954, p. 4)

 

Artists gathered in front of the Ministry of Culture. Photo posted on the blog Egyptian Chronicles. "For days now, dozens of Egyptian artists and intellectuals have been occupying the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture in Cairo to demand the resignation of the new culture minister, whom the protesters accuse of “Islamising” the sector. Alaa Abdel Aziz taught film editing at the Cairo Higher Institute of Cinema. President Morsi nominated him to become the culture minister in early May in order to “fight against corruption” . Egyptian artists rally against 'Islamisation' of culture 13/06/2013 / EGYPT FRANCE24

 

THE BATTLE OF THE ARCHIVES: WHAT EGYPT’S INTELLECTUALS LOST
The New Yorker POSTED BY JOSHUA HERSH SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

 

“TURKEY’S president often complains that the one area of national life on which his conservative, Islamist-rooted government has not made a permanent mark is culture and the arts. Earlier this year, standing inside the Hagia Sophia—a Byzantine basilica converted into a mosque by the Ottomans and then into a museum by modern Turkey’s secular founders—Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his case for an art that evoked his country’s religious and imperial lineage, as well as its modern ambitions.
For many years, the president said, the arts in Turkey had been hostage “to a mentality that was more Western than the West, at odds with the nation’s values, and unaware of the rich heritage left behind by our ancestors.” The secular establishment, which Mr Erdogan has helped to depose over the past decade, would no longer monopolise Turkish culture, he promised, nor look down on artists who supported his government.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to bring Turkey’s artists to heel, The Economist, Aug 18th 2018, ISTANBUL

 

“Activists critical of the government concede the demonstrations do not threaten Iran’s leadership. Security forces, mindful of the 2009 upheavals, are now much better equipped to crush any organized antigovernment demonstrations. The protesters share neither unifying leadership nor clear agenda.
While many members of the large middle class are unhappy, they mostly watch from the sidelines, adverse to uncertainty.
“There is no vision, no leadership, and the protests will not lead to any chain reaction across the country, at this point,” said Bahman Amoei, a well-known political activist who has spent several stints in jail for his activities.
“I have to admit that the state, its security and propaganda machine, is capable of engineering public opinion very successfully and persuade the wider populace that the status quo is in their favor and change will be too costly,” he said”
Protests Pop Up Across Iran, Fuelled by Daily Dissatisfaction, NYT, By Thomas Erdbrink, Aug. 4, 2018

 

"The mother of a Sydney terror plot ringleader has broken down as she told 9NEWS that her son's ordinary upbringing at Regents Park gave no hint of his jihadi ambitions."
Mother of terror plot ringleader calls for more deradicalisation programs, 9News.com.au,  4-11-2017

 

“For months, Mr Bhakti and his team have sat in mosques and Koran reading groups under the cover of being like-minded worshippers and documented the discussions and sermons.
Mosque accused of preaching the IS (Sunni) ideology denies claims.
"The local police chief came and checked out this place, we're just a regular boarding school."
But according to Mr Bhakti, the school is training future terrorists.
And he is concerned that as the larger mosques are exposed, the groups are splintering using smaller less obvious prayer groups to spread the dangerous IS message.
At the Al Jihad mosque in the town of Bukittinggi in West Sumatra, the ABC had been told preaching has moved to a nearby home after the caretaker was arrested for sending people to Syria.
"They moved to smaller mosques or smaller Koran reading groups, which we call satellite mosques or satellite places," Mr Bhakti said.
"So the number [of mosques] could be bigger."" Islamic State: Indonesian mosques accused of supporting radical group's ideology,
ABC, By Indonesia correspondent Samantha Hawley and Ake Prihantari, 31-7-2017

 

“Under tremendous psychological or physical pressure, groups of members of the PKI or affiliated unions, women, youth, and peasant organisations publically renounced communism in many parts of the country, repented their ‘errors,’ dissolved their organisation’s local or regional branches, and pledged support for Indonesia’s state ideology Pancasila. … The abrupt change of the political and moral climate, the hegemony of slander against the PKI that allowed radical violence against its members to appear so natural to many, engulfed and overwhelmed more than a few party members too. … In other cases the retractors were often forced to ‘prove’ their honesty by denouncing other members of their organisation, who in turn could be arrested and murdered. It seems that some even took part in killing themselves. …

In the strictly Islamic province of Aceh, 2,000 Chinese were said to have been forced to convert to Islam. The pressure in other regions could be just as large; almost all the traditional-syncretist Sasaks in Lombok converted to Islam between 1965 and 1975, and many in the Yogyakarta area. … Some communists seem to have sought protection by religious communities in the months of the most intense mass murder. Some fled to mosques or temples-often in vain. The bulk of the conversions, however, were meant to safeguard former members of leftist organisations, Chinese, and religious dissenters from on going persecution and to help them in case they were arrested again. Viewed from another angle, this was a more or less conformist act of social self-integration by either disguising or revoking earlier held ideas or beliefs.”
EXTREMLY VIOLENT SOCIETIES, Christian Gerlach, Cambridge University  Press, 2010.

