Al-Hayat Media Center
Al-Hayat Media Center is a media wing of the Islamic State.[1][2] It was established in mid-2014 and targets international (non-Arabic) audiences as opposed to their other Arabic-focused media wings and produces material, mostly Nasheeds, in English, German, Russian, Urdu, Indonesian, Turkish, Bengali, Chinese, Bosnian, Kurdish, Uyghur, and French.[3][4]
Founded | 2014 |
---|---|
Founder | Islamic State |
Headquarters | Syria |
History
In July 2014, al-Hayat began publishing a digital magazine called Dabiq, in a number of different languages including English. According to the magazine, its name is taken from the town of Dabiq in northern Syria, which is mentioned in a hadith about Armageddon.[5] Al-Hayat also began publishing other digital magazines, including the Turkish language Konstantiniyye, the Ottoman word for Istanbul,[6][7] and the French language Dar al-Islam.[8] By late 2016, these magazines had apparently all been discontinued, with Al-Hayat's material being consolidated into a new magazine called Rumiyah (Arabic for Rome).[9]
In 2014, al-Hayat published a 24-minute propaganda video in Kurdish, as well as a Kurdish Nasheed called "Descendants of the Caliphate". The video featured Abu Khattab al-Kurdi promising to "bring the Caliphate to Kurdistan and to end the PUK and KDP's atheism".[10]
On 29 June 2014 it released The End of Sykes-Picot, a reference to the 1916 accord that European states used to divide up the region after World War I and in which it calls for destruction of the border between Iraq and Syria.[11][12] The subject of the video is the ISIL fighter Abu Safiyya.[13]
In February 2015 British journalist John Cantlie appeared in a propaganda video from al-Hayat walking around ruins and interviewing locals in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo.[14] On 18 February it released a nasheed in French called Extend your Hand to Pledge Allegiance (French: Tends ta main pour l'allégeance),[15] which begins with speech by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and it is urged to make the hijra and join ISIS.[16]
In 2015, Al-Hayat released a nasheed song "We are Mujahid" (我们是圣战士, although the lyric sings "Mujahid" verbatim), sung in Mandarin Chinese, which was the first ever Chinese jihadist materials published by ISIS. It was speculated that the song was targeting Hui people (Chinese-speaking Muslims), as opposed to Uyghurs, who speak Turkic languages.[17] Chinese mass media and the Chinese government did not talk about it since they did not want to get involved with the battle against ISIS.[18]
In April 2015, Al-Hayat, though affiliated Telegram channels, threatened to blow up Anzac Day dawn memorial services in major cities across Australia and New Zealand, as well as Melbourne Cricket Ground, should Australian Defence Force continues to participate in CJTF-OIR in Iraq. ASIO alleged the Sydney-born jihadist Khaled Sharrouf, who joined ISIS in 2013, was behind this propaganda push.
In September 2015, it released an English nasheed video entitled "For the Sake of Allah", it was shown in its movie-like video "Return of the Gold Dinar",[19] which was a propaganda video showing the Islamic State's new currency and denouncing banknotes and interest.[20] It was explained by Lavdrim Muhaxheri.[21]
In November 2015, it released a Russian nasheed video entitled "Soon very Soon" (Russian: Скоро очень скоро) telling Islamic State supporters to attack Russian churches and government buildings.[22][23]
In April 2016 it released a video featuring a large group of ISIS child recruits singing in French wearing suicide belts and other weapons during military training.[24] It was titled "Blood for Blood" (French: Sang pour Sang).[25] Then again in April 2016, they advertised a new monthly series called "Top 10" which takes videos from ISIS' provinces and creates a compilation of those clips.[26] It made a 52-second trailer for The Flames of War, a video series called Mujatweets[27] and a nashid (Islamic chant) in French named "My revenge" (Ma vengeance) in which it praised the Brussels bombing and both Paris attacks.[28] At the same time it released another video titled Kill Them Wherever You Find Them (French: Tuez-les où que vous les rencontriez) showing the Paris attackers threatening future violence.[29] Four Belgians, three French nationals, and two Iraqis appeared in the video, carrying out executions alternated with Paris attacks scenes.[30] Those nine terrorist were Abdelhamid Abaaoud (Abu Umar Al-Baljiki), Chakib Akrouh (Abu Mujahid al-Baljiki), Brahim Abdeslam (Abul-Qaqe Al-Baljiki); the kamikazes at Bataclan, Samy Amimour (Abu Qital al-Faransi), Ismaël Omar Mostefaï (Abu Rayyan al-Faransi) and Foued Mohamed-Aggad (Abu Fuad al-Faransi); and the kamikaze at Stade de France, Bilal Hadfi (Dhu-l-Qarnayn al-Faransi) and the Iraqis Ali al-Iraqi and Ukashah Al-Iraqi.[31]
On 20 April 2017, it released a Turkish nasheed video titled "The Islamic State has been established" (Turkish: Kuruldu Islam Devletı) which incited Turkish Muslims to join the Islamic state and attack Turkey to gain more land for the Islamic state.[32][33]
