There seems to be no limit to their inhumanity. The self-declared Islamic State or State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) continues to taunt the world with its cruelty and barbarism.\u00a0 On the eve of one of the Muslim world\u2019s most holy days, Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice, they brutally murdered another British hostage,\u00a0 Alan Henning, \u00a0captured while delivering aid to Syrians in need.<\/p>\n
Mr. Henning was the fourth westerner to be beheaded\u00a0\u00a0 by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.<\/p>\n
ISIS circulated another video of an unmasked, bearded militant with a British accent calling upon Muslim men in the UK to rise up and “cause terror in the hearts” of the British people.<\/p>\n
Gruesome and repulsive as it is, it is difficult to imagine how this latest act of public savagery might be used by ISIS as a way of recruiting sympathizers. Yet, \u00a0\u00a0there is no doubt that ISIS has mastered the art of using terrorism as a tool of warfare and propaganda. Their opponents have a long way to go in order to catch up.<\/p>\n
For every decent, pious Muslim being repulsed by these atrocities, there will also be a significant others wanting to join the ranks of ISIS.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the anti-ISIS coalition seem to agree that the military response alone is not going to defeat the radical Islamists. They will have to find ways to prevent the terrorist movement from fundraising and recruiting as well as winning the propaganda battle on a global scale.<\/p>\n
This is no longer a matter of winning hearts.\u00a0 What is needed is an urgent transformation of both hearts and minds.<\/p>\n
In his speech<\/a> at the United Nations General Assembly on 24 September, President Obama appealed directly to Muslims, urging them to reject violence of jihadism.<\/p>\n \u201cYou come from a great tradition that stands for education, not ignorance; innovation, not destruction; the dignity of life, not murder,\u201d Mr. Obama said.<\/p>\n A week later, Theresa May, the UK home secretary, addressed the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, a British city with a large immigrant population.<\/p>\n She referred to Islam as a religion of peace.\u00a0 \u201cThis hateful ideology has nothing to do with Islam itself. And it is rejected by the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Britain and around the world\u201d Theresa May said.<\/p>\n It is debatable whether any religion let alone Islam can be described as \u201ca religion of peace\u201d if and when interpreted literally and outside its historical context. The theological and ideological roots of extremism need a more nuanced discussion. For now, we first have to make a realistic assessment of those masses, called to raise their voices against extremism.<\/p>\n As well as genuine disgust and despair among millions of Muslims worldwide, there are endless conspiracy theories and cynicism. When you raise the question of what ISIS is and where it came from, very few will point their fingers at any Muslim country. \u00a0Especially, in countries where the governments played a significant role in the growth of ISIS, the tendency is to blame the US, Israel and the west for the rise of Islamic radicalism.<\/p>\n In Turkey, anti-Americanism and anti-Israeli sentiments are shared by the left and right of the political spectrum as well as those with Islamist leanings. When it comes to portioning the blame for the atrocities committed by ISIS, accusation of manipulative actions by the US, the UK and Israel comes on the top of the list.<\/p>\n A good example is a recent television interview with a charismatic religious preacher in Turkey. Ahmet Mahmud \u00dcnl\u00fc or C\u00fcbbeli Ahmet Hoca as he is widely known is an influential figure. \u00a0President Erdogan and his wife visited<\/a> him last August before the presidential elections to get his blessing.<\/p>\n Speaking<\/a> on \u00a0Beyaz TV, \u00a0C\u00fcbbeli Ahmet Hoca told his audience that ISIS militants were worse than infidels, adding: \u201cIt is the case of killing 3-5 birds with one stone. The USA, Britain and the Jews need to empty some lands here in order to realize their Greater Middle East project. They benefit by claiming that Shias and Sunnis throttle each other. We all know Israel wants no other country bigger than itself in the Middle East\u201d.<\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s Prime Minister Ahmet \u00a0Davuto\u011flu, who had earlier last month explained the ISIS violence as the result of built up anger, social exclusion and frustration in Syria and Iraq has again come up with another of his \u00a0\u201cdeep\u201d analysis. Speaking in Ankara on Wednesday, Mr\u00a0 Davuto\u011flu has blamed the rise of ISIS on the \u00a0lack of cooperation between opposition groups in Syria. . According to pro-government Daily Sabah newspaper, Davuto\u011flu said the people of Kobani, a Syrian Kurdish city besieged by ISIS for more than two weeks, were paying the price for the failure of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) to join forces with the Free Syrian Army (FSA).<\/p>\n “If the PYD, instead of cooperating with the regime, had joined forces with the FSA and with the opposition, ISIS would not have found that much opportunity in the field” he said.<\/p>\n Today, the U.S. Vice- President Joe Biden is quoted<\/a> in the Turkish press as saying that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan had admitted mistakes that paved the way for the rise of ISIS.<\/p>\n