French & Belgian French-Speaking Jihad Fighters In Syria: "France, Soon It Will Be Your Turn"

French and Belgian French-Speaking Jihad Fighters In Syria: "France, Soon It Will Be Your Turn".HT: Memri.

Among the jihadis fighting in Syria are French-speaking Europeans, mostly from France and Belgium. Some of these individuals are active on social media, where they provide detailed information about their journey to Syria and about their experiences there: their daily lives, their training routine, and their experiences on the battlefield fighting not only the Syrian regime forces but also the Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish PKK.  They urge their fellow European Muslims to come fight in Syria, and answer questions by would-be recruits, often chatting with them in real time.

Posted on Facebook and Twitter rather than on password-protected Islamist forums, the messages are directly accessible to the general public and not just to a closed community, and are obviously aimed at recruitment. In casual and often jocular language typical of messages on social media, the authors paint a rosy picture of life on the front, stressing the pious atmosphere and the sense of brotherhood-in-arms shared by the fighters. They note that recruits may come with their wives and children, and stress the practical advantages of joining the jihad community in Syria, such as the prospect of finding a bride and the low cost of living.

At the same time, the messages also contain the usual tropes of jihadi discourse: the authors stress that they are fighting the "infidels" with the ultimate aim of establishing the Islamic Caliphate, rebuke fellow Muslims who fail to do their duty of fighting jihad, express their willingness and even desire to be martyred for the sake of Allah, and voice threats against those they perceive as their enemies, including Western countries.
The following are excerpts from messages by several French-speaking jihadis that are fighting in the ranks of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Aba Souleyman To Muslims In France And Belgium: "Leave Before It's Too Late"

"Aba Souleyman"[1] is a French-speaking European (most likely Belgian) who has been in Syria since August 2013. The information he has divulged on his Facebook page suggests he his fighting for the ISIS in northern Syria, near the border town of A'zaz, and living with his wife in the Aleppo suburbs. On October 23, 2013, he posted a message urging Muslims in Europe to come to Syria to join the jihad. He wrote: "This message is for my Muslim brothers in France, Belgium and elsewhere who have not yet joined us here in Syria but are thinking about it. Those who are not even considering it have heart disease that only Allah can remove."[2]Read the full story here.