Jihadists in Syria wage a propaganda war – against each other
Since
they gained control of the central Syrian city of Ar-Raqqah and its
suburbs, jihadist rebel groups have been fighting a propaganda war
against one another to mark their territory and draw as many supporters
as possible into their ranks. This battle for influence is evidenced by
the enormous posters displayed throughout the city, which are starting
to annoy the population.
Ar-Raqqah fell to the rebels on March 6. It is the first provincial
capital controlled by the rebels after more than two years of fighting
in Syria. The new rulers have been striving to make it into a model of
what a post-Assad Syria could look like.
The city was captured by several jidahist groups, notably the al-Nusra front and Ahrar al-Sham.
Contributors
“There is not a single wall without a poster, banner, inscription, or graffiti”
Abu Bakr is a Syrian opposition activist.
Everything started when members of the Al-Nusra front began
distributing memory cards [for cell phones] to residents. These cards
contained jihadist hymns urging listeners to join the group. Then,
several other groups, like Ahrar al-Sham, copied them. The technique
worked well – crowds of people showed up to collect these free memory
cards.
After the hymns, the jihadist groups starting sharing videos of military operations meant
to recruit new members. Then, they realized the population could be won
over by meeting its needs. So they began to focus on social issues [including medical assistance, food aid, picking up trash, opening Islamic schools, and so on].
Each group created communications committees throughout al-Raqqah.
So, in each neighbourhood, you can find committees representing many
different groups. Sometimes they’re even set up in the street. These
committees have launched poster campaigns throughout the city.
These posters have spread like wildfire: there is not a single wall
without a poster, banner, inscription, or graffiti referring to Islam
or glorifying the jihadist groups while calling for people to join their
ranks.
“How can these groups be so worried over who has the biggest poster, when we are slowly dying here?”
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Even if part of the population is receptive to this propaganda, the
residents of Ar-Raqqah are starting to show their frustration over this
silly and useless “war”. I saw with my own eyes a passerby yell at a
communications office, “Shame on you, if this is your idea of Islam!”
People just cannot understand how these groups can be so obsessed
over who has the larger poster, when we are slowly dying here, day by
day. Residents lack everything here; aid only reaches us in tiny
increments. There is no medicine and some zones in the region are still
being bombed by the outposts held by the Syrian army [namely the brigade
93 station, the division 17 station, and the Tabqqah military airport].
People feel that it would be better to secure the area before launching
propaganda campaigns.
Many are suspicious of the jihadists groups’ intentions. Many of
the residents of Ar-Raqqah and Tabqqah are former government
bureaucrats. Now, they have nothing left, and they see combatants
equipping themselves with brand new weapons, brigade chiefs purchasing
flashy new cars to show off downtown, and the communications offices
engaging in a completely useless propaganda war.
Video: http://youtu.be/dOKMh0HzxH4
There is now a frenzied competition for wall space. There have even
been armed clashes over this between the Al-Nusra front and the Free
Syrian Army in Tabqah. I have seen inscriptions on walls that stated
“Reserved for the Al-Nusra front, not for the Free Syrian Army”, which
goes to show the extent of the dispute between the two groups.
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