On 28 July 2017, it released an online video series in English and Arabic entitled "Inside the Caliphate", which focuses on life inside the Islamic State, the first episode dealt with the new currency of the Islamic State and said how it should be used around the globe,[34] the second video dealt with the battle of Raqqa where Australian Islamic State militant under the alias Abu Adam talked about "Victory being near",[35] the third episode talked about the siege of Marawi and the Islamic state soldiers in the conflict,[36] the fourth episode gives a speech from a Singaporean Islamic state militant under the alias Abu 'Uqayl talking about U.S. and British involvement in the Syrian civil war, the episode targets Prince Harry and the British government.[37] The fifth episode gives a speech from Arabic Islamic State militant under the alias Abul Abbass about the loss of territory and to be patient, and threatens non-Islamic State armies and militants in war.[38] The sixth episode is a speech from an American Islamic state militant under the alias Abu Salih, Abu Salih talked about the gun laws in America and told supporters of the Islamic state to buy arms and commit mass shootings.[39] The seventh episode showed the Syrian civil war and suicide bombers in VBIEDs attacking Syrian soldiers, it also featured an unknown Islamic state woman fighting with a Kalashnikov.[40] The eighth and last episode revolves around the Islamic state's mass propaganda, and American production companies, and told Islamic state supporters to create accounts and post Islamic state videos on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.[41]
On 31 December 2017 it spread via Telegram O' Disbelievers of the World (French: Mécréants de l'humanité) which shows an apocalyptic view of the war between ISIS and the unbelief.[42] The video shows Donald Trump, Bashar al-Assad, Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Putin, Netanyahu and Emmanuel Macron.[43] It features an opening monologue from spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani,[44] and the song is sung by Jean-Michel Clain.[45]
On 26 January 2018 it released a nasheed called Answer the Call where supporters were urged to carry out gruesome terror attacks in Western countries.[46]
On 21 March 2019, the U.S. Department of State officially deemed al-Hayat an alias of ISIL, and thus a Foreign Terrorist Organization.[47]
On 26 July 2020, it released a video entitled "Incite the Believers" which shown ideas of terrorist attacks to lone wolf terrorists in western countries.[48] In the video, they rated arson as a "5-star" terrorist attack, citing the California wild fires.[49][50]
On 10 October 2020 it released a nasheed titled "Coldly Kill Them". Later Islamic State released a video for the nasheed.[51]
See also
References
-
- Fort, F. I.: ¿Solo imágenes de propaganda? Archived 2022-08-02 at the Wayback Machine, Buenos Aires: TeseoPress, 2022, ISBN 9789878852775.
- Barbash, Fred (September 17, 2014). "Islamic State's response to Obama: 'Fighting has just begun: Coming soon'". The Washington Post. No. Morning Mix. Archived from the original on September 17, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
- Gertz, Bill (13 June 2014). "New Al Qaeda Group Produces Recruitment Material for Americans, Westerners". The Washington Free Beacon. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- "ISIS Declares Islamic Caliphate, Appoints Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi As 'Caliph', Declares All Muslims Must Pledge Allegiance To Him". MEMRI. No. 5782. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- Ryan, Michael W. S. (1 August 2014). "Dabiq: What Islamic State's New Magazine Tells Us about Their Strategic Direction, Recruitment Patterns and Guerrilla Doctrine". The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- Akkoc, Raziye; Loveluck, Louisa (12 October 2015). "Ankara bombings: Islamic State is main suspect, says Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- Hunter, Isabel (22 July 2015). "Suruc bombings: Turkish President accused of not doing enough to help Kurds fight Isis threat across its border in Syria". Independent. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- "Jihadists Release First Issue of Pro-IS French Magazine "Dar al-Islam"". SITE Intelligence Group. 22 December 2014. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- Gambhir, Harleen (December 2016). "The Virtual Caliphate: ISIS'S Information Warfare" (PDF). Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
As of late 2016, Rumiyah has apparently supplanted other internationally oriented publications, as al-Hayat has ceased publishing them
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - "New IS 'Execution' Video Targets Kurds". www.rferl.org. Archived from the original on 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
- Meuse, Alison (11 November 2014). "How The Islamic State Wages Its Propaganda War". NPR. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- "Video: Islamic state media branch releases 'The end of Sykes-Picot'". Belfast Telegraph. INM Website. 1 July 2014. Archived from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- McGrath, Timothy (1 July 2014). "Watch this English-speaking ISIL fighter explain how a 98-year-old colonial map created today's conflict". Public Radio International. OZY Media News. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- Hayden, Sally (9 February 2015). "British Hostage John Cantlie 'Reports' from Aleppo In Latest Islamic State Propaganda Video". Vice.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
- "L'Etat islamique publie une chanson en français : "crie de tout ton cœur vengeance"". Valeurs actuelles (in French). 18 February 2015. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- "Nouvelle vidéo de l'Etat islamique d'un chant islamique en français : " Emigre vers ta terre "". MEMRI (in French). 19 May 2015. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- Sonnad, Nikhil. "ISIL's new recruitment song in Mandarin is another way to enrage China". Quartz. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- "时事大家谈:IS中文号召圣战,中国打算怎么办?" [Talk about current affairs: IS calls for jihad in Chinese, what is China going to do?]. Voice of America Chinese (in Chinese). 2015-12-09. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
- "Al-Hayat Media Releases English Chant Featured at End of "Return of the Gold Dinar" Video". SITE Institute. 2015-09-06. Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
