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Tunisia: Educated, affluent Muslims joining Islamic State

Oct 22, 2014 9:55 am By Robert Spencer

TUNISIAEveryone knows that poverty causes terrorism, and that therefore giving money to Muslim states will quell terrorism. All the learned analysts say that. But when the last Western authority finishes his or her speech to that effect, these wealthy young Muslims with master’s degrees will still be supporting jihad, and all the billions thrown at the kleptocrats who rule their countries will have done nothing to change that.

“New Freedoms in Tunisia Drive Support for ISIS,” by David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times, October 21, 2014 (thanks to Bill):

TUNIS — Nearly four years after the Arab Spring revolt, Tunisia remains its lone success as chaos engulfs much of the region. But that is not its only distinction: Tunisia has sent more foreign fighters than any other country to Iraq and Syria to join the extremist group that calls itself the Islamic State.

And throughout the working-class suburbs of the capital, young men are eager to talk about why.

“Don’t you see it as a source of pride?” challenged Sufian Abbas, 31, a student sitting at a street cafe in the densely packed Ettadhamen district with a half-dozen like-minded friends.

Tunisians have approved a new Constitution by a broad consensus, and a second free election is to take place this month. The country has the advantage of one of the Arab world’s most educated and cosmopolitan populations, numbering just 11 million, and it has some of the most alluring Mediterranean beaches.

But instead of sapping the appeal of militant extremism, the new freedom that came with the Arab Spring revolt has allowed militants to preach and recruit more openly than ever before. At the same time, many young Tunisians say that the new freedoms and elections have done little to improve their daily lives, create jobs or rein in a brutal police force that many here still refer to as “the ruler,” or, among ultraconservative Islamists, “the tyrant.”

Although Tunisia’s steps toward democracy have enabled young people to express their dissident views, impatience and skepticism have evidently led a disgruntled minority to embrace the Islamic State’s radically theocratic alternative. Tunisian officials say that at least 2,400 Tunisians have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the group — other studies say as many as 3,000 — while thousands more have been blocked in the attempt.

“The Islamic State is a true caliphate, a system that is fair and just, where you don’t have to follow somebody’s orders because he is rich or powerful,” said Ahmed, a young supporter of the Islamic State who, like others interviewed, did not want to give his family name for fear of the police. “It is action, not theory, and it will topple the whole game.”

While only a minority of Tunisians have expressed support for the militants, it seemed that everyone under 30 knew someone who had traveled to fight in Syria or Iraq, or someone who had died there. In interviews at cafes in and around Ettadhamen, dozens of young unemployed or working-class men expressed support for the extremists or saw the appeal of joining their ranks — convinced that it could offer a higher standard of living, a chance to erase arbitrary borders that have divided the Arab world for a century, or perhaps even the fulfillment of Quranic prophecies that Armageddon will begin with a battle in Syria.

“There are lots of signs that the end will be soon, according to the Quran,” said Aymen, 24, who was relaxing with friends at another cafe.

Bilal, an office worker who was at another cafe, applauded the Islamic State as the divine vehicle that would finally undo the Arab borders drawn by Britain and France at the end of World War I. “The division of the countries is European,” said Bilal, 27. “We want to make the region a proper Islamic state, and Syria is where it will start.”

Mourad, 28, who said he held a master’s degree in technology but could find work only in construction, called the Islamic State the only hope for “social justice,” because he said it would absorb the oil-rich Persian Gulf monarchies and redistribute their wealth. “It is the only way to give the people back their true rights, by giving the natural resources back to the people,” he said. “It is an obligation for every Muslim.”

Many insisted that friends who had joined the Islamic State had sent back reports over the Internet of their homes, salaries and even wives. “They live better than us!” said Walid, 24….

Leaders of Ennahda, the mainstream Islamist party that leads the Tunisian Parliament, said they had overestimated the power of democracy alone to tame violent extremism….

Unemployed college graduates — a large group in Tunisia, where education is inexpensive but jobs remain scarce — are prime candidates for jihad, their friends and Tunisian analysts say. But there are also accounts of affluent M.B.A. students or peasants going as well. Almost all have now gravitated from other factions to join the Islamic State, according to their friends and the statements of Tunisian officials.

Some families approve. Chiheb Eddine Chaouachi, 24, a medical student, said that both he and his family supported the decision of his brother Bilal, 29, a Salafi theologian, to move with his wife to the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, even though the brothers’ personal lifestyles differed widely.

“Sometimes I pray, and sometimes I don’t,” Chiheb Eddine said. “I am very social.” But, like many Tunisians whose practices sometimes seem to contradict their piety, he nonetheless said he hoped that the Islamic State would “win.”

“Maybe when the war is over, we will all be in an Islamic state, for all practicing Muslims, under Shariah,” he said with a shrug, adding that he had asked his brother directly about the Islamic State’s beheadings and other atrocities. “He said, ‘Don’t believe it,’ and I trust my brother.”