 

“If the religious leaders compete with the extremists (religious leaders) on Islamic knowledge, I cannot guarantee that they would win. That’s what worries me,” said Adudulkrep, who is also head of the state-run Xinjiang Islamic Institute...." CHINA LOSING BATTLE AGAINST EXTREMIST ISLAMIC TEACHINGS, SAYS MUSLIM OFFICIAL MARCH 30, 2015

 

“Minister Nasredin Mofreh also apologized to Sudanese Christians “for the oppression and harm inflicted on your bodies, the destruction of your temples, the theft of your property, and the unjust arrest and prosecution of your servants and confiscation of church buildings”.”
Christmas message: Minister apologizes to Sudan's Christians for their suffering , December 26 - 2019, KHARTOUM

 

“In February 2025 the RSF and several allies signed a charter to form a new Sudanese government and in March were signatories to a transitional constitution. The move was criticized as an additional impediment to the peace process and was viewed as an attempt by Hemedti and the RSF to gain legitimacy as Sudan’s government so they could control the distribution of humanitarian aid and have greater access to purchasing weapons. On April 15, the second anniversary of the start of the civil war, Hemedti proclaimed the establishment of the “Government of Peace and Unity.””

 

"The victims of the Saudi Hospital attack were predominantly civilians, including patients, medical staff, and their companions, who sought refuge in the facility amid the siege. Lindmeier reported that the gunmen abducted at least six doctors and nurses, with subsequent returns leading to executions. The hospital, serving as the sole provider of gyn-obstetrics, internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and nutrition services in El Fasher, was packed with vulnerable individuals at the time of the assault. Estimates from the WHO and UN indicate at least 460 deaths and 19 injuries, though some reports cite 70 fatalities, reflecting discrepancies in immediate versus comprehensive tallies. Victims included women in labor, newborns, and displaced persons, underscoring the attack's indiscriminate nature.

Broader reports from HRW and ICC detail similar patterns in Darfur, where civilians, including Christian minorities, face targeted killings and forced displacements. In El Fasher, survivors have reported house-to-house executions and sexual assaults, with the hospital attack compounding a weekly toll exceeding 2,000 civilian deaths. Social media testimonies from local activists and organizations like MSF confirm that the victims were primarily non-combatants reliant on the hospital for survival amid famine conditions."

 

“In the worst violence since Hosni Mubarak was ousted, armored vehicles sped into a crowd late on Sunday to crack down on a protest near Cairo’s state television.

 

Online videos showed mangled bodies. Activists said some people were crushed by wheels.

 

Tension between Muslims and minority Coptic Christians has simmered for years but has worsened since the anti-Mubarak revolt, which gave freer rein to Salafist and other strict Islamist groups that the former president had repressed.”

Egypt Christians vent fury after clashes kill 25, Tamim Elyan, Shaimaa Fayed, Reuters, OCTOBER 10, 2011

 

"THE Lakemba Mosque has issued a fatwa against Christmas, warning followers it is a ''sin'' to even wish people a Merry Christmas.

....

The fatwa, which has sparked widespread community debate and condemnation, warns that the "disbelievers are trying to draw Muslims away from the straight path".

No merriness here: mosque puts fatwa on Christmas, smh, Natalie O'Brien, DECEMBER 23 2012

 

“'You have to reject them and not only do you have to reject it but you have to disassociate yourself from it,' he said.”

'Stay away from it. Don't be a part of it': Hardline imam says Australian Muslims can't celebrate CHRISTMAS because it's against the teachings of Allah, Stephen Johnson, Daily Mail Australia, 2 November 2017

 

"Not even his intended victims fully recognised the danger. After the summer election of 1932 which left the Nazi as much the largest party, but short of a majority, the (Jewish) editor of the Tagebuch, a left-liberal weekly we took home, published an article whose headline struck me even then as suicidal. I still see it before me. 'Lasst ihn heran!’ (‘Why not let him in!’). Source: Diary: Memories of Weimar, Eric Hobsbawn

 

"“We can no longer sit still and watch Norwegian money contribute to a teaching system that encourages children to violence and promotes racism and antisemitism,” Hans Andreas Limi, parliamentary leader of the libertarian Progress Party, was quoted as saying.

