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5. Research results

5.3 What are the characteristics of the West

5.3.1 Introduction

To analyze Occidentalist discourse in the speeches by the IS leadership, it is also important to analyze what characteristics are ascribed to the West in the speeches. This is important because, next to who the West is, it is also crucial to get a better understanding of what the West does. Therefore, this section of the analysis aims to identify what characteristics the IS leadership ascribes to the West according to the speeches.

5.3.2 Crusaders

Figure 1 shows that the IS leadership uses the term “Crusaders” the most in its speeches to refer to the West. This demonstrates that this term is a rather important term for the representation of the West by the leaders of the organization. Figure 5 shows an overview of the amount of usage of terms in the speeches by the IS leadership that are included in the “Crusader theme”. What can be concluded from this is that the IS leadership uses the term “Crusaders” the most when compared to the other terms included in this theme. In total, this term is used 215 times in all the speeches. However, the IS leadership also uses other terms that relate to the “Crusaders theme” such as the term “Crusader campaign”, which is used 18 times in total. Another synonym for this term is “Crusader coalition”, which is used 13 times in the speeches by the IS-leadership

Figure 5

Crusader theme: the amount of usage of terms in the speeches by the IS leadership

In other cases, specific actors are labeled as Crusaders such as “Crusader Russia”, “Crusader Europe”,

“Crusader America”, “Crusader France” and “Crusader New Zealand”. These observations show that the label “Crusader” is often used to represent the West in general, for example by using the term

“Crusaders”, or actors in particular, for example by using the term “Crusader Russia” or “Crusader France”.

It is important to understand the historical meaning behind the word “Crusader”. On 27 November 1095 CE, Pope Urban II called for a military campaign to travel to the land of Palestine to establish Christian sovereignty over the holy city of Jerusalem (Mahood & Rane, 2017, p. 30). The Christian volunteers came to be known as Crusignatus, which means those who take the cross. During the First Crusade (1096-1099 CE), Jerusalem was established as a Christian city. Before, Palestine was ruled by the Muslims (“the Saracens''). This Crusader period became known for the slaughter of men, women, and children in the name of Christ (Halverson et. al, 2011, pp. 109-111). Sayyid Qutb used this historical event to offer a modern interpretation of the Crusader narrative. According to him, the European religious convictions that give rise to this hostility against Islam might have lost their powers. However, the ancient aversion to Islam is still an important element within the European mind (Halverson et al., 2011, p.115). According to Rane (2010), this Crusader history has had a lasting impact on the relations between the West and Islam. The presence of Westerners in Muslim lands is still viewed through this historical lens. He argues that many Muslims have a “Christian enmity” against the West.

Mahood and Rane (2017, p. 24) argue that the IS leadership uses a Crusader narrative to frame the conflict as a war between the IS caliphate and all other forms of social and political order. This is also evident in the speeches by the IS leadership. The leaders use the historical Crusader narrative to attribute the same negative characteristics to the West as were attributed to the Crusader Christians of that period. Al-Baghdadi argues that the West has returned to the Middle East with a new Crusader campaign, aiming to terrorize Muslims in the Muslim lands and impose Western systems and beliefs on their lands. According to al-Baghdadi, the West is only present in the Middle East to secularize the lands and to keep Muslims from their belief. Al-Baghdadi for example states:

“The armies that they prepare and arm and which the Jews and Crusaders train are only to crush you, weaken you, enslave you to the Jews and Crusaders, turn you away from your religion and the path of Allah, plunder the goods of your lands, and rob you of your wealth.”

(Al-Baghdadi, 2015a)

This section again shows that al-Baghdadi uses Occidentalist discourse to create a homogenous image of the West. In particular, al-Baghdadi uses Religious Occidentalist discourse, to create a worldview in which the IS is engaged in a holy war against the West. He uses Religious Occidentalist discourse in this speech by arguing that the West forms a direct threat to the Muslim community. Moreover, this

section plays into the historical narrative of the Crusaders to argue that the West is once again participating in a campaign to plunder the goods of the Muslim lands, rob the Muslims of their wealth, turn them from their religion, and enslave them to the Jews and Crusaders. The West is thus portrayed as the new Crusader in the speeches by the IS leadership.

