The abuse of mass media by international terrorist organizations. The online magazine "Rumiyah" and the propaganda of the Islamic State E-Book

Tobias Mattes

• Herausgeber: Studylab
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 158

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

In the age of globalization and social media, Europe is facing a new wave of terrorism. Most often, the jihadists are associated with the Islamic State (IS). Their number is growing rapidly due to massive online propaganda. But how exactly is radicalization promoted by the Islamic State? What are the challenges for security authorities? Tobias Mattes explains recent findings of radicalization research. Moreover, he analyses the online magazine “Rumiyah” in order to find out which triggers promote radicalization. His publication helps to understand the messages propagated through this magazine and how this knowledge can be used by governmental agencies for a counter-strategy against Islamic State’s radicalization attempts in online jihad. In this book: - Radicalization; - Islamic State; - Jihad; - Terrorism; - Deradicalization; - Online propaganda

Leseprobe

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Table of Contents

Abstract

List of Abbreviations

List of Figures

The Islamic Glossary

Dedication

1 Introduction

1.1 Introduction to the theme

1.2 Question of research

1.3 Limitations

1.4 Method of research

1.5 Status and gap of research

2 Category System

2.1 Scientific findings of radicalization research (theoretical framework)

2.2 Design of the category system

2.2.1 Deprivation

2.2.2 Social Relations and Affiliation

2.2.3 Orientation and Meaningfulness

2.2.4 Uncoded sense units

2.3 Interim conclusion

3 Description research material

3.1 Islamic State and new media

3.2 Al Hayat Media Center – the media department

3.3 “Rumiyah” – the magazine

3.4 Interim conclusion

4 Results of the analysis

4.1 Content analysis

4.1.1 General findings

4.1.2 Deprivation

4.1.3 Social Relations and Affiliation

4.1.4 Orientation and Meaningfulness

4.1.5 Uncoded sense units

4.2 Layout description

4.2.1 Layout analysis design

4.2.2 General findings

4.2.3 Quantity of content

4.2.4 Quantity of pictures

4.2.5 “Manuals” for terror tactics

4.3 Interim conclusion

5 Comparison with the findings about the “DABIQ” magazine

5.1 Comparison of content analysis findings

5.2 Comparison of layout analysis findings

5.3 Interim conclusion

6 Possible counter measures

6.1 Possible measures against online propaganda

6.2 Possible offline measures after radicalization (deradicalization)

6.2.1 Systemic consulting approaches

6.2.2 Outreach youth work

6.2.3 Religious offers

6.2.4 Advantages and disadvantages of these approaches

6.3 European level approaches

6.4 Excursus – “the deradicalization center of the Bavarian police”

6.5 Interim conclusion

7 Conclusion and suggestions for further research

7.1 Conclusion

7.2 Suggestions for further research

8 References

8.1 Analysis material

8.2 Literature

8.3 Online sources

9 Appendix

9.1 Definitions

9.1.1 Muslim vs. Islamist

9.1.2 Salafism

9.1.3 Jihadism

9.2 The Islamic State

9.2.1 History of the IS

9.2.2 The political, social, historical and psychological logic of the IS

9.2.3 IS's ideological and theological inclinations

9.2.4 IS in numbers and statistics

9.2.5 IS media departments

9.2.6 Timeline “Rumiyah” – terrorist attacks in Europe

9.3 Development of the police crime statistics

9.4 Analysis – Results

9.4.1 Analysis category system

9.4.2 Analysis datasheets in detail

9.4.3 Table of content – Datasheets

9.4.4 Layout “Operations” – “Military and Covert Operations”

9.4.5 Comparison analysis results “Dabiq” vs“Rumiyah”

Abstract

This master thesis purposes to provide a qualitative content analyses of “Rumiyah”, the monthly magazine published by Al Hayat Media Center, the official Media Department of the Islamic State. For this research 13 issues of the magazine will be examined from 1st publication on September 5th2016 to the 13th publication on September 9th2017. The main aim of this paper is to identify the kind of used triggers in the magazine, that can promote radicalization. In the run-up to the presentation of the analysis results, the current state of the scientific findings about radicalization research is introduced. The results of the content analysis will be compared with the results of analogous studies on the "Dabiq" magazine, before possible counter measures will be suggested and how they can be put into the practice. The main objective of the study is to understand the messages propagated through this magazine and how this knowledge can be used from governmental agencies to build up a functional counter-strategy against Islamic State’s radicalization attempts in online jihad.