The move follows a November report in Aftenposten that featured examples of incitement to violence and racial hate in Palestinian school materials, based on findings by the Jerusalem-based Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se)"
Norway Threatens Palestinian Aid Cut Over Racism, Violence in Textbooks, December 5, 2019

 

"In the past Christians were the majority in Iraq, today we are minority but without us Mosul will never be the same."

 

He expressed hope that Christians who fled persecution in Mosul would be able to return to their homes now Islamic State militants had been driven out.

 

"They are not going back because their houses are destroyed or burnt and the church is restoring all of the houses," Patriarch Sako said."

Mosul cathedral holds Christmas Eve mass for first time since Islamic State is driven out, ABC, 25-12-2017

 

"29 Coptic Christians, including children, were killed by masked gunmen in Egypt last week."

Coptic Christians killed by militants in Egypt, ABC, 31 May 2017

 

“The cleansing is continuing, and we remain very determined,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech late Wednesday. He described a “virus” within the Turkish military and state institutions that had spread like “cancer.”

Turkish authorities granted emergency powers amid ‘cleansing’ after failed coup, wp, By Erin Cunningham and Hugh Naylor, July 21, 2016

 

''My sacred brothers whose hearts beat with the excitement of a big future Islamic conquest''

....

In a news conference, he said that his government would not interfere with anyone's way of life.

....

''Democracy is like a streetcar. When you come to your stop, you get off.''

Erdogan The Erdogan Experiment, NYT, By DEBORAH SONTAG, MAY 11, 2003

“April 24, 2015 marked a century since the beginning of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Between 1915 and 1920, the Young Turks government of the Ottoman Empire orchestrated a planned, systematic massacre of 1.5 million Armenians (Dagirmanjian, 2005). The Armenian Genocide created massive trauma for immediate survivors, devastating their ability to live a normal emotional life and encumbering them with sadness (Kalayjian & Weisberg, 2002). When the surviving Armenians dispersed to various countries, psychology was in its infancy; thus, few immediate survivors were able to process the trauma (Vollhadt & Bilewicz, 2013). Trauma can affect all members of a group with a strong collective identity, even if not all group members directly experienced the traumatic events (Kira, 2001). Therefore, subsequent generations of Armenians after the genocide have indicated experiencing intergenerational trauma (Kira, 2001). The Turkish government’s consistent denial that the genocide occurred has further stimulated

 

Armenians’ emotional reactions to the suffering their ancestors endured (Cooper & Akcam, 2005). This tragic event has influenced the psyche of the Armenian people, and as a result, the theme of survival is a major aspect of today’s Armenian culture (Pezeshkian, 2011). Outside domination and oppression of Armenians by other forces, including Azerbaijan and the Soviet Union, continued throughout the 20th century, having a large impact on many first- and second generation Armenians in America (Dagirmanjian, 2005). In 2002, it was reported that there were approximately 1 million Armenians living in the United States, 90% of whom were offspring of genocide survivors (Kalayjian & Weisberg, 2002).

 

Thus, there is an increasing need to understand the effects of intergenerational cultural trauma among Armenians. Armenian immigration to the United States occurred in three major waves. War and sociopolitical conflict have been the main reasons for departure from their countries of origin (Dagirmanjian, 2005). Bakalian (1993) explained that the first wave took place from 1890 to 1924, and mainly consisted of survivors of the Armenian Genocide and the smaller massacres that took place before it. After the Armenian Genocide, many refugees fled to other Middle Eastern or European countries. Immigrants from this population made up the second wave of immigration, following World War II. However, not all immigrants in this wave were survivors of the Armenian Genocide (Bakalian, 1993). The third wave occurred from 1988 to 1990, following the earthquake in Soviet Armenia and the Soviet –Azerbaijan conflict, when Armenians were massacred by the Muslim majority in Baku (Bakalian, 1993). Unlike the early literature on Holocaust survivors, there was no incentive to collect the Armenian people’s personal data in the years following the genocide, because the Turkish government had denied the occurrence of the event (Kupelian, Kalayjian, & Kassabian, 1998).”

100 Years of Trauma: the Armenian Genocide and Intergenerational Cultural Trauma, Selina L. Mangassarian, JOURNAL OF AGGRESSION, MALTREATMENT & TRAUMA 2016

Ethiopian Christians beheaded and shot 2015

 

Kenya: 147 Killed in University Attack, Officials Say 2015

 

"The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets, and the believers our soldiers." Erdogan, December 1997

 

“..the paradigms tells us what is real and how it works, to question the paradigm is to question the structure of the world itself, according to those within the paradigm that leads to nonsense, to think about the paradigm rather than through the paradigm is not to engage in science but philosophy.

