ISIS publishes video of captive British journalist John Cantlie delivering propaganda message
Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah
Sep18, 2014
A new video posted online Thursday by supporters of the Islamic State militant purportedly shows a British journalist who was captured nearly two years ago in Syria.
The Internet video, titled “Lend Me Your Ears” and subtitled in Arabic, shows the journalist, John Cantlie, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and apparently reading from a script,
" In November 2012, I came to Syria, where I was subsequently captured by the Islamic State. Now, nearly two years later, many things have changed, including the expansion of the IS to include large areas of eastern Syria and western Iraq, a land mass bigger than Britain and many other nations. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking he's only doing this because he's a prisoner. He's got a gun at his head and he's being forced to do this, right? Well, it is true, I am a prisoner. That I cannot deny, but seeing as I've been abandoned by my government and my fate now lies in the hands of the Islamic State, I have nothing to lose. Maybe I will live and maybe I will die."
The video appears to be part of a targeted IS propaganda campaign using gruesome videos of Western hostages to convey the militant group’s message.
Cantlie also makes clear that the film is just the first of a series of "programmes" that he will be filming.
"I'm going to show you the truth as the western media tries to drag the public back to the abyss of another war with the Islamic State," he says.
"After two disastrous and hugely unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, why is it that our governments appear so keen to get involved in yet another unwinnable conflict? I'm going to show you the truth behind these systems and motivation of the Islamic State, and how the western media, the very organisation I used to work for can twist and manipulate that truth to the public back home. There are two sides to every story – think you're getting the whole picture?
"And I'll show you the truth behind what happened when many European citizens were imprisoned and later released by the Islamic State and how the British and American governments thought they could do it differently to every other European country. They negotiated with the Islamic state and got their people home while the British and Americans were left behind."
Cantlie, 43, a freelance photographer who had contributed to British newspapers including The Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph, as well as to Agence France-Presse,He had previously been detained along with a Dutch photographer by extremists in Syria in July 2012,released after nine days but four months later chose to return to the country, where he was abducted a second time and sold on to Isis.
The Sun and the Sunday Telegraph reported the existence of the video, but have not confirmed that the man in it is Cantlie or has worked for the newspapers. The Sunday Times has not yet reported the story.
The video followed the staggered release of three videos over the past month showing the decapitations of the American journalists James Foley and Steven J. Sotloff and of a British aid worker, David Cawthorne Haines.
David Cameron called the killing “pure evil” and “a despicable and appalling murder”, and has since paved the way for Britain to join the US in direct air strikes against Isis in Syria.
Sources
http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/09/new-isis-video-reveals-another-british-hostage/380426/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/18/islamic-state-video-isis-uk-hostage-propaganda-message-gunpoint
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/world/middleeast/british-hostage-warns-the-west-in-new-isis-video.html?_r=0
Sep18, 2014
A new video posted online Thursday by supporters of the Islamic State militant purportedly shows a British journalist who was captured nearly two years ago in Syria.
The Internet video, titled “Lend Me Your Ears” and subtitled in Arabic, shows the journalist, John Cantlie, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and apparently reading from a script,
" In November 2012, I came to Syria, where I was subsequently captured by the Islamic State. Now, nearly two years later, many things have changed, including the expansion of the IS to include large areas of eastern Syria and western Iraq, a land mass bigger than Britain and many other nations. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking he's only doing this because he's a prisoner. He's got a gun at his head and he's being forced to do this, right? Well, it is true, I am a prisoner. That I cannot deny, but seeing as I've been abandoned by my government and my fate now lies in the hands of the Islamic State, I have nothing to lose. Maybe I will live and maybe I will die."
The video appears to be part of a targeted IS propaganda campaign using gruesome videos of Western hostages to convey the militant group’s message.
Cantlie also makes clear that the film is just the first of a series of "programmes" that he will be filming.
"I'm going to show you the truth as the western media tries to drag the public back to the abyss of another war with the Islamic State," he says.
"After two disastrous and hugely unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, why is it that our governments appear so keen to get involved in yet another unwinnable conflict? I'm going to show you the truth behind these systems and motivation of the Islamic State, and how the western media, the very organisation I used to work for can twist and manipulate that truth to the public back home. There are two sides to every story – think you're getting the whole picture?
"And I'll show you the truth behind what happened when many European citizens were imprisoned and later released by the Islamic State and how the British and American governments thought they could do it differently to every other European country. They negotiated with the Islamic state and got their people home while the British and Americans were left behind."
Cantlie, 43, a freelance photographer who had contributed to British newspapers including The Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph, as well as to Agence France-Presse,He had previously been detained along with a Dutch photographer by extremists in Syria in July 2012,released after nine days but four months later chose to return to the country, where he was abducted a second time and sold on to Isis.
The Sun and the Sunday Telegraph reported the existence of the video, but have not confirmed that the man in it is Cantlie or has worked for the newspapers. The Sunday Times has not yet reported the story.
The video followed the staggered release of three videos over the past month showing the decapitations of the American journalists James Foley and Steven J. Sotloff and of a British aid worker, David Cawthorne Haines.
David Cameron called the killing “pure evil” and “a despicable and appalling murder”, and has since paved the way for Britain to join the US in direct air strikes against Isis in Syria.
Sources
http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/09/new-isis-video-reveals-another-british-hostage/380426/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/18/islamic-state-video-isis-uk-hostage-propaganda-message-gunpoint
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/world/middleeast/british-hostage-warns-the-west-in-new-isis-video.html?_r=0
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