List of Abbreviations

List of Figures

Figure 1: Issues of the „Rumiyah” magazine - overview

Figure 2: Treemap total results of the analysis work

Figure 3: Pie chart partition – “Social Relationship and Affiliation”

Figure 4: Combined chart partition – “Orientation and Meaningfulness”

Figure 5: Layout analysis – table of pages with keyword content

Figure 6: Layout analysis chart – frequency-number pictures per issue

Figure 7: Layout analysis – table of pictures per keyword

Figure 8: Comparison analyzes results “Dabiq” vs. “Rumiyah”

Figure 9: Statistics of the Bavarian deradicalization center

Figure 10: Timetable release date “Rumiyah” – terrorist attacks

Figure 11: Comparison of figures from PKS table 01 and BMI report about political crime

Figure 12: Development sum of incidents in relation to the political motivated foreigner crime

Figure 13: Development crime level in relation to political motivated foreigner crime level (index comparison)

Figure 14: Content analysis category system

Figure 15: Layout analysis category system

Figure 16: Content analysis results – in numbers

Figure 17: Content analysis results – in percent

Figure 18: Layout analysis results – content with keyword

Figure 19: Layout analysis results – Keyword content in pages

Figure 20: Layout analysis results – pictures in context of keywords

Figure 21: Detail comparison analyiss results “Dabiq” vs. “Rumiyah”

The Islamic Glossary

“I will not forget here to praise the knights of […], media, and other soldiers of the Khilafah and ask Allah to bless their jihad […].

Their battle today is no less of importance than the military battle.”[1]

Dedication

1Introduction

1.1 Introduction to the theme

“Europa will continue to face an Islamist terrorist threat for the foreseeable future.”[2]

Germany 2016 - 12 killed and 74 partly serious injured innocent citizens attacked by Islamic terrorists in one year, at well-known places and cities. 2016 was the year global Islamic terrorism reached Germany. Those terrorist acts have painfully pointed out that the threat posed by violent jihadists constitutes a high risk for national security – all over Europe and worldwide. Neumann sees Europe facing a "new wave of terrorism", with a new generation of jihadists, whose number has increased enormously in the past few years, consisting from mainly (very) young recruits.[3] In the age of globalization and social media they can publish their ideology in the shortest possible time all around the world in just a few seconds. This "new wave" is also characterized by a competition within the jihadist movement, which encourages attacks in the West.[4] These "new jihadists" cannot be seen as an isolated problem, they are inseparable associated with the events of the Arab Spring and the conflict in Syria and Iraq. These are the regions, where the Islamic State (IS)[5], with the proclamation of its caliphate, has claimed the leadership of the international and transnational operating armed Jihadist community for itself.[6] The IS has become the center point for the worldwide Jihadists' movement. Neumann tries to explain this development with the keywords – Utopia, inspiration and logistical hub.[7] Actually, the international community has no answer to this IS state-building project.[8]

As a matter of fact, no other jihadist organization grown up as fast as IS in such a short period of time.[9],[10]

Following the call of the self-proclaimed Caliph al-Baghdadi in 2014[11], round about 20.000 foreign fighters moved into the Iraq-Syria crisis area.[12] At least there are round about 4.000 Western Europeans among them[13] – thereunder approximately 800 Germans. According to current estimates, today around 2.000 "violent Islamists" are living in Germany.[14] Further, since 2015, there has been an increase in so-called "lone wolf’s"[15] attacks all across Europe, too, which correlates with IS area losses in the Middle East.[16]

These figures show that the IS also offers a huge potential of attraction and radicalization for Western socialized people. The danger arising from radicalized, violent jihadists within Europe and other Western states should not to be underestimated – no matter whether they act as single persons or as members of large structures. The IS supports comparatively simple but extremely shocking terrorist attacks through its propaganda massively.[17] Like no other jihadist organization, it also stylizes individuals to heroes, who carry out small attacks against the "Western crusaders" – as idols for every jihadist fighter.[18] It is noticeable, that there is not only an immediate threat of terror from the outside, but rather increasingly from the inside as well. For young Western jihadists, violence against the societies in which they grew up has become a legitimate means.