 

Occasionally, however, anomalies pop-up....."

Professor Steven Gimbel, Professor of Philosophy. Gettysburg College, 2015

 

"To-day psychology alone, and priori, before we had approached the evidence, would predispose us to expect these conclusions. For whatever psychology has, or has not, established, it is certain that the thoughts and actions of men are in great measure determined by their thoughts and actions in the past.

....

A nation, like man, is the creature of its past."

THE REVOLUTIONARY IDEA IN FRANCE, 1789-1871, By Lord Elton, 1923.

 

All towns in #Turkey must establish Quran schools irrespective of a demand from students. If Imams/Moftis cannot finds kids to enroll, they will be sacked immediately, declared Bekir Bozdag, deputy Prime Minister who oversees #Diyanet (gov't religious arm). pic.twitter.com/Kv1BoU97Xl

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) March 14, 2018

 

Erdogan Tells a Weeping Girl, 6, She’d Receive Honors if Martyred By THE NEW YORK TIMES, FEB. 26, 2018

 

US Official Accuses Turkey of Pushing Extreme Islamist Ideology, VOA, Jeff Seldin, December 13, 2017

 

“  on the basis of specific facts, the EU institutions assess whether Turkey is delivering or not. Unfortunately, the outcome of this assessment has not been a positive one. Let there be no doubt that there is no escape or derogation from these requirements and, therefore, approaching the process as if everything were negotiable, is futile.

 

Again, a careful assessment of the facts becomes necessary. Turkey threatens us with war, in case we exercise our rights, which derive from the international law and the Law of the Sea. One could hardly argue that any threat, let alone war threats, could be in conformity with the UN principles, the international law and the values upon which the EU is founded.

 

The same goes for aggressive actions like the ramming of a Hellenic Coast Guard vessel by a Turkish patrol boat, within Greek territorial waters.”

Greek ambassador: I hope Turkey will act as an ally and release our soldiers, By Sarantis Michalopoulos, EURACTIV.com, 09-05-2018

 

“Human rights groups and activists have accused Turkey of “ethnic cleansing” and other war crimes against the U.S.-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) that controls swaths of northern Syria.

 

In Afrin, Turkey-allied al-Qaeda fighters reportedly took advantage of Operation Olive Branch to massacre members of the Christian and Yazidi religious minority groups.

 

Ankara has also granted an al-Qaeda-linked group police powers in Afrin, including the authority to impose strict Islamic law on the residents, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recently warned.”

Turkey Vows to Launch Military Operations Against U.S.-Backed Syrian Kurds, by Edwin Mora7, BREITBART, May 2018

 

“Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday said Saudi Arabia would "return" to a "moderate Islam that is open to all religions"”

Saudi crown prince promises 'return to moderate Islam', Al Jazeera Media Network, 25 Oct 2017

 

Seventy Years of the New York Times Describing Saudi Royals as Reformers, NYT, Abdullah Al-Arian, Nov 27, 2017

 

Pakistan: Mother 'burnt her daughter to death' over marriage, BBC, 8 June 2016

 

"Over the decades, successive laws have sought to improve the position of women, but implementation has been lacking because it is mostly in the hands of male government functionaries and the police who consider most violence against women as a "family problem", or even provoked by women themselves."

Why is a Pakistani bill to protect women unpopular?, By M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, 17 March 2016

 

 "Religious thought does not exist in a vacuum; it both shapes politics and is shaped by politics."

Understanding Japan: A Cultural History, Professor Mark J. Ravina, Emory University, 2015

 

"Religions, especially, historically as well as currently, are recognized to be chronically implicated in this discord and violence, directed at those beyond their artificially defined boundaries of theological doctrine, and, as often, towards those claiming common religious identities but who have fragmented into sectarian factions and conflict (Mlodinow 2012, 164)."

 

"MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Even as the Islamic State group’s rule is being torn down in Iraq, the seeds are there for it — or a successor extremist group — to rise again one day.

 

It’s a disquieting fact: There are those among Iraq’s Sunni Muslim minority who find some good in the group, though they denounce the militants for suffering inflicted during their nearly three-year rule.

 

Listen to the words of a young Iraqi who was impressed by an Islamic State cleric — a compassionate man, Mowafy Abdul-Qader said, recalling his “sweet demeanor” as he gave lessons on Shariah law.

 

“He taught me like he was an angel from heaven. He was accurate and righteous,” Abdul-Qader said, speaking at a camp for Iraqis driven from their homes during the past year’s fighting to uproot the militants in northern Iraq. “Because of people like him, I sometimes felt I was actually living in a real caliphate.”

