World Wide Warriors: How Jihadis operate Online

199 Pages·7.789 MB·English

by  Rüdiger Lohlker (ed.)

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Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY-NC-SA 4.0
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ISBN Print: 9783847109389 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737009386
1 Religion and Transformation
2 in Contemporary European Society
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Studying Jihadism
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10 Band 14
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15 Herausgegeben von Kurt Appel, Christian Danz,
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Jakob Helmut Deibl, Rüdiger Lohlker, Richard Potz
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18 und Sieglinde Rosenberger
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Die Bände dieser Reihe sind peer-reviewed.
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Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY-NC-SA 4.0
© 2019, V&R unipress GmbH, Göttingen
ISBN Print: 9783847109389 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737009386
Rüdiger Lohlker (ed.)
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7 World Wide Warriors
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10 How Jihadis Operate Online
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With61 figures
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Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY-NC-SA 4.0
© 2019, V&R unipress GmbH, Göttingen
ISBN Print: 9783847109389 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737009386
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ISBN Print: 9783847109389 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737009386
Inhalt
RüdigerLohlker
Introduction:ConfusionmeetsConfusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
RüdigerLohlker
CollectiveOrganizers:LoneWolves,RemoteControl,andVirtual
Guidance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
AliFisher
Interrogatingtheelectronicribat:DataScienceinthestudyofthe
Jihadistmovement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
AliFisher/NicoPrucha
AMilestonefor“IslamicState”Propaganda:“TheClangingofthe
Swords,part4” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
ClemensHolzgruber
“NowYouSeeMe–NowYouDon’t”:AnalysingJihadists’Online
Privacy-EnhancingandCounter-SurveillanceStrategies . . . . . . . . . . 157
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY-NC-SA 4.0
© 2019, V&R unipress GmbH, Göttingen
ISBN Print: 9783847109389 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737009386
Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY-NC-SA 4.0
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ISBN Print: 9783847109389 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737009386
RüdigerLohlker
Introduction: Confusion meets Confusion
Asconfusingastheroleofreligioninjihadism1seemstobeforthosenotfamiliar
withArab cultureandIslam,almostasconfusingistheroleoftheInternetin
invigoratingjihadismformanyresearchers.Thechaptersofthisbookwilltryto
reducethelevelofconfusion,basedonanunderstandingoftheologyandhistory
ofIslamandbasedoninsightsfromDataScience,therebygoingbeyondthestate
ofplayofmuchWesternconventionalresearchonjihadism.
In1991intheaftermathofthefirstwaroftheUSA(andallies)againstIraqan
referringtotheAmericanCivilWarManuelDeLandastated:
“The development of the metallic cartridge and breech-loading firearms caused a
revolutionintacticsthattookmilitarycommandersoverahundredyearstodigest.”2
Thingsdidnotchange,anothertechnologyisappliedtoday.Asinformertimes
theimpactofthesenewtechnologiesisstillnotunderstood.
We are living in a period of military innovations in which terrorists have
weaponizedtheInternet3andJihaditechniciansdemostratetheirabilitytoadopt
tonew technological developments The chapters of thisvolume seek to bring
togetherdevelopmentsinsocialmedia,theinnovationsofjihadistswithdevel-
opmentsinthestrategicthinkingofjihadists,basedmainlyonevidencebased
research into Arabic language sources and documents from the jihadists
themselves.
This volume seeks to remedy a deficiencyofmuch Western research onji-
hadistterrorism,namelyitsdisregardforreligionandtheInternet.Wewillleave
aside that the surprising fact that terrorism research at least at 9/11 tends to
ignoretheroleoftheacoherenttheologyandreligionunderlyingjihadism.The
1 JihadismmeansatransnationalmovementwithaspecificIslamictheologyandtheuseof
