Master thesis P.B.J. Zwinkels s1248901 January 13, 2019
Crisis & Security Management, Leiden University Dr. M.B.D. Benraad
Dr. T. Abbas
The Convert Foreign Fighter Experience
Research into the experience of Dutch male converts joining the Islamic State. Abstract
From all the foreign fighters whom travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State, 23 percent is a converted Muslim. In the Netherlands this number is estimated to be around 18%. Still, this phenomena is little researched as little is known about the pull factors for converts in their decision to travel to the Caliphate. This explorative thesis looks into this by the following research question: What are the specifics of the Dutch convert foreign fighter experience when joining the Islamic State? This experience is divided in three parts, the recruitment stage, the arrival stage and the division of roles. This research is conducted by testing multiple security theories and theories from other academic fields to the case of the Dutch male convert. The data derives from document analysis on Dutch government documents, newspaper articles, academic literature and by doing an in-depth interview with the acquittance of a Dutch convert. It became clear that convert recruitment is in line with recruitment theories. In the arrival stage it became clear that converts, contradicting to the theory, share their disappointment in fellow Muslims with their old environment. In the division of roles it became clear, contradicting to the theory, that converts are not allowed to choose their desired role, and converts could stay in shared language battalions during their residency in the Islamic State. This research thus shows that the Dutch convert experience is almost similar to other foreign fighters’ experiences in the Islamic State, but the contradicting findings give new insights in the field of security studies.
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Table of contents
The Convert Foreign Fighter Experience ... 1
Table of contents ... 2 1.Introduction ... 4 1.1. Societal Relevance ... 6 1.2. Academic Relevance ... 7 1.3. Research Objective ... 7 1.4. Literature review ... 8 1.5. Research Question ... 10 1.6. Reading Guide ... 11 2. Theoretical Framework ... 13
2.1. Value of the research ... 13
2.2. Conceptualization ... 14 2.2.1. Experience ... 14 2.2.2. Recruitment ... 15 2.2.3. Arrival ... 17 2.2.4. Division of roles ... 18 3. Methodology ... 20 3.1. Case selection ... 20 3.1.1. Victor D. ... 21 3.1.2. Jordi J. ... 22 3.1.3. Thierry K. ... 22 3.1.4. Thijs B. ... 23 3.1.5. Robbin D. ... 23 3.2. Methodological justification ... 23 3.3. Operationalization ... 25 3.4. Data collection ... 25 3.5. Research Limitations ... 26 4. Analysis ... 28 4.1. Experience ... 28 4.2. Recruitment ... 29
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4.3. Arrival ... 33
4.4. Division of roles ... 37
5. Conclusion ... 41
5.1. Answer to the research question ... 41
5.2. Implications, limitations and strength of this research ... 44
5.3. Discussion and recommendations ... 47
Reference List ... 49 Appendix ... 52 Appendix A. Operationalisation ... 52 Codebook Experience ... 52 Codebook Recruitment ... 53 Codebook Arrival ... 54
Codebook Division of roles ... 55
Appendix B. Interviews ... 56 Interview English ... 56 Interview Dutch ... 58 Appendix C. Results ... 60 Results Recruitment ... 60 Results Arrival ... 61
Results Division of Roles ... 62
Appendix D. Documents used in results... 63
Recruitment ... 63
Arrival ... 64
Division of roles ... 65
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1. Introduction
It is in the end of 2013, in the beginning days of the Islamic State (IS), when an online video is going around the internet in which the beheading of two men is filmed. As the soldiers are laughing at the dead bodies of their enemies, the camera is looking to a young man with red hair and a red beard, clearly not born in Syria or close to that. It is the Dutch Thijs Belmonte, born in Dordrecht, near Rotterdam. As the horrible video is showing the dead bodies of the Syrian soldiers, Thijs is laughing with his brothers about their victory (Groen, 2013a; Versteegh, 2017). How is it possible that a Dutch born citizen feels so comfortable in a warzone in Syria?
Thijs was a Muslim convert, after marrying a Dutch-Moroccan girl. To be able to marry her he had to convert into Islam and got more interested in the Quran than his wife. Even her friends thought Thijs was too much into the rules of Islam and Thijs divorced the girl after a year due to her lack of interest in the Islam. At this point Thijs met some orthodox Muslims and marries another girl, one who is Salafist enough for Thijs. After growing a beard and wearing classic Arab clothes, Thijs decides to travel to Syria in January 2013, showing up in the mortar video and another video in which he burns his passport. Thijs has not yet returned to the Netherlands (Versteegh, 2017).
Thijs was not the only Dutch convert joining the Islamic State. Another infamous example is Victor Droste, whom regularly shows up in Dutch media to express his message about the importance of their battle in Syria and Iraq. He went to the Caliphate in March 2013, and is still there to help the local people, as he states himself. However, in contradiction to Thijs, Victor wants to return to the Netherlands. Maybe not for his whole life, but at least for his trial, in which he appealed. Both Thijs and Victor have been convicted for their membership of a terrorist organisation and will go to prison if they ever return to the Netherlands (Prenger, 2017). Thijs and Victor may differ in their message to the outside world, about wanting to be part of the armed conflict or not, but they both are still there. Unfortunately there are also sad examples of converts joining IS. Thierry, born in Zoetermeer and raised as a Catholic, is a boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and multiple times abused due to this disorder by people who tried to benefit from his gullibility. After being converted into Islam by an infamous Imam he travels to Syria, to the surprise of both his parents. In the following years Thierry informs his parents about his stay in Syria, which he increasingly begins to regret. After trying to flee from the Islamic State and weeks without hearing from him, his trial starts in the Netherlands where he
5 is convicted to four years in jail. In that week his parents hear that their son Thierry died in Syria (Rueb, 2018).
As every person has their own background story, it became clear that from the 270 Dutch fighters whom travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the fight, fourteen percent was a convert. It is interesting to know what all those people persuaded to make this supposedly dangerous trip. In perspective, the number of converts to the overall Muslim population in the Netherlands is not even 2 percent, making the number of converts travelling to Syria and Iraq seven times as high. This raises the question why converts tend to make this supposedly dangerous trip relatively sooner than originated Muslims (Van Beek, 2017).