 

In nearly two dozen interviews with Sunnis living in the camps of the displaced, The Associated Press heard many variations on the same theme: IS was too brutal and individual members were corrupt, but its goals to restore morality and faith were worthy.........

 

But then he, like almost all the others interviewed, said he supported in principle the group’s imposition of dress codes for women in public, saying it boosted public morality. Before the militants came, women in Mosul sometimes dressed unacceptably, including wearing pants, Abdul-Qader lamented.

 

School headmaster Mohammed Jassim said IS revived interest in religion, getting people to learn more about prayer, fasting and charity. “Young men filled the mosques after years of religious decline,” he said.

 

But “the actions of many of them ran contrary to what they preached,” he said.

 

“They taught people a great deal about our religion,” said another camp resident, Abed Hamad. He said people began to read and debate Hadeeth, the stories and sayings of the prophet Muhammad that alongside the Quran are used as a basis of Islamic law.

 

Several praised the group’s poets and singers of religious anthems called “anasheed” in Arabic. The songs were played at kiosks known as “media centers” in IS-held areas, accompanied by videos of fighting and militants killing captives or suspected spies.

 

IS “anasheed” extolled the virtues of jihad, ridiculed enemies and eulogized fallen fighters, all in the elevated poetic language of traditional religious hymns.

 

Those songs are among the traces IS left behind, and new followers might one day rally round them, much as neo-Nazis embrace Nazi regalia and white nationalists fly Confederate flags.

 

In one camp for the displaced, a 9-year-old boy could sing an anthem off the top of his head. It was a light-hearted children’s tune, but with bloody lyrics listing cities the militants captured: “The soldiers of the caliphate are brave, the army of the heretics ran away, and now we have Fallujah, Mosul and Tikrit.”"

Iraq’s Sunnis wrestle with militants’ religious legacy, AP, By HAMZA HENDAWI, 29-8-2017

 

Sydney jihadist named commander of Iraqi Islamic State unit THE AUSTRALIAN, Paul Maley, SEPTEMBER 01, 2014 12:00AM

 

"Karroum's death in a hail of bullets in Syria was a world away from the life of the beach-loving teenager who grew up in a wealthy family on the Gold Coast and went to a local Anglican girl's school.

"She was beautiful," said her grieving father Mohammed Karroum.

"We had a house, a waterfront house, and she used to invite her friends and I used to make barbecues for them, barbecues, and she would be swimming, dancing.

"She goes to the nightclub with her sister, just having a good time like any ordinary girl."

Karroum's life took a major turn in 2011 when she moved with her older sister to the suburb of Liverpool in Sydney's west to be closer to their Muslim relatives.

There, the sisters began to embrace their Muslim identity.

"They start to put the hijab [on] and they don't want to take it off and everything they do, they do by the Muslim law," Mr Karroum said. "Mohammad Ali Baryalei: Australia's most senior member of Islamic State funnelled fighters onto the frontline of Syria, Iraq wars"

ABC 7.30 By Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop with additional research by Jacquelyn Hole, Suzanne Dredge and Jeanavive McGregor

 

Yazidis' Iraq horror: 'I know what happened to them, but I cannot bear to say it'
SMH Ruth Pollard, September 8, 2014 - 3:15 PM

 

“– Crackdown on education sector in Turkey victimized nearly 100,000 teachers and academics

 

The crackdown on critical thinking in Turkey with an unprecedented witch hunt targeting teachers, academics and other professionals in the education sector has dealt a huge blow to free thought in Turkey.

 

The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has jailed some 20,000 instructors and arbitrarily fired 34,185 public school teachers and 5,719 academics including professors from state universities within the last two years alone. They were branded as “terrorists” and “coup plotters” without any effective administrative or judicial probe and as such marked for life.

 

“This has been the single most lethal assault on free thought, critical approach and analytical thinking in Turkey in the history of the Turkish Republic,” said Abdullah Bozkurt, the president of SCF, an advocacy group that tracks rights violations in Turkey. “The mindset of Afghanistan’s Taliban and Africa’s Boko Haram is very much alive in Erdoğan’s Turkey,” he added.”