violenceasthemaindistinctionfromothercontemporaryIslamicmovements.
2 ManuelDeLanda,WarintheAgeofIntelligentMachines,NewYork:SwerveEditions1991,
p.29.
3 SeetheremarksontheconsumerizationofwarfareinthechapterbyLohlker.
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ISBN Print: 9783847109389 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737009386
8 RüdigerLohlker
authors rely mainly on evidence produced by the jihadis themselves, not ig-
noringitasmuchofconventionalresearchdoes.4
Rüdiger Lohlker describes the technical aspects of recent jihadist dis-
semimationofoperationalressources.Thechapterincludesfurtherremarkson
jihadistsonlinestrategies.
AliFishercriticizesthetechnicaldeficientiesofcurrentresearchonjihadism,
notunderstandingtherealoperationsofjihadistsonline.
Ali Fisher and Nico Prucha present a case study on the dissemination of
jihadistvideosonline.
Clemens Holzgruber analyzes the jihadist discussion on secure communi-
cationonlinegivinginsidesintothetoolsusedbyjihadists.
All the chapters introduce ressources that are ignored in conventional re-
searchbecausetheyareinArabicandreligiouslycontextualized.Thismakesit
necessarytodoaclosereadingofthesourcestoenabletheresearchcommunity
to leave themainstream discourses. Stressing a coherenttheologyofjihadism
doesnotmeanjihadismisunderstoodbyreferringtoIslam,theQur’anetc.We
subscribetotheidearecentlywrittendownbyOuldMohamedou:
“Intimetheproblememergedthus:tounderstandWesternterroristsofthe1970ssuch
astheGermanRedArmyFactionortheItalianRedBrigades,oneisinvitedtoexamine
thesocietalconditionofpost-warGermanyItaly,theambientmalaiseinthesecountries
25yearsafterNazismandfascism,andtheirrelationshipwiththeirrebelliousyouth;to
makesenseofal-QaedaorIS,oneisaskedtoreadtheQur’an.”5
Thepresentvolumetriestogiveinsightsthatmayremedythisapproachturning
tothepracticeofjihadists, notfocussing onthespeculationsaboutwhatthey
thinkandwhatisIslamornot.6
We have to thankour reviewer for helping us to clarify some ideas in this
volume.
4 Bywayofexception,inthecaseoftheattackersoftheWTCin2001,theroleofthe“Spiritual
Manual”anditsreligiouscontenthasbeenrecognised(HansG.Kippenberg/TilmannSei-
densticker(eds.),The9/11Handbook,London/Oakville,CT:Equinox2006).
5 Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, A Theory of ISIS: Political Violence and the
TransformationoftheGlobalOrder,London:PlutoPress2018,pp.8–9.
6 ShahabAhmed,WhatisIslam?TheImportanceofBeingIslamic,Princeton/Oxford:Princeton
UniversityPress2016.
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ISBN Print: 9783847109389 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737009386
RüdigerLohlker
Collective Organizers: Lone Wolves, Remote Control, and
Virtual Guidance
Intro
Terrorism‘research’isdominatedbymedia-inducedvocabulary,whichtriesto
demonize and hype the imminent threat of terrorist violence: lone wolves or
remotecontrolterrorismaretwoofthemostprominentphenomena.1Whatis
neglected,however,isanattempttounderstandwhatishappeningontheground
injihadistpractice.2
The chapter is organized in a rhizomatic way mirroring the swarm-like
movement of jihadi online communication (see below); the chapter is not fol-
lowingalinearstoryline.Itisbasedonacarefulselectionofjihadionlinecom-
municationduringthelastyearsandusesArabiclanguagesourcestoclosethegap
ofknowledgethatisevidentincurrentmainstreamresearchonjihadism.Sincethe
knowledgeofArabicsourcesinthisresearchisnegligeablewefeelforcedtoofferas
muchinformationaspossible.Anyattemptofsynthesiswouldbeprematureand
standinthewayofathoroughunderstandingofjihadicommunition.
Discussing jihadi swarms means analyzing collective processes of self-or-
ganizationevolvingintentionallybutalsonon-intentionally.
CollectiveOrganization
TalkingaboutcollectiveorganizersinthecontextofJihadismstudiesissome-
what unusual. A brief remark on the concept of the collective organizer by
someonewhowouldnowadaysbecalledan‘expert’maybehelpfulinorderto
1 ForanoverviewontheliteratureonjihadilonewolfterrorismseeSarahTeich,Trendsand
DevelopmentsinLoneWolfTerrorismintheWesternWorld:AnAnalysisofTerroristAttacks
andAttemptedAttacksbyIslamicExtremists(http://www.ctcitraining.org/docs/LoneWolf_
SarahTeich2013.pdf)(accessedMarch4,2018).
2 TheideaspresentedwereinspiredbydiscussionsduringJakartaGeopoliticalForum2017.I
havetothankFerdinandHaberlforreadingapre-finalversionofthischapter.
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ISBN Print: 9783847109389 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737009386