US partnering with UAE to combat the Daesh terrorism propaganda

[Al Bhatti]

22 February 2015

Daesh posts 90,000 tweets every day to attract people

Obama said the US is partnering with the UAE to establish a new digital communication centre in collaboration with clerics and leaders of the civil society to combat the Daesh terrorism propaganda.

US President Barack Obama, who held a summit in White House to fight violent extremism, announced a new initiative to counter the hateful propaganda being spread by Daesh.

Obama said the US is partnering with the UAE to establish a new digital communication centre in collaboration with clerics and leaders of the civil society to combat the Daesh terrorism propaganda.

The US president called upon the countries meeting in Washington to join the efforts to counter the ‘ideologies that incite hatred’.

This came two days after a summit held in Washington where 76 countries and world organisations gathered to galvanise international efforts to confront what the US President called the ‘violent extremism’.

Some countries worked on establishing counter forces to Daesh media, which focuses on individuals at social networking sites.

The New York Times in a report revealed that the Obama administration failed to combat propaganda and media war against the Daesh, in view of the terrorist group’s propaganda techniques to attract new fighters.

In this context, the NYT referred to the US’ struggle to broaden the role the Strategic Centre for Counter Terrorism of the US Department of State plays, by mobilising anti-terrorism messages, which were issued by US federal departments including Department of Defence, Department of Homeland Security, and the intelligence agencies.

According to the newspaper, Daesh terrorist organisation and its affiliates post nearly 90,000 tweets daily. The US officials admit that they are finding it hard to weaken the digital media of the Daesh group.

Khaleej Times detected several messages that Daesh disseminates to recruit people from across the world as they want to gain sympathy of people for their cause and mesmerise more to follow them.


KT also spotted that social media users engage in a dialogue (chat) with Daesh members at social media sites. In addition, numerous messages are being circulated by the public such as video clips showing Daesh members reciting poems that stirred the emotions of tribes in the Arabian Gulf especially Saudi Arabia that in turn hit back.


Some described the trend dangerous since Daesh members, through such poems, could attract tribal youths and mislead Arab young men into joining the militant group.


Commenting on the new menace, Poet Saad Marzouq Al Ahbabi said: “Poetry is well known to Arabs since the past. It had been used before the dawn of Islam to highlight the strength of battling armies and implant fears into enemies’ hearts.”


Al Ahbabi added that poetry could be used in several manners as it could affect the emotions of individuals like the influence religions and cultures can leave onto people’s minds.


Regarding the seriousness to fight back and the possibility to beat Daesh using the same method of poetry, Al Ahbabi pointed out that some Arab poets try to take the advantage of the current situation to bring fame to them.


“We are in a state of an intellectual war. We have to respond fiercely and smartly not by poor poems. Our response should be balanced and through a studied and strong media, not by any poet, who may worsen the intellectual challenge by his poor performance, that could lead more people to join Daesh, leading to the rise in their number,” he said.


Similarly, a high profile Kuwaiti official, who requested anonymity, said that religious anthem occupies a big space in the religious address, so it’s very efficient and successful tool, which extremist groups may exploit to gain sympathy of people. He said religious foundations aim to attract young people since an early age. That is their main goal, which is followed by haphazard and single recruitment of the young.


http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-arti...middleeast_February197.xml&section=middleeast

 

[Zarvan]

22 February 2015

Daesh posts 90,000 tweets every day to attract people

Obama said the US is partnering with the UAE to establish a new digital communication centre in collaboration with clerics and leaders of the civil society to combat the Daesh terrorism propaganda.

US President Barack Obama, who held a summit in White House to fight violent extremism, announced a new initiative to counter the hateful propaganda being spread by Daesh.

Obama said the US is partnering with the UAE to establish a new digital communication centre in collaboration with clerics and leaders of the civil society to combat the Daesh terrorism propaganda.

The US president called upon the countries meeting in Washington to join the efforts to counter the ‘ideologies that incite hatred’.

This came two days after a summit held in Washington where 76 countries and world organisations gathered to galvanise international efforts to confront what the US President called the ‘violent extremism’.

Some countries worked on establishing counter forces to Daesh media, which focuses on individuals at social networking sites.

The New York Times in a report revealed that the Obama administration failed to combat propaganda and media war against the Daesh, in view of the terrorist group’s propaganda techniques to attract new fighters.

In this context, the NYT referred to the US’ struggle to broaden the role the Strategic Centre for Counter Terrorism of the US Department of State plays, by mobilising anti-terrorism messages, which were issued by US federal departments including Department of Defence, Department of Homeland Security, and the intelligence agencies.

According to the newspaper, Daesh terrorist organisation and its affiliates post nearly 90,000 tweets daily. The US officials admit that they are finding it hard to weaken the digital media of the Daesh group.

Khaleej Times detected several messages that Daesh disseminates to recruit people from across the world as they want to gain sympathy of people for their cause and mesmerise more to follow them.