Free Thought under Siege in Turkey: the Crackdown on Education, By SCF - July 22, 2018

 

"The family have lived in White City since they fled the civil war in Sudan in 1993. Elsheikh’s parents were communists and liberal Muslims, described as “progressive” by their friends."
My Son The ISIS Executioner, BuzzFeedNews, Jane Bradley, May 24, 2016

 

4 bloggers killed in Bangladesh in 2015 and the rest…

 

“Although religious hostilities affect countries throughout the world experience, Muslim-majority countries consistently have higher levels of a range of religious hostilities than other countries and by wide margins. For instance, Muslim-majority countries are more than three times more likely than other countries to have religion-related war, terror or sectarian violence, ...”
Pew Research 2012

 

"Saudi Arabia has stepped up arrests, prosecutions, and convictions of peaceful dissident writers and human rights advocates in 2017"
Saudi Arabia: Intensified Repression of Writers, Activists, Human Rights Watch, Monday, February 6, 2017

 

“Germany sees in the annihilation of France only a means to an end, so that we may thereafter give our people room for expansion in another direction” Hitler’s Reichstag speech may 1935
E. O. Lorimar, WHAT HITLER WANTS, THE PRINCIPLE OF THE BIG LIE, January 1939

 

Other are convinced the terrorists are extremists not of the biology/culture ideology from whose floors they walk, are only in the beginning only a few, crackpots, easily influenced nothing is done to forcefully remove this biology/culture ideologies from society before it is too late.

“On Whit Sunday, 4 June 1922, while Scheidemann was mayor of Kassel, an attempt was made on his life. During a walk with his daughter, Hans Hustert (who would later be an SS adjutant to Heinrich Himmler) and Karl Oehlschläger sprayed him in the face with prussic acid. The third man who took part in the assassination attempt is said to have been Erwin Kern, one of the men who murdered Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau three weeks later. Scheidemann survived the assassination attempt because strong winds prevented the perpetrators from spraying him so that the poison entered his mouth and nose. Later, after Scheidemann received repeated death threats and his house was smeared with swastikas, he always carried a pistol on walks to defend himself against attackers”

“I repeatedly received official warnings of attacks ... intended attempts by private individuals, as, e.g. by a philosophical writer and a Professor of Medicine. In one case a woman was deputed to quench my vital spark; in all other cases it was alleged that students and broken-down officers were concerned.”
Memoirs of a Social Democrat (Germany) by Philip Scheidemann German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1929

 

"Many years later the two fellows were caught, … At the trial I stated that I did not want a severe sentence as the two miscreants were only victims of the Nationalist (Nazi) Press outcry against me. As a matter of fact, both of them quoted in defence of their attempt the calumnies that appeared in the papers (Nazi) of the Right. ...”
Memoirs of a Social Democrat by Philip Scheidemann 1929

 

"We have to grow with the threat, and we have to do it in a confident manner,” Professor Siracusa said. (Human Security and International Diplomacy)

Two Sydney schools in lockdown as police unions call for support against extremists SBS 20 OCT 2015

 

“We cannot eliminate entirely the risk of terrorism any more than we can eliminate the risk of any serious crime." Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull tells parliament 'ISIL is in a fundamentally weak position' 9 NEWS November 24, 2015  

 

"..I think it’s blasphemous to the extent that I can comment on someone else’s religion." Director General of ASIO, Duncan Lewis
Terror alert: Australia’s top spy chief warns rift with Muslims could weaken national security December 13, 2015 Samantha Maiden,National Political Editor, The Sunday Telegraph

 

“Instead of responding to attacks against freedom of expression, voices were raised to decry blasphemy and to propose compromise with terrorism. There is no blasphemy in a democracy,” Mr. Rushdie said. ..
..the writer decried the reluctance of Western governments to use the words “Muslim” or “Islam,” preferring instead to attribute terrorist attacks to “unbalanced” people or to a generic thing like “radicalism” or “extremism,” even when the attackers themselves say Islam is their motive."
‘Satanic Verses’ author Salman Rushdie: ‘Today, I would be accused of Islamophobia, racism’ By Victor Morton - The Washington Times - Tuesday, September 6, 2016

 

“Mustapha Kara-Ali, a former member of then Prime Minister John Howard's Muslim Community Reference Group and past postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, is the Imam of religious guild Diwan Al Dawla.

A letter he wrote to a council staff member, filed in the court documents, says the members of the guild live "separated from secular lifestyles to pursue a religious mode of worship and an ascetic lifestyle under an oath of self-sacrifice and dedication to the purposes of Diwan Al Dawla".
…
"As the Imam of Diwan Al Dawla and its spiritual leader, I, therefore, ask the Hawkesbury City Council to revoke its letter … on the basis that its demands infringe upon our religious freedom and tamper with our mode of worship in contravention of our ACNC status as a Basic Religious Charity."
Islamic leader accused of illegal land clearing claims his group is exempt from Australian law, By Kathleen Calderwood, ABC, 18-8-2018

 

“Excuse me, Islam to me is the most feminist religion, right. We got equal rights well before the Europeans.” Ms Abdel-Magied and added ““In Sharia it says you follow the law of the land on which you are on.”
‘Your ban got lifted, get over it’: Senator Lambie and Muslim activist Abdel-Magied lock horns on Q&A, news.com.au, Emma Reynolds, February 14, 2017

 

"Judge Sentences Men Who Tried to Kill Iranian Activist to 25 Years
Prosecutors said that Rafit Amirov and Polad Omarov were working for an Iranian general when they stalked Masih Alinejad in Brooklyn. She has sought women’s rights in the theocracy for years." NYT, 30th October 2025.