Not only the Netherlands have this relatively high number of converts in their foreign fighters joining IS. Also in the United Kingdom the number is high, as where sixteen percent of the Islamist terror inside the country came from converts (Dearden, 2017). Clear numbers of the percentage of converts in the foreign fighter group which joint the Islamic State are not available for the United Kingdom. However, Germany has a number of twelve to sixteen percent of converts in their group, Belgium a relatively low number of six percent, but France a notable high number of 23 percent of converts in their foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq. This number is especially high if we take into account that their percentage of converts in the Muslim population is not different from all the other countries (Schuurman, Grol & Flower, 2016: 9). However, even in those countries the research in this phenomena is limited. To fill this gap in knowledge, research is necessary to find out if there are explanations for the high number of converts in the Islamic State. As this research is conducted in the Netherlands and focussed only on Dutch converts, it is also making a start in setting up the methodology for conducting such a research. In this way it is not only valuable in the outcome of the results in the Netherlands, it is also valuable for the possibility of using this method to apply in other (Western European) countries with the same phenomena.
Research about the backgrounds of foreign fighters and thus convert foreign fighters is already conducted by multiple researchers (Bakker & de Bont: 2016; Schuurman, Grol & Flower: 2016). However, the possible pull factors of the journey have not yet been researched enough to give precise insight in this phenomena. All academic research until now has been about the different backgrounds of converts and if any family or social economic reasons were involved in their choice to convert and travel to Syria. Another part of the existing academic literature only describes the statistical data of foreign fighter converts all around Europe. As those
6 researches have been extremely helpful in understanding possible push factors and starting the research into this topic, pull factors have not yet been looked into. This means it is more interesting to research if there are special pull factors for converts in relation to originated Muslims than to again look at possible push factors. This is why this part of the experience will be less researched in this study than the push factors.
1.1. Societal Relevance
The societal relevance for this research is the knowledge it will bring about converts in the Islamic State. Their experience in the recruitment phase, arrival phase and role division in the organisation will give a clear image about their experience. When we know how these different stages in the experience will be for the convert, we can act towards this knowledge in future cases. As is stated before, converts are overrepresented in the foreign fighters. If we come to know what makes it so attractive for this group to join the Islamic State, preventive measures can be taken for specific factors that makes the converts decide to actually travel to the Caliphate.
In this way this research will also include a global societal relevance. As we as a nation are responsible for our inhabitants, we are also responsible for the actions of our citizens in other countries. As these people are Dutch and committing possible war crimes in other countries, it is our responsibility to stop this from happening, or at least try to. With this research and the deriving knowledge, states will possibly be more understanding in the motives and actions of the converts and their desire to travel across the world to join a terrorist organisation.
On the other hand it is also relevant for society and institutions to know and understand how they have experienced this trip. This knowledge will help converts that have returned or will return in the future. As a number of converts travelled back to the Netherlands or will do this in the future, it is necessary to understand how their trip was and how this was different from other foreign fighters. With more detailed information about their experience and differences with Muslim fighters it might be useful to help them in their reintegration in the Netherlands. As this research is not trying to judge any person for any of their actions, the following relevant result of this research is not a goal on itself, but the results can also be helpful for Dutch courts. As this research aims to get more detailed information about their actions and roles in the organisation, it could be helpful for courts for being able to be more informed in their actions and decisions. Yet again, academic research is not aimed to judge people, just to give a clear and scientific image of events.
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1.2. Academic Relevance
The academic relevance for this research is the gap in knowledge in this area of academic research. There is a lot of knowledge about the foreign fighter in general, in which the convert group is overrepresented. However, the academic literature is not providing knowledge about their experience in the Islamic State. This research will try to fill this gap of knowledge in general, in which some areas are less researched than others. This research will even out this difference in the gap of knowledge by setting up a research model which can be reused after the conduct of this thesis.
Especially the arrival state is little researched. This research will try to fill this gap in knowledge, and on the other hand add knowledge to the existing knowledge of the recruitment stage. This stage is researched by many academics already, but a specific view to the recruitment of converts has not yet been done. The role of the converts in the organisation is also not yet researched enough. With these gaps in knowledge this research will contribute to the limited literature about this topic.
As there is a gap in knowledge about this topic, there is also a gap of methodology to conduct this kind of research. As is stated in the introduction, this research will only focus on Dutch converts. However, it is possible to use the methods of this thesis to apply in other countries as well. In this way, this research is academically relevant in the methodology aspect, by suppling a new model for doing this kind of research, on which other academics can build on and find more data in the Netherlands or new results in other countries to add to this field of knowledge all over the world.
1.3. Research Objective
The goal of this research is to test different theories about the three different stages in the experience of joining the Islamic State. There is enough academic literature about the recruitment of foreign fighters. This literature will be tested to the case of Dutch converts joining the Islamic State. However, there is less theory available about the arrival stage. The goal for this part is to test different theories about group acceptance, in the light of a convert joining a terrorist organisation. With this method it is possible to generate an image about the process of arriving and to what extent the convert is (or feels) accepted in the group. The last part about the roles of converts in the Islamic State is also little researched. The goal for this part is to test the available theories there are to the cases and find out if there are any differences between converts and the theories.
8 As is stated, there is little known about this phenomena, meaning that there is also little methodological information available to do this research. This entails that this research partly has an explorative character due to the lack of academic literature on this specific topic. This also means that this thesis will set up its own methodological way of testing different theories by putting all those theories together. Multiple fields of social sciences will be used to generate an united method of testing the phenomena of the convert foreign fighter, which can be used by other academics in the future.
How this research will manage to do this, will be explained in chapter 1.5., where hypotheses and expectations will be described. However, to be able to give clear and substantiated hypotheses and expectations, existing literature needs to be consulted. This will be described in the Literature review.