A second observation is that the IS leadership argues that the leader of this Crusader coalition is the United States. In some cases, this is implied indirectly. In other cases, al-Baghdadi directly states this:

“O Muslims, the Crusaders – and at their forefront, America – thought that this ummah was like a fragile, premature infant and had no descendants that ought to be feared in this era…”

(Al-Baghdadi, 2018)

This quote shows that al-Baghdadi establishes the United States as the de facto leader of the West, and the whole international coalition fighting the IS. The above-mentioned observations show that the speeches by al-Baghdadi are grounded in a dichotomous worldview. Lorenzo-Dus and Macdonald (2018, p. 34) also observe this dichotomous worldview. They argue that the IS uses othering strategies in IS media to create a homogenous representation of the West who is seen as ‘the evil other’. In other words, the terminology that is used to represent the West results in the creation of an in- and out-group.

5.3.3 Masters

In the speeches by the IS leadership, the West is often portrayed as a master over regimes in the Middle East. These regimes are seen as puppets of the West. Figure 6 gives an overview of the amount of usage of terms in the speeches by the IS leadership that are included in the “Masters theme”. This theme includes all terms that relate to the theme that the West is considered a master over other regimes. What can be concluded from Figure 6 is that the IS leadership often uses the term

“Agents” to refer to regimes that are seen as followers of the West. In total, this term is used 13 times in the speeches. Another term that is used to describe this relationship is “Dogs”, which is used 8 times in total.

Additionally, Figure 6 shows that the IS leadership uses a variety of different terms to describe the

“master” and “follower” relationship between the West and other regimes. Terms that are used to describe the West are: “Masters”, “tails”, and “paymasters”. Terms that are used to describe the subordinate regimes in the Middle East are: “Agents”, “dogs”, “followers”, “slaves”, “puppets”,

“subordinate”, “servants”, “minions” and “pawns”.

Figure 6

Masters theme: Amount of usage of terms in the speeches by the IS leadership

Baele, Bettiza, et al. (2019, p. 904) state that the IS often discusses that the Western leaders are actively manipulating and controlling state leaders and governments in the Middle East in their magazines. This is also evident in the speeches by the IS leadership. Al-Baghdadi often describes a situation in which the West, especially the United States, is seen as a master over murtadd (apostate) governments in the Middle East and beyond. According to him, the West is too afraid to fight the IS on the ground themselves. To solve this, the West is accused of using “slaves” and “agents” in the Middle East who fight the IS for the West. An example is:

“Due to their [the West] fear, they did not dare to start a campaign until after amassing with them their slaves and dogs from amongst the rulers of the Muslims’ lands.” (Al-Baghdadi, 2014c).

In this quote, al-Baghdadi argues that the West is too afraid to fight the IS. Consequently, the West is attributed negative characteristics as they are represented as fearing the IS.

Another example is:

“They [the West] accomplished this by attacking and occupying their lands, placing their treacherous agents in power to rule the Muslims with an iron fist, and spreading dazzling and deceptive slogans…” (Al-Baghdadi, 2014a)

In this quote, al-Baghdadi discusses how the West has been placing agents in power to rule countries in the Middle East for centuries. In the next sentence of this speech, al-Baghdadi explains that the West has been able to do this by attacking countries in the Middle East to spread civilization, peace,

democracy, and secularism. He calls these Western ideas “deceptive slogans”. This shows that al-Baghdadi again uses Occidentalist discourse to represent the West, as he is negative about the Western systems and ideas.

5.3.4 Other negative characteristics

There are also other characteristics that the IS leadership uses to describe the West. These other characteristics are likewise of importance for the study of Occidentalism in the speeches by the organization, as it gives insights into the behavior of the West according to the leaders of the IS.