 

"A court in Tehran has sentenced women’s rights defender Hasti Amiri to three years in prison on charges that include propaganda against the state and appearing unveiled in public, she said in a post on Instagram."Iran slaps activist with new prison term over hijab, death penalty protest, Iran International, Aug 18, 2025,

 

"DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of supporters of an Islamist group rallied in Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday to denounce proposed recommendations for ensuring equal rights, including ones related to property, for mainly Muslim women."
Thousands of Islamists rally in Bangladesh against proposed changes to women's rights | AP News, 2025

 

"Afghan boys as young as ten are informing on their own mothers and sisters, encouraged by propaganda that has taken the Taliban’s assault on women’s freedoms deep into the home."
The Times

 

“The moment she becomes your hostage, you can take her home as your slave.”
Broadcast on Iranian regime state TV.
The same Iranian regime that was recently elected to the U.N. Women’s Rights Commission. https://t.co/Z5P3s7f9rU
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 2, 2021

 

"The UN’s special envoy on sexual violence in conflict has reported “clear and convincing information” that some women and children hostages held by Hamas had been subjected to rape and sexualised torture and that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe such abuses were “ongoing”."

UN finds ‘convincing information’ that Hamas raped and tortured Israeli hostages,", The Guardian, Julian Borger in Washington, Tue 5 Mar 2024

 

 "In Australia, an estimated 53,000 women have undergone FGM, with Ms Gbla predicting 11 girls a day are at risk.

 

FGM is illegal in all Australian states and territories and can carry with it 14 years imprisonment.

 

Ms Gbla said there is “hesitancy” in Australia to address and educate residents about FGM, highlighting that bringing the conversation into the classrooms could be a good place to start.

 

“People are worried on one end that they’ll be racist and on the other hand assuming it’s our culture,” she said."

Female Genital Mutilation: Underground practice 'alive' in Aus, SBS, 15-12-2020, UPDATED 8/2/2021, BROOKE FRYER

 

"A mother has been found guilty of forcing her 20-year-old daughter to marry an older man before he murdered the young woman.

Sakina Muhammad Jan, from Victoria's north, faced a two-week trial in the County Court after denying she coerced her daughter into marrying the man from Western Australia in 2019

She was charged with causing a person to enter into a forced marriage.Prosecutors said Ruqia Haidari told her mother she did not want to marry Mohammad Ali Halimi and accused Jan of handing her daughter over to him in exchange for a $10,000 dowry.Halimi killed his new wife at their Perth home in January 2020 and is serving a term of life in prison in WA, with a minimum of 19 years.The young woman was seen to have "lost her value" due to being divorced, when Jan tried to arrange the marriage, prosecutor Darren Renton previously told the jury."
Woman found guilty of forcing daughter into marriage, AAP, Story by Emily Woods 23-5-2024

 

"At Mahsa Amini's funeral in her hometown of Saqqez, Kurdistan province, women take their headscarves off in protest against Iran's forced hijab law amid "death to the dictator" chants.
Mahsa, 22, died in custody after being arrested by morality police.pic.twitter.com/MaqyberjNO
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) September 17, 2022

"The Iranian government is cracking down on women refusing to wear the hijab

 

One of the ways it is doing this is by using 'widespread surveillance' to catch women out when they are driving - and then taking their cars as punishment 

 

Hundreds of thousands of women have received orders to have their cars impounded in Iran as the Iranian government cracks down on women refusing to wear hijabs."

Hundreds of thousands of women have had cars impounded, as Iran uses floggings, fines and other punishments to enforce obligatory headscarf, Story by Jamie Shapiro and Afp, Daily Mail, 7-3-2023

 

Clearly, relative Freedom for women in Islam is another's Tyranny.

 

 

 “The status of women as a free and dignified human being has been restored and all institutions have been obliged to help women in securing marriage, inheritance and other rights.”

Taliban supreme leader: Steps toward ‘betterment of women’ taken in Afghanistan | The Hill, BY JULIA MUELLER - 06/25/23 3:11 PM ET

 

"With formal schooling on sexuality minimal to nonexistent in much of the Middle East, and a patriarchal culture that has left many Arab women ignorant and ashamed of their own bodies, Ms. Emam and a growing number of activists have built online platforms to try to fill the gap."