1.4. Literature review
The literature review will point out the existing knowledge about this topic. This way it becomes more clear how this research will add to the existing knowledge about converts joining the Islamic State. In the recent years many Dutch youngsters went to Syria and Iraq to fight with IS. Around 220 men and 70 woman travelled there to join the fight for the Caliphate (Bakker & de Bont, 2016: 837). 54% of the people who travelled to the area had at least one parent with a Moroccan or Turkish background or were born in those countries themselves (Bakker & de Bont, 2016: 840-841). However, there is no clear image about the rest of the foreign fighters’ background due to the fact that most European countries do not register religious backgrounds. Some of the foreign fighters were born in the Netherlands but had no bond with the Muslim community by their parents. These Dutch people have been converted to Islam and were willing to join the fight in the Caliphate. This is a recent development, and it even has been stated that this group is overrepresented in the group of foreign fighters. This happens especially in Europe, where the number of converts is relatively high in relation to the United States. Still, this topic remains under-researched (Schuurman, Grol & Flower, 2016: 1). Not all of those converts become extreme in their interpretation, meaning that conversion itself is not a problem. However, it became clear that 23% of all the foreign fighters who travelled to Syria and Iraq were converted to Islam. In the Netherlands, where there is an estimation that between 11.8% and 18.4% of the travellers is a convert, this would mean that in total numbers between 35 and 55 of those who travelled to the Caliphate were converts (Schuurman et al., 2016: 8-9). There are different reasons why people eventually convert to Islam and become extremist in their ideas. The biggest common factor is a troubled background where abuse, criminal records
9 and family problems were present in most of the cases (Schuurman et al., 2016: 10-11). However, this research will not look into the process of the convert or search and explain all the reasons why someone without being raised as a religious Muslim would join the fight in the Caliphate. This research will look into the process of being a converted Muslim and how they fit in the group they join in Syria and Iraq. Research about foreign fighters joining IS shows that they often get a privileged position in the organisation. Is this different for the converted Muslims? How well do they fit in the ’brotherhood’, as the Caliphate is often called? Because one of the reasons for foreign fighters to join the Caliphate, is the idea of joining a group with a strong sense of fraternity and comradeship (Bakker & de Bont, 2016: 846). This pull factor is often joined with the prospect of finally being accepted in a group, in this case a group with the same ideology (Bakker & de Bont, 2016: 846).
For becoming a Muslim, certain steps have to be followed. In Islam, they believe everyone is born as a Muslim, but society or their parents just did not raise them as a Muslim. This also means that they do not see this process as a conversion, but more as a reversion (Embracing Islam, 2018). To become a Muslim, the person should pledge a conviction of faith, the Shahadah, in front of two adult Muslim witnesses. Secondly, the person should take a Muslim name and lastly, the person should take a basic course in Islam and accompany him/herself with other Muslims (Embracing Islam, 2018).
Not only in the Netherlands is the number of converts joining the Islamic State relatively high, also in the United Kingdom the number of converts joining IS is high. Research in the UK shows that converts are more vulnerable for radicalisation due to the “vacuum of knowledge”(Dearden, 2017). The converts do not only travel in a relatively high number to the Caliphate, but they have also participated in major violent terrorist attacks in Syria and Europe(Dearden, 2017). This research paper will be conducted with the scope on just the Netherlands, but this does not mean that the results will only be valuable for this specific country. As the convert ratio of foreign fighters is high in multiple countries, it can be expected that the results will be applicable for other counties as well.
In process of conversion, converts tend to come in a stage of disappointment after the converted person experiences the Muslim world in which originated Muslims do not live according to the true Islam, as the convert believed they would do (Roald, 2012: 353). In this process the converted Muslim seeks, in there stage of disappointment, for other converts and judges the other Muslims for not accordingly living to the true Islam (Roald, 2012: 353). They feel more at home with the other converts and some even turn away at all from the originated Muslims.
10 Others, however, accept the fact that not all Muslims are ‘perfect human beings’ and in their seek for their own true Islam, they go ‘back to themselves’ (Roald, 2012: 353-354). This theory again raises the question about acceptance in the Muslim community the other way around. However it seems that the converts ask questions about the dedication of the originated Muslim, does this also work the other way around, especially when the converts join a closed brotherhood with a secret and violent agenda.
1.5. Research Question
As this thesis is part of the Crisis and Security Management (CSM) Master, the research is contributing to the corresponding academic field. The relevance for this study is the knowledge this thesis will supply about the convert experience. This is relevant because knowing more about their process in joining the Islamic State, security risks will be understood better. When it may become clear if there are differences between converts and regular Muslims in joining the Islamic State, measurements by policymakers can be adjusted to this knowledge. Due to the fact that, especially eventual returnees, can be a security risk in society, it is most important to know if they experienced the trip in a different way than the regular foreign fighter. If this is true, policies can be adjusted to be more fitting for converts to reintegrate better in society. To contribute to this knowledge and thus to the Master of CSM, the research question will be as followed: What are the specifics of the Dutch convert foreign fighter experience when joining the Islamic State?
This research question is divided in three sub-parts to support answering this question. The first sub-question will be about the first part of eventually joining the Islamic State, the recruitment. The research question for this part is as followed: To what extent is the Dutch convert recruited according to the recruitment methods of the Islamic State?
As the literature review addressed, possible recruits are approached on the weaknesses of the individual. From this point of view it can be assumed that converts are recruited in different ways than originated Muslims due to their possible differences in their religious background. This leads to the following expectation:
E1: There is a high degree of difference in the recruitment of converts in relation to the theory about recruitment for the Islamic State.
The second sub-question to support the research question will be about the arrival in the Caliphate. Theories suggest that recruits are individually questioned and interrogated, where a Sharia exam leads to the eventual acceptance in the organisation. Due to the individual character
11 of this stage, there is the possibility of different treatments for convert foreign fighters. This leads to the next question: To what extent are Dutch converts treated differently in their arrival stage in relation to the theory?
The arrival phase consists of different stages, where the new recruit has to meet up certain standards. However, there is a difference in approach for certain individuals. According to De Bont, Weggemans, Peters & Bakker (2017), recruits with experience in jihad or with a past in another local group are treated differently. From this point of view it can also be assumed that convert recruits are treated differently when they arrive at the Caliphate. This leads to the following expectation:
E2: There is a high degree of difference in the arrival phase for converts in relation to the theory about arriving at the Islamic State
The last sub-part will be about the role foreign fighters get in the Islamic State. As is described in the introduction and will be expanded in the theoretical framework, foreign fighters tend to get special roles in the organisation. To research if there may be special roles for converts, the following question will be used to support the research question: To what extend are there special roles for converts in the Islamic State?
The division of roles is already different for foreign fighters in relation to local fighters (Van der Heide & Huurman, 2016), and in the existing literature there is no sign to conclude there are special roles for converts or special treatments for converts in getting a role. From this point, the following expectation is formulated:
E3: There are no special roles for converts in the Islamic State.
1.6. Reading Guide
This thesis will continue with the theoretical framework, in which theories to support this research are set out. This chapter is divided in four segments. Three segments stands for a different part in the experience of joining the Islamic State and one segment is used to test if second hand sources are useful for this research. Thereafter, the methodology used in this research is explained. In the methodology it becomes clear how this research is conducted, to guarantee the validity and reliability. This chapter will also describe the methodological framework which especially have been set up for this research. To improve the readability of this chapter, all the tables are moved to Appendix A. The research limitations are also presented
12 in this chapter. These are the limitations the researcher was aware of before conducting this research.
