Islamic State Now Recruits Deaf to Join Jihad in Iraq

Islamic State Now Recruits Deaf to Join Jihad in Iraq
By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST and the ASSIST News Service
IRAQ (ANS – March 25, 2015) -- On March 8, 2015, a new recruitment video by Islamic State Iraq, also known as ISIS, showed up online.
This video is different than their other videos in that this one uses sign language in an attempt to recruit the deaf in the Middle East and the rest of the world to join this terror group. This video shows two men who are said to be deaf brothers who are part of IS in Iraq.
A source, who has asked not to be identified for security reasons, told ANS, “In the video the two men challenge the deaf in the Middle East and in Western countries to join in the jihad. Below are some quotes from the signing. These are not from the original captioning provided with the video but from the actual signing on the video. The signing and the captions do not always match and not all of the signing is shown in the captions.
First they call on the deaf around the world to join them in the Islamic State where they claim “it is good for deaf people.” Then they say that the nations in the West and in the Middle East want to attack but they will be defeated.
Here is an excerpt from the video:

(First deaf man)

We send greetings to the Arab world...

As a deaf person I am sending greetings to the world...

Deaf from all of the world, wherever, from the Arab world wherever, you can come here, you can talk, you can sign. It is fine.

The Islamic State is strong, with fasting and prayer, there is expansion...It is good. They understand. Thanks be to God it is good.

America, Britain, Italy and France want to attack us but let's see. First Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar want to come and attack us. We'll see, God and his prophet Mohammed have told us to kick them out. We are to go to these accursed. Let them die. All of these Arabs need to die, you know?

In the video the two men talk about the important jobs they have with Islamic State in Iraq. They both work as traffic police and are seen directing traffic, carrying automatic weapons. Later in the video they prepare “rockets” against the Peshmerga (Kurdish) forces.
Again, here’s another excerpt from the video:

(Second deaf man)

Greetings to the deaf. You know I work in the Islamic State as a traffic warden...

Hello, I am a sheikh (respected person) in the Islamic. I am a deaf traffic warden, together with him...

The Peshmerga missiles landed here and I saw adults and babies fall down. I saw it and got furious. Look, I screw on the caps on the missiles to attack the Peshmerga. We shoot missiles and attack and attack them.

The source went on to say, “According to contacts in the Middle East, this video is likely to appeal to deaf in the region because the deaf are usually not allowed to serve in the armies of any of the nations,” explained the ANS source. “In this video not only are deaf people serving in an armed force but these two deaf men have what would be considered prestigious positions as police and are involved directly in the fighting. One deaf contact reported that Deaf had been involved in fighting in Hebron, again as jihadists.”
He added, “Since misinformation is to be expected from these sorts of videos I asked people familiar with deaf and sign language in the Middle East to evaluate the video. I did not automatically assume that these men are deaf and that all that was reported was true.
“These people reported that the first person on the video signed better than the second person. They both were using a sign language related to those used in the countries in the region. It may have been a dialect used in Iraq but they were not certain. However, I was surprised that there was not a consensus on whether these two were deaf or not.
“After evaluating all of these mixed responses I think it somewhat more likely that both men are deaf. The first one may have received more of a formal education than the second one which could explain his more sophisticated signing. The captions report that these Deaf men are brothers and gives the name of the first man as Abdu 'Abdur-Rahman but this information did not appear in the signing.”
He concluded by saying, “Sources in the Middle East report that deaf people from Iraq and Syria have joined Islamic State, perhaps more than 1,000, but they did not know any deaf from Jordan who have joined them. I got a report of another Islamic State recruitment video aimed at deaf people but this one was from Syria. Unfortunately, I have not yet located a copy.”
Photo Image: Still from Islamic State deaf recruitment video.
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