Sex Ed, One Instagram Post at a Time, The New York Times, By Mona El-Naggar and Sara Aridi, Nov. 18, 2021

 

"The deputy head of the Taliban cultural commission: “Islam does not allow women to play sports where they are exposed. We fought, so that Islam is respected"

The deputy head of the Taliban cultural commission: “Islam does not allow women to play sports where they are exposed. We fought, so that Islam is respected. ", Agence France-Presse, Jeanne, 09/09/2021

 

"The Taliban have so far asked only female health workers to return to work. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s top spokesman, said the decision not to allow other women to start working is “temporary.” He promised that all women would be able to return to their offices once the Taliban trains its fighters to respect women."

‘Don’t be afraid,’ women chant on Afghanistan’s streets in protest against the Taliban., NYT, Sharif Hassan, Sept. 7, 2021

 

"Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, while addressing a news conference in Kabul in his first public appearance, said women “will be given all their rights within Sharia “the Islamic laws.”  Mujahid also said if women work in line with Sharia they can work freely in media.

 

Speaking to VOA earlier, Suhail Shaheen declined to clearly state whether Afghan women will be part of the future government.

 

“About women, we have announced already that they can have access to work and education by observing hijab. Today, you may have seen on (Afghan) TV stations women wearing hijab and doing their job,” he said."

Taliban Vow to Respect Women's Rights 'Within Islamic Law'. VOA, By Ayaz Gul, Ayesha Tanzeem,  August 17, 2021

 

Taliban kill woman for not wearing burqa on same day it vows to honour ‘women’s rights’,  Jesse O’Neill, news.com.au, AUGUST 19, 2021

 

"Gaza City: A Hamas-run Islamic court in the Gaza Strip has ruled that women require the permission of a male guardian to travel, further restricting movement in and out of the territory that has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since the militant group seized power"

Gaza women now need guardian’s approval to travel, SMH, Fares Akram, February 16, 2021

 

“revolutionary regimes that survive, however, early periods of violence and military threat produce three key pillars of regime strength: (1) a cohesive ruling elite, (2) a highly developed and loyal coercive apparatus, and (3) the destruction of rival organizations and alternative centers of power in society.

We define a social revolution as the violent overthrow of an existing regime from below, accompanied by mass mobilization and state collapse, which triggers a rapid transformation of the state and the existing social order.22

Social revolutions possess four characteristics that jointly distinguish them from other types of regime change. First, they occur from below, in that they are led by mass-based movements that emerge outside the state and regime.23 These may be armed guerrilla movements (China, Cuba, Eritrea, Vietnam), political parties (Russia), or militant social movements (Iran) that seize power amid mass unrest. In all cases, the revolutionary elite is drawn from outside the preexisting state. Military coups are not social revolutions.

Second, social revolutions involve the violent overthrow of the old regime.24 This may take the form of a civil war (Mexico, Rwanda), a guerrilla struggle (China, Cuba, Eritrea, Mozambique), or a rapid and violent seizure of power (Russia, Bolivia in 1952, Iran).

Third, social revolutions produce a fundamental transformation of the state.25 State transformation initially involves the collapse or crippling of the preexisting coercive apparatus.26 Military chains of command are shattered by mutinies or widespread desertion, preventing the security forces from functioning as coherent organizations. In many cases, preexisting coercive structures simply dissolve (e.g., Mexico, Cuba, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Russia) or, in anticolonial revolutions (e.g., Algeria, Mozambique, Vietnam), are withdrawn. Upon seizing power, revolutionary forces usually dismantle remaining coercive agencies and build new armies, police forces, and bureaucracies—often from scratch.27

Fourth, social revolutions involve the initiation of radical socioeconomic or cultural change.28 Revolutionary governments attempt to impose, by force, measures that attack the core interests of powerful domestic and international actors or large groups in society. Such measures include the systematic seizure and redistribution of property; attempts to eliminate entire social classes (e.g., China, Russia); campaigns to destroy preexisting cultures, religions, or ethnic orders (e.g., Iran, Rwanda); efforts to impose new rules governing social behavior (e.g., Afghanistan, Iran); and foreign policy initiatives aimed at spreading revolution and transforming the regional or international order (e.g., Hungary in 1919, Cuba, Iran, Russia). Because such efforts at radical social transformation trigger substantial resistance, often from powerful places, they are invariably accompanied by a heavy dose of coercion. For this reason, social revolutions are antithetical to the development of liberal democracy.”