The analysis will follow, where the results are extensively presented. Both results from the document analysis and interview will be put together to generate a clear and academic answer to the conducted research. The thesis will finish with the conclusion, where the most important results are discussed, with recommendations for further research or policy measurements. The limitations the author found during conducting and during finishing this research will also be explained in this chapter. At the end is the Appendix in which several important documents and tables are presented which were needed to support this research.
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2. Theoretical Framework
Important in the process of eventually joining the Islamic State in their territory in Syria and Iraq, foreign fighters are being recruited before they decide to travel. This process will be explained by different theories or documents explaining how this works. These theories will be useful in this research because it will point out similarities or differences converts have in relation to those theories. In this way, these findings will give new insights in how converts experience the recruitment period.
2.1. Value of the research
The value of this research can be described in two parts. The first part is the value of testing theories, especially about the recruitment. Academics already did research on recruitment of foreign fighters, making it a well-defined concept. However these findings are not yet tested in the light of the converts whom travel to Syria and Iraq. Fewer academic literature can be found about the arrival phase and the specific roles there are in the organisation of the Islamic State, especially for converts. Despite having little academic literature available, these will again be tested to the case of the Dutch converts.
The second value of this research is the explorative character. In the recruitment part there is no dire need for this to happen, but due to the lack of research in the other two parts it is interesting to find out to what extent there are special conditions for converts. However, this explorative method in this thesis is defined by research in other social sciences fields. Theories about social acceptancy in groups for new members will be used in the arrival phase and in the part about the distribution of the roles. Supportive literature about what kind of roles there are in terrorist organisations and how they are assigned will be used as well.
As is described above, there is less knowledge about the experience of the convert in the Islamic State. This gap in knowledge is the base for this research. By using the existing theory and test this on the case of the converts, it is possible to learn more about this phenomena. On the other hand, there is less literature about the process when the converts arrive and if they are threatened differently in relation to originated Muslims. To fill this gap in knowledge, this research will focus mainly on the convert roles in the organisation. The distribution of those roles is also under-researched, which makes this research again valuable due to the fact that this thesis will examine this.
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2.2. Conceptualization
Various theories are necessary for this research. These theories are worked out in this chapter, where three parts of joining the Islamic State are explained by existing literature on the three subjects. However, before going into the experience part for the convert, this thesis firstly looks into experience models, which clarify if second hand sources are valuable or not. Thereafter, the literature about the recruitment for new members of the organisation is explained. Thirdly, the arrival phase is described. This stage in joining the Islamic State can be overlapping with the fourth stage, where role division within the Islamic State is described. All the used theories are important because by using the selected theories it is possible to give an answer to the sub-questions and thus to the main research question of this thesis.
2.2.1. Experience
This thesis will make use of stories told by the converts themselves and the stories by their family and friends in multiple interviews and documents. Those stories both already exist or are especially conducted for this research. If the experience derives from the convert or his acquittance is an important aspect in the relevant information they supply. Thereby it is important to test if the acquittance of the convert is reliable and without prejudice in his story. Due to limited time and resources it is not possible to test the following theory to all already existing data, but it will be used to test the acquittance that is interviewed especially for this thesis. To make it more clear what an experience precisely is, and how someone is dealing with another person’s experience, it will be conceptualized in the next chapter by the MORE life experience model written by Glück and Bluck (2013). This theory will be used to see if the acquittance of the convert is able to tell about the experience of him in a decent way, because this theory states that individual wisdom derives from being able to deal with life challenges of others (Glück & Bluck, 2013: 2).
Experiences can be different for each individual, each facing their own challenges and trying to learn from those challenges. However, people deal differently with similar challenges, making a difference in the gained wisdom they achieve from dealing with this challenge (Glück & Bluck, 2013: 2).
Four resources are important for an individual to develop wisdom through life experiences. People who master these four resources are more likely to encounter experiences that foster wisdom in their lives, deal with those experiences in a way that promotes wisdom and finally, reflect on those experiences in a way that allows the individual to grow and learn from it over time (Glück & Bluck, 2013: 7).
15 The first important resource for the individual is a sense of mastery. This means that the individual is aware of the challenge he is facing and believes he is able to deal with it. Even when they are aware of the uncontrollable aspect of the challenge, they do not feel helpless or victimized (Glück & Bluck, 2013: 7-8).
The second resource is openness. This is not openness about the challenge itself, but about the high level of tolerance for lifestyles which are different than their own. Every individual deals with their challenges on their own, and wise individuals accept without forcing their own view upon others in similar situations (Glück & Bluck, 2013: 9).
The third important resource is the reflective attitude of the individual. This consists of looking at challenges in a complex way instead of simplifying them. They take situational and contextual aspects into account and are not aimed only at self enhancement. They are also willing to question their own views, values and feelings (Glück & Bluck, 2013: 10-11). The last and fourth important resource is the emotion regulation and empathy. It is not only important to deal with your own emotions but also to feel emphatic to others. Thus, firstly, wise individuals do not supress their own negative feelings but learn to accept and deal with them. Secondly, they are able to put themselves in another person’s shoes, and are able to see others emotions as well, with caring about their welfare (Glück & Bluck, 2013: 12-14).
2.2.2. Recruitment
In the process of recruitment, the recruitment party uses different methods to let people believe in their cause. The Islamic State has been very effective in their recruitment program, because they succeeded in convincing a lot of people to give their live for the mission of the group (Chassman, 2016: 239). Five sociological processes are used by the Islamic State (IS) to convince people into joining their cause in the Caliphate. Each step is important in the development of an identity around the individual and the acceptance by IS for them to finally join them (Chassman, 2016: 240). One important side note for this process to be successful is that in 68% of the time, the recruiter and the recruit are or have become friends. This is substantiated by Borum and Fein (2017: 255), whom suggest that the most important finding in recruitment research is the importance of the existing social network of the recruiter to be able to recruit new members. The second important finding is the importance of framing the message, where the cause is linked to a broader global threat (Borum & Fein, 2017: 255). The first step is Depersonalization and Self-Categorization. In this stage, IS offers the recruit an opportunity to improve their status. Due to the lack of experiencing the feeling of belonging
16 to a group or having an identity, the recruit feels attracted to opportunities to join such a group and improve their own status position (Chassman, 2016: 241). This opportunity overrides their own personal identity, in which they join a collective identity. Islamic State is actively reaching out to persons who are fragile for this opportunity. The recruiters point out the negative elements in their own identity and explain how they can be of use in the new group identity with their own special skills (Chassman, 2016: 241). By positively point out the special skills of the recruit which would be helpful for the Islamic State, they feel useful in the new group and separate themselves from their old group and thus their identity (Chassman, 2016: 241). The second step is Social Cohesion. In this step the Islamic State creates a new communal identity, which the recruiter has to display for the recruit (Chassman, 2016: 242). The story they are being told is about an exclusive group with moral superior members unified under one flag. The recruit thus sees the positive side of the Islamic State, where they aim for a common goal, all together in one group. This helps building a dominant identity for the group which the individual will apply to him or herself (Chassman, 2016: 242-243). Because anyone can participate, social cohesion is present in the organisation. Furthermore, the organisation itself is hierarchical, but the goal of the members is not to raise in this hierarchy on earth. The ultimate goal is to become a martyr in the afterlife, where they are all seen as equals (Chassman, 2016: 243).
