The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On August 19, 2014, the Islamic State (IS) released a video showing the beheading of American photojournalist James Wright Foley. According to the FBI website, Foley was kidnapped on November 22, 2012, by an organized gang after departing from an internet café in Binesh, Syria.[1] The video also features Steven Joel Sotloff, a second American hostage in IS custody, who is threatened with a similar fate if the U.S. does not stop its attacks against the IS.
James Wright Foley
Steven Joel Sotloff
The video was first released by Al-Hayat Media on the social network joindispora.com. The video went viral shortly thereafter with download links posted on the Internet Archive (archive.org), Twitter, and YouTube.
The video begins with footage from the press conference where President Obama announced his decision to deliver airstrikes against the IS in Iraq. Footage of an airstrike, allegedly by the U.S. against IS target, is shown next.
Next, the video shows Foley, who appears kneeling down while dressed in orange, with a masked man wielding a knife standing by his side.
Foley appeals to his family and friends to pressure the U.S. government to end its attacks against the IS. Rise up, says Foley, against "my real killers," referring to the U.S. government. His killing, he says, has been the result of the U.S. government's complacency in criminality.
Foley appeals to his parents to "save him some dignity" by not accepting any legal compensation for his death.
Foley also addresses his brother John, a U.S. Air Force member, and asks him to reconsider his, and his comrades, actions against the IS.
Next, the masked man, who delivers his message in English with a distinct British accent, says that the U.S. government has been on the forefront of aggression against the IS. He also accuses it of plotting against the IS, and in going "far out of your way to find reasons to interfere in our affairs."
The man says that the U.S's attacks against the IS in Iraq have caused casualties among Muslims.
He also adds that the U.S. is no longer fighting an insurgency, but an "Islamic army" and a "state that has been accepted by a large number of Muslims worldwide." The man further says that "any aggression towards the Islamic State is an aggression towards Muslims from all walks of life, who've accepted the Islamic caliphate as their leadership."
Finally, the man addresses president Obama, threatening him with further bloodshed if Muslims are denied their right to live in safety: "any attempt by you Obama, to deny the Muslims their right of living in safety, under the Islamic caliphate, will result in the bloodshed of your people."
Source: joindiaspora.com/u/alhayaten, August 19, 2014.
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