KT also spotted that social media users engage in a dialogue (chat) with Daesh members at social media sites. In addition, numerous messages are being circulated by the public such as video clips showing Daesh members reciting poems that stirred the emotions of tribes in the Arabian Gulf especially Saudi Arabia that in turn hit back.


Some described the trend dangerous since Daesh members, through such poems, could attract tribal youths and mislead Arab young men into joining the militant group.


Commenting on the new menace, Poet Saad Marzouq Al Ahbabi said: “Poetry is well known to Arabs since the past. It had been used before the dawn of Islam to highlight the strength of battling armies and implant fears into enemies’ hearts.”


Al Ahbabi added that poetry could be used in several manners as it could affect the emotions of individuals like the influence religions and cultures can leave onto people’s minds.


Regarding the seriousness to fight back and the possibility to beat Daesh using the same method of poetry, Al Ahbabi pointed out that some Arab poets try to take the advantage of the current situation to bring fame to them.


“We are in a state of an intellectual war. We have to respond fiercely and smartly not by poor poems. Our response should be balanced and through a studied and strong media, not by any poet, who may worsen the intellectual challenge by his poor performance, that could lead more people to join Daesh, leading to the rise in their number,” he said.


Similarly, a high profile Kuwaiti official, who requested anonymity, said that religious anthem occupies a big space in the religious address, so it’s very efficient and successful tool, which extremist groups may exploit to gain sympathy of people. He said religious foundations aim to attract young people since an early age. That is their main goal, which is followed by haphazard and single recruitment of the young.


Daesh posts 90,000 tweets every day to attract people - Khaleej Times

Yes USA countering ISIS propagands through clerics this shows How dumb this so called super power is

 

[black-hawk_101]

22 February 2015

Daesh posts 90,000 tweets every day to attract people

Obama said the US is partnering with the UAE to establish a new digital communication centre in collaboration with clerics and leaders of the civil society to combat the Daesh terrorism propaganda.

US President Barack Obama, who held a summit in White House to fight violent extremism, announced a new initiative to counter the hateful propaganda being spread by Daesh.

Obama said the US is partnering with the UAE to establish a new digital communication centre in collaboration with clerics and leaders of the civil society to combat the Daesh terrorism propaganda.

The US president called upon the countries meeting in Washington to join the efforts to counter the ‘ideologies that incite hatred’.

This came two days after a summit held in Washington where 76 countries and world organisations gathered to galvanise international efforts to confront what the US President called the ‘violent extremism’.

Some countries worked on establishing counter forces to Daesh media, which focuses on individuals at social networking sites.

The New York Times in a report revealed that the Obama administration failed to combat propaganda and media war against the Daesh, in view of the terrorist group’s propaganda techniques to attract new fighters.

In this context, the NYT referred to the US’ struggle to broaden the role the Strategic Centre for Counter Terrorism of the US Department of State plays, by mobilising anti-terrorism messages, which were issued by US federal departments including Department of Defence, Department of Homeland Security, and the intelligence agencies.

According to the newspaper, Daesh terrorist organisation and its affiliates post nearly 90,000 tweets daily. The US officials admit that they are finding it hard to weaken the digital media of the Daesh group.

Khaleej Times detected several messages that Daesh disseminates to recruit people from across the world as they want to gain sympathy of people for their cause and mesmerise more to follow them.


KT also spotted that social media users engage in a dialogue (chat) with Daesh members at social media sites. In addition, numerous messages are being circulated by the public such as video clips showing Daesh members reciting poems that stirred the emotions of tribes in the Arabian Gulf especially Saudi Arabia that in turn hit back.


Some described the trend dangerous since Daesh members, through such poems, could attract tribal youths and mislead Arab young men into joining the militant group.


Commenting on the new menace, Poet Saad Marzouq Al Ahbabi said: “Poetry is well known to Arabs since the past. It had been used before the dawn of Islam to highlight the strength of battling armies and implant fears into enemies’ hearts.”


Al Ahbabi added that poetry could be used in several manners as it could affect the emotions of individuals like the influence religions and cultures can leave onto people’s minds.


Regarding the seriousness to fight back and the possibility to beat Daesh using the same method of poetry, Al Ahbabi pointed out that some Arab poets try to take the advantage of the current situation to bring fame to them.


“We are in a state of an intellectual war. We have to respond fiercely and smartly not by poor poems. Our response should be balanced and through a studied and strong media, not by any poet, who may worsen the intellectual challenge by his poor performance, that could lead more people to join Daesh, leading to the rise in their number,” he said.


Similarly, a high profile Kuwaiti official, who requested anonymity, said that religious anthem occupies a big space in the religious address, so it’s very efficient and successful tool, which extremist groups may exploit to gain sympathy of people. He said religious foundations aim to attract young people since an early age. That is their main goal, which is followed by haphazard and single recruitment of the young.


Daesh posts 90,000 tweets every day to attract people - Khaleej Times

Its better to have NATO strikes on them.