The third step is Establishing Legitimacy. In their brutal process to achieve their goal, the Islamic State is convincing the recruit that they fight for a good cause which in the end is morally, legally and ethically justifiable. This way the recruit sympathises with the organisation and legitimises the narrative (Chassman, 2016: 243). The success of the narrative by the Islamic State comes from creating a common enemy who attacks the Islam as a whole, making the Muslims the victims and the West the perpetrators (Chassman, 2016: 243-245).
The fourth step is the Epistemological Othering. In the process of legitimizing their cause for the recruit, the recruiters dichotomize their cause in “us versus them”, in which they mean that if you are not with us, you are against us (Chassman, 2016: 245). The Islamic State also make use of this system with the past of the recruit. They exploit grievances, insecurities and differences the recruit had with his old group and focus on the newly shared values and goals in the new group (Chassman, 2016: 245). Important to know is that the Islamic State wants members with full commitment, so with creating this dichotomy with ‘the other’, you are full in or you are out, creating standards for members how to act (Chassman, 2016: 245).
17 The fifth step is Conformity and Obedience, in which the recruiter will test the recruit if he or she is really obedient to the group and the cause of the group. The Islamic State does this by threatening the recruits with losing their place in the group if they do not listen to their demands (Chassman, 2016: 247). Within these demands it is possible that new aspects of the group come up, which the recruiters demanded them to do, otherwise they were kicked out of the group. Recruits who just got rid of their old group are tend to listen to those demands, because they are afraid they will lose their new group too (Chassman, 2016: 247).
2.2.3. Arrival
In line with the recruitment of the foreign fighters, the recruiters set up the meeting with the people in Syria and Iraq. After they trust the recruit enough, they help them travel to Syria and make sure the recruit is accepted by the jihadist group (Vidino, 2014: 221). Whenever new members, foreign fighters or men out the newly gained territory, join the organisation, they are indoctrinated in special schools for their religious vision (Byman, 2016: 141-142). This process consists of questioning and interrogation of two or three weeks, to make sure the new member is not an infiltrator (De Bont, Weggemans, Peters & Bakker, 2017: 11). The questions are about the personal life of the new recruit, about the role they want to fulfil and whether they have experience in jihad (De Bont et al., 2017: 11). The interrogation takes longer for people who were involved in other local groups and these people also have to complete a process of repentance and forgiveness (De Bont et al., 2017: 11).
After the screening phase, the new recruits start their training. In contrary to the interrogation, there are no more divisions in the origin of the recruit, all members train together because this helps learning the foreigners the Arabic language (De Bont et al., 2017: 11). The new member is trained military, politically and in Arabic. The training is completed when the recruit passes a Sharia exam (De Bont et al., 2017: 11-12). An average training takes one or two months, but can take longer if the recruit needs additional lessons, in wishes, competences or due to their learning pace (De Bont et al., 2017: 12).
However, as is explained in the introduction, converts tend to become disappointed in other Muslims who, in their eyes, do not live according to the true Islam. In this process they look for other converts to come together and share their ideas and worries about the other Muslims (Roald, 2012: 353). They feel more at home with the other converts than with the other Muslims. However, it is not assumable that fighters in the Islamic State disappoint each other in the practice of their beliefs, it still is interesting to look if converts find each other more easily in the organisation of the Islamic State due to their common convert background and the theory
18 described above. On the other hand, the number one reason to leave IS, according to individuals who did indeed leave the Islamic State, was the cruelty and violence of the organisation. They concluded that those factors made the Islamic State not faithful to the Islam (La Palm, 2017: 100).
Joining a new group leads to the individual wanting to prove himself. In the beginning, the individual is in the periphery of the so called ‘in-group’, with a rejection to any ‘out-groups’. This leads to the individual wanting to prove their loyalty towards the in-group with actively expressing negative judgements towards the out-group. However, when asked privately, the individual is not as negative about the out-group than he is pretending to be whenever he is in the in-group (Noel, Wann, Branscombe & Geen, 1995: 135). The most common factors for this behaviour are the uncertain status for the new members and to make sure for the other in-group members that they are different than the people in the out-group (Noel et al., 1995: 135-136). The perifacial status may lead to identity conflict, especially when the individual can be classified within two in-group categories. In this situation, the individual will derogate from the group which is viewed as the most negative according to members of the in-group (Noel et al., 1995: 136).
2.2.4. Division of roles
When the foreign fighters have arrived in the area and are accepted into the group, they are given a certain role to fulfil in the organisation of the Islamic State. The organisation is more likely to give foreign fighters a role on the battlefield than the fighters originated in the region (van der Heide & Huurman, 2016: 17). This also makes the chance bigger for foreign fighters to die than the chance is for originated fighters (van der Heide & Huurman, 2016: 17). Foreign fighters are also often given leading roles within the organisation, due to their dedication towards the organisation (Byman, 2016: 130).
The expected role within the organisation was a big pull factor for foreign fighters to join the Islamic State. One of those roles was to give humanitarian aid to the victims of the battles. However, former members of the organisation stated that Islamic State did not provide this aid at all (La Palm, 2017: 100). Another role within the Islamic State is to fight, but again, some members who were willing to fight were not allowed to fight, making the reality of the organisation different than those former members expected (La Palm, 2017: 100)
When the foreign fighters are in training, they already have special roles. It is possible to be a guard at the borders or at checkpoints. This is their first practical experience in the organisation
19 (De Bont et al., 2017: 12). The Islamic State consists of different basic-state organisational structures. Medical assistance, courts, police and even traffic officers are part of those services. These organisational structures are managed poorly, but are important in war zones (Byman, 2016: 141). Foreign fighters are given three choices for their role in the organisation: a fighter role, a supporting job or becoming a suicide attacker, in which most choose to become a fighter (De Bont et al., 2017: 12). Different battalions are set up, organised on shared language. However, these groups later were dissolved due to the better treatment these groups enjoyed in relation to local fighters (De Bont et al., 2017: 12). The supporting roles consist of being an engineer, doctor, administrative worker, cook, propaganda maker or driver and are important for IS to function as a state. However, these roles are still seen as violent due to the fact that even these people are armed as they function (De Bont et al., 2017: 12-13). It is also possible to have multiple roles within the organisation. As stated before, all members have roles but in their swear of allegiance the individual promises to take up arms if need be, making the non-fighter a reservist (De Bont et al., 2017: 13-14).