- "Al-Hayat Media Center Releases Trailer for Video on its Currency". SITE Institute. 2015-08-28. Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
- "Rikthehet Muhaxheri, promovon dinarët e artë të ISIS". Gazeta MAPO (in Albanian). 31 August 2015. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- "IS Releases Russian Video Chant Threatening Attacks in Russia". SITE Intelligence Group. 2015-11-12. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- "Боевики ИГИЛ заявили, что "очень скоро" устроят в России теракты" [ISIS fighters say they will attack Russia 'very soon']. Pravda (in Russian). November 12, 2015. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- "VIDEO: ISIS child jihadists sing in French - 'Your blood will flow'". JPost. 3 May 2016. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
- "ISIS Music Video in French Featuring Children: Your Roads will be Rigged by Mines, our Swords are Sharpened to Slice Necks". MEMRI TV. 29 April 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
- Adam (2016-04-10). "IS' al-Hayat Media Advertises "Selected 10" Releases from IS Provinces in Video Format". SITE Intelligence Group. Archived from the original on 2023-01-05. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
- Backer, Olivia (12 July 2014). "ISIS Has a Really Slick and Sophisticated Media Department". Vice News. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- "Le nouveau chant en français de l'EI " Ma vengeance " justifie le terrorisme en Europe et fait l'éloge des attentats de Paris et de Bruxelles". Memri (in French). 7 July 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
- Levine, Jon (25 January 2016). "ISIS Has Released a New Video Showing the Paris Attackers in Other Atrocities". Mic.com. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- "Daesh publie une vidéo des auteurs des attentats de Paris". BFM TV. 24 January 2016. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- "Attentats de Paris: Daech diffuse une photo des 9 terroristes". L'Express (in French). 20 January 2016. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- "IS Releases Turkish Video Chant Encouraging Migration to its Held Territories". SITE Enterprise. 2017-04-20. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- Zelin, Aaron Y. (April 20, 2017). "New video nashīd from The Islamic State: "The Islamic State Has Been Established"". www.jihadology.net. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- "IS Launches New Video Series "Inside the Caliphate", Focuses on Currency Roll Out". SITE Enterprise. 2017-07-28. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- Zelin, Aaron Y. (August 7, 2017). "New video message from The Islamic State: "Inside the Caliphate #2"". www.jihadology.net. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- "IS Focuses on Marawi in 3rd Episode of "Inside the Caliphate"". SITE Enterprise. 2017-08-20. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- "Singaporean IS Fighter Challenges Prince Harry to Fight Group in Video, Urges Muslims Immigrate to East Asia for Jihad". SITE Enterprise. 2017-09-23. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- "IS Fighter Calls for Steadfastness Following Loss of Territory, Warns Enemy Forces of Battle in Desert Terrain". SITE Enterprise. 2017-12-17. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- Zelin, Aaron Y. (December 27, 2017). "New video message from The Islamic State: "Inside the Caliphate #6"". www.jihadology.net. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- "IS Video Shows Battle Footage from "Revenge for the Chaste" Offensive, Features Women in Battlefield". SITE Enterprise. 2018-02-07. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- Zelin, Aaron Y. (October 30, 2018). "New video message from The Islamic State: "Inside the Caliphate #8"". www.jihadology.net. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- "Un vidéoclip macabre de l'EI en français présente la vision apocalyptique de la guerre éternelle de l'EI contre l'incroyance". MEMRI (in French). 8 January 2018. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- "(Video) al Hayat Media Center Islamic State Nasheed: O DISBELIEVERS OF THE WORLD - 31 December 2017 (featuring Trump, Assad, Putin, Netanyahu, & Macron)". Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- "Warning Graphic: New ISIS Video Targets World Leaders". Clarion Project. 2 January 2018. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- Veysset, Pascale (27 January 2019). "Daech : la propagande continue". TV5Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- "(Video) Al-Hayat Media Islamic State release new Nasheed; Answer the Call (with English subtitles calling on Muslims to conduct domestic attacks and join Islamic State)". Tracking Terrorism. 26 January 2018. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- "Amendments to the Terrorist Designations of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria". United States Department of State. Bureau of Public Affairs. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- "IS Incites Lone Wolves in West and Elswhere [sic] to Carry Out Arson Attacks". SITE Intelligence Group. 2020-07-26. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
- Webber, Lucas (2021-10-26). "Arson and Incitement in Islamic State Propaganda". www.militantwire.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
- Johnson, Bridget (2020-08-04). "ISIS Video Urges Arson as 'Five-Star' Terror Tactic, Shows California Burning - HS Today". Homeland Security Today. Government Technology & Service Coalition. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
- "ISIS Nasheed For Holiday Season: 'Coldly Kill [Unbelievers] With Hate And Rage'; 'Plan Your Perfect Killing Spree'; '#MerryChristmas'". MEMRI. December 15, 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-09-04. Retrieved 2022-09-04.