To describe the scope of this extraordinary challenge for the German security authorities following figures can be used: The phenomenon of officially called politically motivated foreign crime (PMAK), has grown considerably in Germany throw the last ten years. According to the statistics, PMAK cases increased from 902 (2007) to 2.719 (2017). If the development during the last years of the frequency number[19] of the general police criminal statistics is compared with the frequency number of the PMAK, following result can be determined: the general frequency number remained at a constant level – on the other hand – the frequency number of PMAK raised between 2007 and 2017 about 229%.[20] According to the report of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution 2017, currently 24.400 Islamists are living in Germany,[21] thereof e.g. 4.070 in Bavaria – whereby 134 were classified “ready to use violence”.[22] The "new wave of terrorism" requires that well-known measures and methods of security policy are reviewed. Neumann announced already 2015:

"A new, comprehensive approach is needed – besides the traditional instruments of external and internal security, this is a strategic and credible approach in the fields of prevention, intervention and deradicalization."[23]

The challenges for security authorities in Western states are, in my opinion:

understand how radicalization through the IS works,

how to improve the prevention measures in this context and

how to stop (and if necessary) respectively reverse the radicalization.

Therefore, a central component of the security policy of modern western states must be the fight against Islamic radicalization of parts of the population by international terrorist organizations like the IS. In this context, the role of the media for modern terrorist organizations should not be underestimated.[24]

One of the well-known speech tube of the IS propaganda, used for radicalization, is the online magazine “Rumiyah”. IS media wing Al-Hayat released it in September 2016 in several different languages, including English, French, German, Russian, Indonesian and Uyghur. “Rumiyah” is Arabic for Rome, a reference to the fall of the Roman Empire – it replaces the first published online magazine “Dabiq”.[25]

1.2 Question of research

In order to develop a corresponding counterstrategy, it is essential to recognize, which contents are used by IS propaganda and what kind of radicalization potential do they have. This leads me to the following question of research for my master thesis:

What are the contents of English-language propaganda published from the Islamic State in the online magazine “Rumiyah”, which offer a radicalization potential for Western recipients?

The study opens by explaining the used category system and the way how it was built up. In this context the scientific findings (theoretical framework) about radicalization processes will be briefly summed up. Further the research material is introduced before the results of the analysis work will be discussed. Then the results will be compared to findings from secondary literature about the “Dabiq” magazine. At the end of the master thesis possible counter measures are discussed and pictured how they can be put into the practice exemplified on the deradicalization center of the Bavarian police. The thesis will close by reiterating the findings of the research and the limitations of those findings, and by identifying further areas of research on the topic.

In the appendix a bunch of definitions, facts about IS (history; political, social, historical and psychological logic of IS; IS’s ideological and theological inclinations; IS in number and statistics) are listed. These facts are followed by a short analysis of the development of Islamic motivated crime in Germany. At the end of the appendix, the analyses datasheets have been added.

1.3 Limitations

Radicalization processes are individual and different research approaches are existing. This master thesis includes not all the leading theories extensively, only the essential parts are described (which were necessary for the creation of the used category system). For a detailed overview of the leading radicalization theories, please refer to Christmann[26] or Young et al.[27]. Additionally, next to the “Rumiyah” magazine a lot of other radicalization-books, -magazines, -websites etc. used by the IS are available. The findings referred to in point 4 are compared with an analogous study of the “Dabiqe” magazine by Kiefer et al.[28] in point 5. This master thesis not includes an examination or analyzation of the distribution channels for radicalization materials used by IS.

1.4 Method of research

In the core of my master thesis, methodically I oriented my analysis towards the qualitative content analysis according to Mayring.[29]During the analysis, I defined coding and context units, which consist of at least one subset (coding unit) – maximally several sentences (context unit). It must be noted, that a context unit is always a sense unit. So, sentences can have only one statement (meaning)[30]. These units will be analyzed by using a category system. Subsequently, the results were graphically processed, evaluated and discussed. The analysis work was carried out manually without the aid of an evaluation software.

