[LINK] "From Belgium to Syria and back: How an altar boy became an ISIL admirer"
Lisa De Bode's Al Jazeera article about a young Belgian man who joined ISIL and returned is very compelling reading.
If the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant preaches the truth, why do most Muslims oppose it? “Because most Muslims go to hell,” answered the young man wearing a black hoodie adorned with a Kalashnikov and ISIL’s logo. “The hadith are clear. For every 1,000 [Muslims], 999 will enter hellfire.”
Michael “Younes” Delefortrie, 26, a former Catholic altar boy from a diverse Antwerp suburb, was convicted last month of belonging to a terrorist organization in a trial of 46 members of Sharia4Belgium, a group accused of recruiting young Belgians to fight in Syria. Sentenced to three years of probation and under continued monitoring by the authorities, he sits nervously in a booth at a diner once frequented by the group.
He was answering questions from Palestinian researcher Montasser AlDe’emeh, who grew up in a refugee camp in Jordan and is studying ways of countering the appeal of extreme ideologies to at-risk youth. AlDe’emeh said he believes that exposure to a more sophisticated study of Islam can help some of those recruited by armed groups rethink their fanatical views. He engaged Delefortrie, who adheres to ISIL’s interpretation of Sharia, in a spirited theological discussion on his harsh view of other Muslims - even citing the criticisms of ISIL by Al-Qaeda-associated ideologues.
Delefortrie stayed in Aleppo, Syria, for about five weeks, according to court papers, and while there he posed for photographs with weapons and posted them on his Facebook page, where he named as his employers Jabhat Al-Nusra (the Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian franchise) and “Revolusi [revolution] Dawlah Al-Islamiah [ISIL].” He said he told the court he returned to Belgium because he missed his wife and two children. Court documents noted that as a converted Muslim, he likely didn't enjoy much trust among the Syrian rebels.
[. . .]
About 470 Belgians are estimated to be fighting in Syria - the most per capita of any Western European country, according to data compiled by Pieter Van Ostaeyen, a Belgian researcher. The extraordinarily high concentration of recruits to ISIL and other violent groups has put the country in the international spotlight, leaving policymakers searching for a strategy to combat extremism.
If the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant preaches the truth, why do most Muslims oppose it? “Because most Muslims go to hell,” answered the young man wearing a black hoodie adorned with a Kalashnikov and ISIL’s logo. “The hadith are clear. For every 1,000 [Muslims], 999 will enter hellfire.”
Michael “Younes” Delefortrie, 26, a former Catholic altar boy from a diverse Antwerp suburb, was convicted last month of belonging to a terrorist organization in a trial of 46 members of Sharia4Belgium, a group accused of recruiting young Belgians to fight in Syria. Sentenced to three years of probation and under continued monitoring by the authorities, he sits nervously in a booth at a diner once frequented by the group.
He was answering questions from Palestinian researcher Montasser AlDe’emeh, who grew up in a refugee camp in Jordan and is studying ways of countering the appeal of extreme ideologies to at-risk youth. AlDe’emeh said he believes that exposure to a more sophisticated study of Islam can help some of those recruited by armed groups rethink their fanatical views. He engaged Delefortrie, who adheres to ISIL’s interpretation of Sharia, in a spirited theological discussion on his harsh view of other Muslims - even citing the criticisms of ISIL by Al-Qaeda-associated ideologues.
Delefortrie stayed in Aleppo, Syria, for about five weeks, according to court papers, and while there he posed for photographs with weapons and posted them on his Facebook page, where he named as his employers Jabhat Al-Nusra (the Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian franchise) and “Revolusi [revolution] Dawlah Al-Islamiah [ISIL].” He said he told the court he returned to Belgium because he missed his wife and two children. Court documents noted that as a converted Muslim, he likely didn't enjoy much trust among the Syrian rebels.
[. . .]
About 470 Belgians are estimated to be fighting in Syria - the most per capita of any Western European country, according to data compiled by Pieter Van Ostaeyen, a Belgian researcher. The extraordinarily high concentration of recruits to ISIL and other violent groups has put the country in the international spotlight, leaving policymakers searching for a strategy to combat extremism.