A new ICSR report:A taster:In recent years, dozens of young Muslims from Europe and North America have gone to Somalia to fight with the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab. While the threat that al-Shabaab poses to the West can easily be overstated, its outreach to Muslims living in Europe and the United States has been very successful.
Through a combination of primary source analysis and background interviews in East Africa, together with a quantitative review of the group's Twitter output, ICSR's latest report -- Lights, Camera, Jihad: Al Shabaab's Western Media Strategy -- explains how al-Shabaab markets itself to Muslims in the West.Link to report and podcast for the launch last week:http://icsr.info/2012/11/icsr-report...edia-strategy/Al-Shabaab presents its mission in cosmic terms, invoking a civilisational conflict between the forces of Islam and non-Islam. This is coupled with attempts to develop an ‘ummah consciousness’ in potential recruits, encouraging them to identify with Muslim causes worldwide. Typically, the suffering of Muslims around the world is juxtaposed with the ease of life in the West. The central tenet of this messaging is that faith necessitates action, and Muslims need to recalibrate their priorities by placing the liberation of Muslim lands ahead of esoteric matters of faith.
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