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3. Methodology
The methodology chapter is about explaining how this research is conducted, and why certain choices have been made by the author. As this thesis has to be done in a limited time and with limited resources, choices had to be made. Those choices are explained and substantiated in this chapter. Validity, reliability and replicability are key to a good research. This research is building from these three points, and are all explained and guaranteed in this chapter as well. Due to the length of this chapter and to grant a better readability, corresponding tables are moved to the Appendix.
3.1. Case selection
The case selection contains of multiple converts, their family or their friends. This still makes this research a single case study due to the fact that the phenomena of the general convert is researched, existing of multiple sources. All of the those sources are about Dutch male converts, whom travelled to Syria and Iraq. This group thus will be examined by testing the described theories, to individuals that meet the given characteristics.
As is described in the methodological justification, the group of foreign fighters is narrowed down to the converts, due to the lack of knowledge in this group. However, this research uses scope conditions to specify this group of converts. The first scope condition is that this group is narrowed down to only men, due to the limited time and resources for this thesis. The choice to only research men instead of women derives from the idea that men can gain more different roles in the organisation of the Islamic State. There is no specific selection on age because age has no significant value for this research and the results. Only Dutch foreign fighters are included in this research due to the background of the author of this research, the availability of sources that is provided in Dutch and the relative high number of converts in the Netherlands that travelled to Syria and Iraq. On the other hand, the most important reason to only research Dutch converts is the possibility that there already is a difference in the experience between foreign fighters from different countries and thus different nationalities. To minimalize this effect, the examined group in this thesis will only exist of foreign fighters from one country, the Netherlands.
This research is built upon multiple personal experiences. Five converts are extendedly researched to give a decent view of how the converts are experiencing joining the Islamic State. The five selected converts have been chosen due to the fact that only of these selected five converts, there is at least one existing depth interview in a Dutch newspaper. This can both be
21 done by the convert himself or by an acquittance. One acquittance is interviewed especially for this research. The research aimed to have data of one more (deceased) convert in this research, but all attempts to get in touch with his surroundings have been ignored.
All five will be introduced with their background story and their possible motive to eventually convert and thus eventually join IS. The data used in this research will not only derive from the five described converts. General knowledge of the Dutch convert will also be added to this research by document analysis. These documents are selected based upon multiple characteristics. The first selected documents has to be publicized by the Dutch government and need to include foreign fighters, terrorism, jihadism or the Islamic State in general. Dutch government documents in this research consist of reports from the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV). Also all documents of the independent organisation of the International Centre for Counter-terrorism (ICCT) based in The Hague are used. The documents from this organisation again has to include foreign fighters, terrorism, jihadism or the Islamic State in general. Other relevant academic publications or Dutch newspaper articles including the given subjects will be used as well. In the tables in Appendix C it is possible to see which data belongs to which convert and is added with the general knowledge derived from the document analysis. The documents which have been used in the analysis can be also be found in Appendix D, sorted by each sub part of the analysis.
3.1.1. Victor D.
The first subcase is about Victor D. from Raalte, Overijssel. Victor currently is 30 years old. In his youth he became aware of the criticism on the Islam by Dutch politicians. Out of curiosity he bought the Quran and wanted to read why the book was so much criticised, but instead of agreeing with the criticism, he became fascinated by the story and thus in 2010 converted to the Islam. In 2013 he decides to help his brothers in Syria against the Assad regime and travels to the country. To this day, Victor is still in Syria, travelling from place to place (personal communication, December 11, 2018).
Unfortunately it was not possible to contact Victor in person. After contacting both his father and lawyer whom ignored the possibility to participate in this research, the author focussed on his friends. After reaching out to them it became clear that one of his friends did want to cooperate in this research by giving an interview. As this person wanted to stay anonymous, the next time there is a reference about him, he will be referred to as Alex, a fake name. Alex was in class with Victor in high school. After school they lost contact, but as soon Alex became
22 aware of the fact that Victor travelled to Syria, he contacted him again. Since, they still have contact with each other on daily basis. Alex himself is a reporter, claiming the renewed relationship after Victor went to Syria was based on business purposes, but after years of daily contact they certainly have bonded (personal communication, December 11, 2018). The data for Victor will both derive from this interview and a news broadcast.
3.1.2. Jordi J.
The second convert is Jordi J., now 25 years old, who grew up in Delft. When he was 18 years old he converted into Islam. Multiple reasons are given for his conversion. Both a possible Muslim girlfriend and a recruiter on the street are given explanations, but it becomes clear that he radicalizes fast (Alberts & Lensink, 2015; Salome & van der Wal, 2014). Also the death of a close friend in his youth and bullying may have played a part in his choice for a new identity (Kouwenhoven, 2013). After having a child with his girlfriend he leaves her to go to Syria in 2013. After only three months he manages to flee the war zones due to his lack of fighting abilities. After interrogation in the Netherlands and a time in jail, he now has left his hometown because of threats from his neighbours (Omroep West, 2014).
It was not possible to contact Jordi in person. After the threats by his neighbours Jordi fled his hometown Delft and moved to Rotterdam, where he is hiding with another identity. Nonetheless did the author reach out to multiple journalists who managed to talk with him, but without response. The data about Jordi will be collected by multiple newspaper interviews.
3.1.3. Thierry K.
Thierry would now have been 31 years old. He grew up in Zoetermeer with both his parents. After multiple tests Thierry was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, early in his youth. Raised as a Catholic, he practiced this religion quite strictly until high school. After meeting a Muslim girl he converts into Islam. In this new environment he quickly radicalizes and decides to travel to Syria in 2015. After being there for almost two years, his parents received a message that he died in Syria, unknowingly how this exactly happened (Rueb, 2018).
The author reached out to a close friend of Thierry’s family, which did not feel comfortable to talk about him. She referred to both parents, whom both have been contacted thereafter. However, they did not want to cooperate in this research due to the sensibility of this topic for them, in which they did not feel ready yet to talk about him. Also the author of a news article about Thierry was contacted, but he did not response. The data for Thierry thus will derive from an existing newspaper article.