Figure 7 gives an overview of terms that the IS leadership uses to assign characteristics to the West. In total, 34 different Western characteristics are identified based on the speeches by the IS. However, Figure 7 only includes terms that are coded more than three times in the speeches. What can be concluded from this figure is that the term “Land of the Cross” is the most used term in this theme. In total, this term is used 22 times. Another term that is frequently used is the term “disbeliever”, which is used 19 times in total. A synonym that the IS leadership uses for this term is the term “kufr”. In total, this term is coded 14 times in the speeches.

Figure 7

Western characteristics theme: Amount of usage of terms in the speeches by the IS leadership

What can be concluded is that the IS leadership often highlights the unbelieving character of the West.

This is done by using terms such as: “disbeliever”, “kufr”, “apostate” and “secular''. In other cases, the IS’s leaders highlight the Christian character of the West. Terms that the leadership uses for this aim are: “Land of the Cross”, “Dog of Rome” and “Christians”. Other terms that are coded in the speeches mainly relate to the active behavior of the West. These include terms such as “stubborn”,

“arrogant and “idiots” when referring to the West.

Several scholars have already identified that the West is represented as a major civilizational enemy in the IS’s media (Baele, Bettiza, et al., 2019; Lorenzo-Dus & Macdonald, 2018). According to these scholars, the IS ascribes homogenous and negative characteristics to the West which are rooted in Occidentalist discourse. In the speeches by al-Baghdadi, this Occidentalist discourse is also identifiable. He often highlights the negative characteristics of the West. An example is that al-Baghdadi often argues in his speeches that the Western powers are in decline:

“And due to their [America and its allies] fear and weakness, they are unable to send ground forces to fight the mujahidin. And between this fear, weakness, and powerlessness, we see them stumbling in failure.” (Al-Baghdadi, 2014c)

This example shows that al-Baghdadi characterizes the West as weak, fearful, hypocritical, and incompetent. In doing so, al-Baghdadi aims to create a picture of the West as a sinful and incapable actor in their fight against the IS. From this quote, it can be concluded that al-Baghdadi uses Occidentalist discourse as he tries to create a homogenous and negative image of the West by attributing these negative characteristics to the West. Emphasizing the sinful character of the West is thus an important element in the representation of the West.

Next to that al-Baghdadi defines the West as sinful, it can also be concluded from the speeches that al-Baghdadi argues that the West is actively ‘sinning’. This difference is explained by Baele, Bettiza, et al. (2019). The authors explain that the IS not only ascribes negative characteristics to the West but that it also creates an image in which the West is assigned sinful traits. The difference between these two is marginal but effective. Baele, Bettiza, et al. (2019, p. 899) explain: “IS does not merely assign sinful traits to the West as an out-group, it also presents this sinful nature as a dynamic, expanding practice that actively endangers Islam”. In the speeches, al-Baghdadi argues that the Western systems are sinful. He often discusses how a true Muslim can’t submit to the Western systems and liberal ideas. An example is:

“And if the Crusaders today have begun to bother the Muslims who continue to live in the lands of the cross by monitoring them, arresting them, and questioning them, then soon they will begin to displace them and take them away either dead, imprisoned, or homeless.”

(Al-Baghdadi, 2015a).

Another example is:

“Rather, they took part – through actual military participation – with the nations of kufr in waging war against Islam and the Sunnah in Iraq and Sham. Indeed, they are the head of every tribulation and the reason for every calamity.” (Al-Baghdadi, 2016)

These examples clearly show the Occidentalist discourse in the speeches by Al-Baghdadi as he criticizes the Western systems and way of life. Al-Baghdadi argues that the West forms a direct threat

to Muslims and Islam. In doing so, he is able to frame the conflict as a religious conflict between “the believers” and “the unbelievers”. This shows how his arguments are, again, rooted in Religious Occidentalist discourse, as he claims that the West is an absolute evil who acts on Islamophobic ideas, directly targeting Muslims living in the West and the Middle East. Moreover, he argues that the West and the other nations of kufr are the sources of everything that goes wrong in the Middle East. By arguing this, al-Baghdadi can construct a negative portrayal of the West which is represented as the out-group. The Muslims who are being targeted are indirectly seen as the in-group.

The Occidentalist discourse can also be identified in another way in the speeches by al-Baghdadi.