Now the steps of the analysis will be explained briefly: Initially I derived deductively a category system from the scientific findings of the research on radicalization (focused on identified Jihadists' motifs - especially those that attract young people). Furthermore, where necessary, I created an inductive formation of subcategories. Than the thirteen English written issues of the “Rumiyah” magazine (from September 2016 till September 2017) were evaluated using this category – system (in point 2 the built up of the category system itself is explained – the complete results of the analyses in detail are added in the appendix, point 11.4.). By carrying out a frequency analysis, the key focusses can be shown and afterwards interpreted. The method bases on an evaluation procedure that has already been applied at the Institute of Political Science at the Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen to evaluate the IS online magazine “Dabiq”[31]. Additionally, I described, how the layout of the different issues changed by the time based on this method (lightly modified, point 4.2.1.).

The theoretical framework part and the content about possible counter measures are based on literature work. The contents have been compiled from existing scholarly publications, the internet and scientific articles. The facts and scientific knowledge were collected and discussed subsequently.

1.5 Status and gap of research

A study of the radicalization discourse of IS has utmost value. Not merely from an academic purpose, it is vital to decipher and understand the radicalization tools used by IS. The narratives of IS need not only be comprehended, but also countered and replaced with alternative narratives. In our world today, it is no longer enough to defeat these Islamic terrorists on a battlefield. Much more, their fanatic narratives must be fought online with a counter narrative. Consequently, to this end academics and experts across the world have been engaged with studying and analyzing the arise, structure and spread contents produced by IS. Particularly the “Dabiq” magazine was analyzed by many different scientists. Primarily academics have been drawn towards focusing upon the process of radicalization triggered by propaganda material. There is a plethora of literature on the process of radicalization through propaganda material as well as on the IS’s propaganda efforts, ranging from major publication like: Weiss & Hassan[32], Hall[33], Stern & Berger [34] and Lahoud et al.[35] – to numerous shorter analytical texts, including those by Farwell[36], Friis[37], Peresin & Cervone[38], Böckler & Zick[39], Qadir[40], Colas[41] and Ingram & Reed[42].

Within their research, Weiss and Hassan, present the rise and expansion of the IS. Dozens of interviews with experts from the US military, various intelligence agents and former IS fighters focused intensely on how an almost defeated insurgent group could become a serious army of fanatical jihadists.

Hall first handed information by conducting narrative interviews directly with IS militants in Syria. In doing so, he not only presents the personal curricula vitae of individual fighters, but also explains why the Levant region will suffer for a long time from the long-term effects of IS's occupation.

In their work, Stern and Berger analyzed the new model of violent extremism that IS wants to incorporate into its own proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria and implement it around the world. The analytical work traces the ideological innovations of the IS as well as the path of recruitment processes. The use of shocking pictures in this context is also discussed.

The report of Lahoud et al. identifies key areas where IS has demonstrated strength, learning and adaptive capacity. In contrast, weaknesses, flaws, and deficiencies in the field of ideology are also identified. To this end, the history of IS is drawn and compared with other prominent militant organizations (Al Qaeda and Taliban).

Farwell's work focuses on how IS uses brutal violence to establish its legitimacy. Here, the use of social media and cyber technology as a means of transport is discussed.

The effect of IS produced splatter videos (showing beheadings) on the population in the United Kingdom and in the United States examined Friis. She illustrates the impact of the power of these images on American and British security discourse, too.

In their research Peresin and Cervone examined the role of women in the state construct of IS; distinguishes between the non-combat roles and the militant roles of women in this context. It also draws a situation picture of women who want to leave Europe (whose aim is to live in IS) and what problems can arise with female returnees.

Which specific motives for young Muslims in Germany are the reason why they are attracted to jihadism was examined by Böckler and Zick. Excessive demands in everyday life, the offered sense of community and the explanation of the world with simple truths are determined as the main factors here.

In that regard, particularly noteworthy are the anonymous case studies of Qadir. He demonstrates the numerous push-and-pull factors act on young people and detail the practical methods and solutions involved with changing permanently attitudes and behaviors.

Colas analyzed the "Dabiq" magazine in terms of targeted audiences and fundamentalist content. He explains the hermeneutics of IS in its media efforts to fathom the logic behind the messages.

Ingram and Reed explored the role of instructional material of the “Inspire” and “Rumiyah” magazine. In their work, the communication content of this propaganda magazines was analyzed and examined in more detail. As a result, strategic communication recommendations are proposed for possible proactively undermining extremist messaging as well as post-incident responding.