Indeed, in dozens of conversations with young Tunisians, almost no one, whether sympathizers or critics, believed the news reports of the Islamic State’s mass killings or beheadings. “It is made up,” echoed Amar Msalmi, 28, a taxi driver. “All of this is manufactured in the West.”

All dismissed the existing Arab governments as corrupt and dictatorial, and all held a dim view of Ennahda. Most struggled to name a credible Muslim institute or scholar uncorrupted by service to some earthly power.

But some noted that a dearth of scholars could also be another sign of the coming apocalypse, along with the declaration of a new caliphate.

“We have been told in the sayings of the Prophet that this is going to happen soon,” said Ahmed, one of the young men at a cafe.

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Filed Under: Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Tunisia Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. Jay Boo says

    Oct 22, 2014 at 10:25 am

    Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina now criticizes President Obama’s handling of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
    But until recently she was largely quiet on the issue.

    Her solution — If only we had given the (moderates) support earlier.
    http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/hagans-criticism-of-obama-on-anti-isis-strategy-is-newfound/article/2553162

  2. gp says

    Oct 22, 2014 at 4:33 pm

    ISIS is the Obama legacy.

    “He was given a choice between war and dishonor. He chose dishonor and he will have war anyway.” -Sir Winston Churchill

  3. Jack Diamond says

    Oct 22, 2014 at 4:49 pm

    “It is action, not theory” and it seems to be triumphing, which means more and more will flock to join, since it appears to have Allah’s favor. No less important, the appeal to Islamic eschatology going on, that the prophecies are being fulfilled, the end times battle coming in Syria (Dabiq), the coming of the Mahdi and the Islamic Jesus too, in Damascus, finally defeating the “Romans”(us), conquering Rome & Jerusalem, conquering the earth, breaking the cross, the rocks and trees outing the last Jews hiding behind them… This is a big lure, along with all that war booty. Note the ease with which conspiracy theories are embraced (“it is made up, all this is manufactured in the West”) in keeping with the Muhammadan non-mindset. And in keeping with the upper class tone of Global Jihad, joining the plethora of jihadi engineers and doctors, is this recently from Saudi Arabia:

    http://www.emirates247.com/news/region/woman-professor-in-saudi-disappears-2014-10-21-1.567170

    “A Syrian professor at a Saudi Arabian university has disappeared and joined the Islamic State group…Al-Hayat quoted the spokesman for the University of Dammam () as saying Iman Mustafa Al-Boga had resigned for unknown reasons. It quoted her Facebook page ‘I was Daesh even before Daesh existed…and I have always known that there is no solution to the problems faced by Muslims but in this jihad.'” It said she had spent many years at the campus teaching ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE and economics. She apparently did not get the memo the Islamic State has nothing Islamic about it.

    • Jack Diamond says

      Oct 22, 2014 at 4:51 pm

      University of Dammam. No joke.

  4. Jen says

    Oct 22, 2014 at 5:08 pm

    “Sometimes I pray, and sometimes I don’t,” Chiheb Eddine said. “I am very social.” But, like many Tunisians whose practices sometimes seem to contradict their piety, he nonetheless said he hoped that the Islamic State would “win.”
    ——–
    There is no question in my mind anymore that the Islamic State has a tremendous amount of silent support among “moderate” Muslims. They may adopt many non-Muslim attributes or be relaxed in performing their other religious rituals such as praying 5 times per day, but this does not exclude them from having a sense of pride in their fellow Muslims who have set up this caliphate.

    Their basic view of human rights, as taught by the Qur’an and Muhammad, are very different to that of the non-Muslim world. The idea of universal human rights, including for non-Muslims is not something they are raised to embrace from a young age. Their exposure to these ideas of universal rights comes from living within, or being influenced by non-Muslim countries.

    But how about the people who raised these “moderate” individuals? How many of their parents, being Muslim, believe that fundamental human rights are essential or a given? What did they tell their children both directly and indirectly about these matters growing up?

    If you can get any “moderate” Muslim to tell you the truth on the spot, ask them how they feel about stoning women for adultery and watch carefully for their response.

    Do they view it as inhumane, like the non-Muslim world or simply “just”? Do they blame the woman for “tempting” the man, and hence she is deserving her punishment? Most “moderate” Muslims living in the West would not openly admit their views in front of a non-Muslim. But ask the question anyway. Watch their face carefully and see if there is any resistance on their part, or any attempt to justify or “explain away” this barbaric practice.

    If you try this, you might be disgusted by what you find.

  5. Oliver says

    Oct 23, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    Sufian Abbas 31 AND A STUDENT?

    Is he slow? Or just go back to school? Or is the Tunisian system so bad? incompetent? i do not know what word to use– that at 31, one is still a student.

    Also, if unemployed-how can they afford to sit in cafes and drink coffee (or whatever) daily?

    Is the unemployment/welfare that great?

    And, if they cannot find jobs, have any of these people, with degrees-considered starting a business?

    It mentions that Tunisia has beautiful beaches. That would (living in FL with beaches) there should be opportunities for low cost/investment businesses.

    I think Muslims are lazy and just want (not that they need one) an excuse to murder, rape and rob.

    just my NON PC opinion and views.

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