Negative concepts that the IS often uses to describe the West are reclaimed by al-Baghdadi. In turn, these concepts are used to describe the West. An example is the concept of terrorism. The West often labels the IS as a terrorist organization. However, al-Baghdadi discusses how the Western idea of terrorism is hypocritical. In his view, the IS is not a terrorist organization, but he considers the West to be the real terrorists. In his speech, al-Baghdadi wonders why the West views the IS as a terrorist organization (Al-Baghdadi, 2014a). He gives several reasons why not the IS, but the enemies of the Muslims, including the West, should be considered terrorists. He for example discusses the killing of Muslims in Burma, the destruction of Palestinian homes in Palestine, the banning of wearing a hijab in France, and the presence of prostitution and adultery in the West. Afterwards, al-Baghdadi argues that the West legitimizes these ‘terrorist acts’ by their Western characteristics:

“All this is not terrorism. Rather it is freedom, democracy, peace, security, and tolerance!

Sufficient for us is Allah, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.” (Al-Baghdadi, 2014a) In this speech, al-Baghdadi does two important things. First, he again criticizes the Western system and its characteristics. Here the Occidentalist discourse is evident, as, in Occidentalism, the enemy is often portrayed with negative characteristics such as it being materialistic, hypocritical, secular, and inhumane (Buruma & Margalit, 2005). These characteristics also come to the fore in this speech by al-Baghdadi, as he discusses how the West is hypocritical and intolerant. Second, al-Baghdadi reclaims the concept of terrorism that is often used by the West to describe the IS. He argues that not the IS but the West is the actual terrorist by discussing how the West is killing innocent Muslims in the Middle East. Macnair (2018) argues that the IS often uses the Muslim victim narrative to strengthen the image of the West as the enemy. This is also highlighted by Baele, Bettiza, et al.

(2019). They argue that the IS claims that the West and its allies engage in direct acts of aggression against Muslims. In doing so, al-Baghdadi creates a reality in which the West is directly associated with a threat to the survival of the Muslim Ummah. In other words, by ascribing negative characteristics to the West and reclaiming characteristics that are often used to describe the IS for describing the West, al-Baghdadi again creates a dichotomous worldview in which the West is seen as

the enemy. This ‘us versus them’ worldview reinforces and polarizes the differences between the West and the IS.

5.3.5 Conclusion

What can be concluded from the speeches is that the IS leadership creates a negative and homogenous image of the West in its speeches. One way in which the IS leadership tries to create this image of the West is by invoking the historical Crusader narrative to attribute the same negative characteristics to the West as were attributed to the Christians of the Crusader period. Consequently, al-Baghdadi creates a reality in which the West is partaking in a new Crusader campaign in the Middle East to terrorize Muslims and impose Western systems and beliefs on their lands. According to al-Baghdadi, the leader of this campaign is the United States. Secondly, the IS leadership often argues that the West should be viewed as a master over regimes in the Middle East. Al-Baghdadi argues that the West is too afraid to fight the IS directly on the ground and therefore, they use “slaves” or “agents” in the region who fight the IS for the West. Third, the IS leadership attributes a variety of other negative and homogenous characteristics to the West. These characteristics often relate to the unbelieving (kufr) character of the West, the Christian character of the West, and the active negative behavior of the West. Al-Baghdadi for example argues that the Western powers are in decline, weak, powerless, hypocritical, stubborn, and arrogant. Moreover, he often discusses in his speeches how the West is actively targeting Muslims to keep them from their religion. As a result, al-Baghdadi defines the West as sinful and actively sinning. Moreover, the IS leadership reclaims concepts that are often used to define the IS, to, in turn, define the West. An example is the concept of terrorism that is used by al-Baghdadi to explain the behavior of the West. These conclusions show that the IS leadership uses dichotomous labels to categorize the world into an in- and out-group which emphasizes the differences between the IS and its enemies, including the West. The process of othering is thus again an important element for the representation of the Western characteristics in the speeches by the IS leadership. The negative and homogenous labels strengthen the idea of the West as the enemy.