23 3.1.4. Thijs B.
Thijs, now 31 years old, was born in Dordrecht, near Rotterdam. Thijs was an excellent student at his school and finished multiple educations. However, after meeting his new Muslim girlfriend, he converts and radicalizes fast. Even his girlfriend was not a strict enough Muslim according to Thijs, leading to their divorce. In 2013 Thijs decided to travel to Syria, where he still lives (Versteegh, 2017).
The father of Thijs was contacted for this research, without response. The journalist about the article was also contacted, but referred to the writer of the book about Thijs. This author was also contacted for possible cooperation in this research but did also not respond. The sources for the experience of Thijs will be derived from newspaper articles.
3.1.5. Robbin D.
Robbin D. is the last convert in this research, now 23 years old. He grew up in Arnhem with his mother and converted into Islam when he was 17 years old, both by his friends and by a new Muslim girlfriend. Due to this girlfriend he radicalized fast and after seeing chemical attacks on children in Syria he decided to travel to the area in 2013. After six months Robbin decided to go back to the Netherlands, which succeeds with the help from his parents whom travelled to Turkey to pick him up (Van Straaij, 2014). The reason for his leaving was the death of a fellow soldier just in front of him. After this incident Robbin left without telling anyone, not even the close friend he travelled with to Syria (Gelderlander, 2017). After his return he was offered psychological support and help in finding a new job by his municipality Arnhem (Olmer, 2014).
Both Robbin and his mother were contacted for possible cooperation in this research. The mother did not respond at all, but after reaching out to Robbin himself and having little contact, he communicated that he did not want to cooperate in this research. The sources for Robbin will be derived from multiple newspapers and a news broadcast.
3.2. Methodological justification
In the methodological justification the procedures that are followed to eventually give a valid answer to the research question are explained. This research will be a qualitative and deductive research. Firstly, the qualitative character is more fitting in this research because the lack of respondents. Due to the limited numbers of foreign fighters, especially numbered down to the Dutch male converts, a quantitative research would not be possible to conduct. Also the limited time and resources to question and do research into all of them, was impossible. The deductive character of this research is chosen due to the available literature about converts. There is little
24 literature about the convert, but a lot about the process of the regular foreign fighter. With a deductive approach it is possible to use existing literature and use this on the specifics of the convert, to give new insights.
The researched group in this thesis are Dutch male Muslim converts whom have travelled to Syria and Iraq. They joined the Islamic State and are still there, have returned or died during the time period of 2013 until January 2019. This research chose to only use males because the different roles men and woman have in the Caliphate. It also is interesting to look into the way women experience joining IS, but due to the limited time it is not possible to take all of this this into account. This research only uses Dutch foreign fighters because within the Islamic State there is also difference in nationalities. To prevent this factor to influence the research outcome, other nationalities are left out. The time period is chosen because in 2013 the first foreign fighters decided to join the war in Syria. As IS proclaimed their own existence in June 2014, some foreign fighters were already there when this happened. They were witnesses of the beginning and rise of IS, which would make it unfortunate to leave those possible cases out if this study. January 2019 is chosen because it is the end date of this research.
The respondents will be reached out by multiple characteristics. Due to the low number of possible respondents and the difficulty to get in contact with (returned) foreign fighters, there was no possibility for a randomly selected group of respondents. All publicly known converts have actively been approached. However, due to the lack of randomly selecting converts, it does not mean that the group of used respondents is not representative for the whole group. Because of the relatively low number of total foreign fighters and even lower number of converts the absolute number of examined converts is relatively high.
To achieve the goal of gaining all the possible information, this research makes use of a single case study method. A single case study is helpful because it will give a detailed image of the reality, which in this case is necessary to totally understand the convert experience. Thereby, case studies often are about rare phenomena, which the foreign fighter convert relatively is. When using a case study it is possible to produce new hypotheses for follow-up studies, thus adding to the existing knowledge.
A disadvantage of using the single case study is the problem with generating the outcome of the research. However, in the case of this research that would not be problematic due to the low number of Dutch convert foreign fighters. Thereby it can be expected that, if there is a difference in the experience of the converts, this would be applicable for all of them. Another
25 disadvantage is the bias problem of just one researcher doing research about just one case. However, this single case exists of multiple sub-cases. The case is a phenomena, existing of multiple persons. Because of this approach this again would not be problematic in this research. The theoretical level of analysis will be cross-case and within cross-case analysis, due to the interest in a causal effect. This means that being a convert is the independent variable in this research. The causal interference has a general truth-making criterion, in which the cause is again being a convert, which could possible lead to a different outcome.
The population will be specified by different scope conditions, which already have been explained. The concept of positive outcome will not be done by degree, but with a yes or no to the tested concepts from the theory. The strategy that is used is a deviant case study. The goal is adding new information to existing theory about converts. The case of the converts thus will be the least-likely case, which has a low probability to confirm the theory. This also means that a method of difference will be used to determine if the theory is applicable to the different cases.
3.3. Operationalization
In the operationalization the concepts from the theoretical framework are coded to make a clear image on how this research is executed. By doing this transparently, the replicability of this research is granted, due to the fact that with showing the used method, other academics can control this work or work by the same way and will get the same results as this thesis has. How the operationalization exactly has been done for this research, can be found in Appendix A.
3.4. Data collection
The data will be collected in different ways. A document analysis will be done on multiple documents and reports which meet pre-set up demands, which have been explained in Chapter 3.1. Secondly, Dutch in depth interviews with or about five converts who have been or still are in the Caliphate will be analysed. Those interviews and documents are selected by the author, but all available sources were consulted. Due to the limited available sources it is not possible to do a complete content analysis with the possibility to demarcate sources. Every possible source that can be found will be used for this research. Thirdly, the goal was to interview multiple Dutch converts, their family or friends of those converts, whom travelled to the Islamic State. However, it became clear that it was hard to get in touch with this group of people due to the sensibility of this topic. Therefore, when it became clear this was not easy, the aim of the author went to have interviews with government civil servants with knowledge about foreign fighters, as a solution to get the desired information for this research. As this group of people
26 again explicitly mentioned not to cooperate in this research, the aim went to interview journalists who did manage to talk with foreign fighters or converts.
The method of interviewing will be semi structured. With this way of interviewing, the operationalised indicators can directly be used to gain information about the categories which help answer the research question. Thereby it is also possible to ask extra questions if the idea exists that the interviewed person knows more about the subject. In this case the extra information still can be used in this research, which may help answering the research question. This specific information is important in qualitative research.
3.5. Research Limitations
The limitations of this research comes in different forms. Firstly, due to the lack of time and resources, it is not possible to conduct a research on all converts. Thereby the results may not be representative for all converts. However, it is almost impossible to interview all of them because either they do not want to have contact, are not accessible or are deceased during the war. Still, this research will be valuable because it uses a relatively high absolute number of converts in the total group of possible converts, which gives new insights in the three different topics. Even if there still is a lack of representativity, the newly found information will add to the knowledge about this topic and on the other hand this newly found information can be a starting point for further research.
Secondly, this research is limited because the converts who did participate in this research, may have been affected by the bias of giving social desirable answers. They may not speak truly due to the sensibility of this topic. They are affected by different factors, for example the psychological effects of living in a war zone and the fear of judgement for their actions in that war. Secondly, the restraint of telling what they did or experience is sensible because they can be convicted if they have returned or want to return to their home country. However, the research is mainly focussing on roles or experiences. This might make the respondents being more honest than when the questions would be about their own actions.
The third limitation is the quantity of used sources. Due to the difficulty to find respondents and (governments) documents, the research is built upon limited source material. Thereby it can be stated that the selected sources are not enough demarcated and thus there is the possibility of missing source material. However, every publicly known Dutch convert or one of his close family members and friends is approached by the author to participate in this research. This means that every available resource is used despite the low level of cooperation
27 of the researched group. The choice of not demarcating the source material can be explained by the lack of public source material. When this research would demarcate possible sources, it would lead to the opposite effect and thus miss a lot of important source material.
The fourth limitation is the limited first hand sources used in this thesis. The author aimed to have multiple interviews with (returned) converts or their family members. Unfortunately, it was not possible to manage a single interview with them. Just one person, a friend of a convert, eventually was willing to help this research if he could remain anonymous. In chapter 3.1 about the case selection it has already become clear how many relatives or friends were contacted without any result, but also journalists, other academics and civil servants were not willing to participate in conducting this research.
Over five academics operating in this field were contacted for an interview but not one responded. Over five journalists were contacted if they would participate in this research, but most did not respond or did respond with the answer that they were not able to give such sensitive information. Three municipalities with known convert foreign fighters were contacted for the possibility to give an interview. Arnhem and Delft did not respond and the municipality of Zoetermeer expressively stated they did not want to cooperate in such a research due to the sensitivity of the subject and the protection of personal information of their inhabitants. This again points out the sensitivity of this subject, but also the need of doing this research due to the much asked questions from the municipality of Zoetermeer if they could get the final results of this thesis.
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4. Analysis
The analysis will be based on the theories which have been used in the conceptualization. Those theories will be tested on already existing documents and the conducted interview. The derived data from this research can also be found in a structured tables in Appendix C, in which it is more easy to compare plain results from different sources. However, to improve the readability, the results will be written out in this chapter. This also improves the depth in the comparisons and differences of the data due to the written out results.
To compare all the found information in a correct way, this analysis is divided into four parts. The first part is about the experience of the interviewed individual. In this chapter there will be no use of other documents than the interview. From the second part, about the recruitment, the document analysis will be added to the results of the conducted interview. The third part is about the arrival, followed up by the part of the division of roles. After each part there will be a short summary of the found information.
4.1. Experience
In the experience chapter, the interviewed persons will be tested to a theory about their credibility in talking about another person’s experience, in this case the experience of joining the Islamic State. This is necessary to guarantee the reliability of this research, by promising it is researching what it claims to do. As it is impossible due to the lack of time and resources to use this test on every second hand source that is used in this thesis, it will only be applied to first hand sources, the interview that especially is conducted for this thesis. This was Alex, a high school friend of Victor Droste, whom still has daily contact with him while he is in Syria. The first part is about the sense of mastery of the interviewed person. This means that he is aware of challenges he is facing, able to deal with them, and do this without feeling helpless or victimized. Alex stated in the interview that he is indeed able to do this, without feeling helpless (personal communication, December 11, 2018).
The second part is about the openness of the interviewed person, especially with having a high tolerance for different lifestyles other than his own. Alex again stated that he is very tolerant for other lifestyles, also due to his atheist lifestyle. He also thinks he does not force his own view upon others (personal communication, December 11, 2018).
Alex then argues that he simplifies challenges in his life, but states that this has to be seen contextual. He also states that he does, in giving advice to others, gives his own solution for
29 their problem, making the reflective attitude of Alex not completely accord to the theory (personal communication, December 11, 2018).
In the part about the emotion regulation and empathy, the interviewee (personal communication, December 11, 2018) claimed that he accepts his negative feelings without always suppressing them, which again is dependent of the context. However, he expressively states that he is able to put himself in another person’s shoes.
As the MORE life experience test of Glück and Bluck (2013) is about the ability to understand another person’s experience, Alex accorded with the theory in three of the four parts of the test. In the remaining part he answered different than the theory demands, but also states that this is very dependent of the context. With this in mind, it could be argued that it is safe to say that Alex is able enough to talk about the experiences of Victor in a way that is useful for this research.
4.2. Recruitment
The recruitment period in this research is the period in which the convert made contact with his recruiter and the moment he travels to the Caliphate. Both document analysis and interviews are used in this analysis to make a clear image of multiple sources to provide the most complete image of how the recruitment period is for a convert joining the Islamic State.
The first point is the friendship the convert has with the recruiter. As the theory suggest, in 68% of recruits travelling to Syria, the recruiter and the recruit were friends. In the case of Victor this was indeed present. However, it was not a single recruit he became friends with, instead a group of multiple people found each other and in a way recruited themselves. It was not clear who the real recruiter was, as they all were bounded by the same ideology with travelling plans (personal communication, December 11, 2018). This does not mean there was no leading role for one of them, it just was not clear to whom this role belonged to. This is in line with the story of Jordi, who also stated that he was recruited in a group. However, it is not completely clear if it began with one person who approached him on the street or with his new Muslim girlfriend (Alberts & Lensink, 2015; Salome & van der Wal, 2014). Both Thierry and Thijs were involved in Islam by their girlfriend, who introduced them in, again, a group (Rueb, 2018; Versteegh, 2017). Robbin was the only one, who together with his friend got recruited by a single person. Eventually he also travelled in a group to Syria (Olmer, 2018). Other Dutch converts stated they travelled together with a group of friends (Weggemans, Bakker, & Grol, 2014: 105), a large