 

[Al Bhatti]

July 7, 2015

US president Barack Obama vowed on Monday to go after ‘the heart of ISIL that pumps funds and propaganda to people around the world’. His remarks came days before the launch of the Abu Dhabi-based Sawab Centre, a counter-terrorism outfit created to blunt the etremist group’s online propaganda.

Abu Dhabi counter-terrorism centre to battle ISIL’s online lies

The anti-ISIL coalition led by the US will launch a new counter-terrorism centre based in Abu Dhabi today.

The Sawab Centre will focus on counter-propaganda aimed at undercutting ISIL’s appeal among young Arabs in the region to help staunch the flow of foreign fighters from the Middle East and North Africa.

The centre is part of a strategy to revamp faltering efforts to blunt the extremist group’s online propaganda, which has drawn tens of thousands of foreign fighters from around the world.

Officials involved in the initiative say the goal is for the centre to eventually become a global hub linked to similar centres around the world to share effective online content and strategies.

“The centre, named after the Arabic word for ‘the right and spiritual path,’ will use direct online engagement to counter the terrorist messaging that is used to recruit foreign fighters, fundraise, and terrorise local populations,” the state department said.

The opening comes after US president Barack Obama cautioned on Monday said the coalition was “intensifying” its campaign against the group’s base in Syria. “We’re going after the ISIL leadership and infrastructure in Syria, the heart of ISIL that pumps funds and propaganda to people around the world,” he said after a meeting with his national security team at the Pentagon.

Undersecretary Richard Stengel, the senior state department official responsible for counter-propaganda efforts, is in the UAE for the launch of Sawab Centre.

He recently admitted in a leaked memo that internal disagreements and bureaucratic confusion had allowed the US-led coalition’s online efforts to be “trumped” by ISIL’s sophisticated social media strategy.

In 2011, the state department created a small office, the Centre for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC), to combat ISIL online via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

But the centre has largely been viewed as a failure by counter-terrorism analysts and government officials, who say its online sparring with ISIL supporters lacked a coherent strategy.

By disseminating clips of ISIL’s videos in an attempt to portray the group as cruel and un-Islamic, they say, the CSCC has inadvertently contributed to the extremist group’s strategy to project an image of power.

However, US officials say that the CSCC learned from its mistakes and will now seek closer coordination with allies in the Middle East as well as prominent religious scholars and respected civil society leaders, whom officials hope will help steer at-risk Arab youth away from ISIL. The new Sawab Centre will play a central role in this plan.

Talks about establishing a regional hub that could respond more quickly and credibly to blunt the extremists’ propaganda began last year during coalition meetings in the UAE and Kuwait, according to Alberto Gonzalez, director of the CSCC at the time.

Arab countries in the coalition have been focused on removing or blocking extremist content, but not on creating a counter-narrative to battle ISIL in the realm of ideas online.

The refocusing on the war of ideas with ISIL comes at a crucial moment, as the group faces significant setbacks in Syria — losing up to a third of its territory there in recent weeks — and is more reliant than ever, analysts say, on its carefully constructed narrative of momentum, power and a burgeoning caliphate to draw foreign recruits, regional affiliates and the coerced loyalty of Sunni Arabs in areas under its control. Overstretched, ISIL is now increasingly vulnerable to propaganda that undermines this narrative.

The Sawab Centre will function as a 24/7 operations room that will be staffed by officials from the UAE, US and other coalition members.

The centre’s staff will have a number of primary tasks. The first will be to monitor ISIL’s content and analyse what is resonating with the small demographic subsets targeted by the extremists so that the coalition can produce more research-based messaging to undermine ISIL, according to an official involved with the centre’s creation who requested anonymity.

Rather than highlighting the group’s brutality — precisely what inspires potential recruits — the centre’s own content may work to undermine the idea of ISIL’s “caliphate” by highlighting their inept governance, crumbling infrastructure and poor health services.

The analysis produced by the Sawab Centre will be shared with coalition members to help them in their own counter-propaganda efforts, the official said. Members of the coalition will also share their own best practices with the centre.

The UAE-based centre will also develop real-time content in response to unfolding events on the ground in Syria and Iraq that provides the coalition’s narrative.

The effectiveness of the centre’s messaging will also depend in part on political and military realities. “You can have the most wonderful messaging in the world, but if there is a factor on the ground which is radicalising people, driving people to violence, it’s going to be hard to overcome that with smart, snazzy messaging alone,” Mr Gonzalez said.

Having the resources to produce content that rivals the slickness of ISIL propaganda films is also important, he added, as well as skilled people from the region who understand the allure of ISIL’s messages and how to counter them.

“Can you seek to match the adversary in both quality and quantity?” Mr Gonzalez asked rhetorically.

Another central focus of the Sawab Centre will be figuring out how to amplify through social media campaigns credible religious figures who oppose ISIL.

The official involved with the centre gave the example of taking a lengthy fatwa by Sheikh bin Bayyah, the Maruitanian Islamic scholar who has issued fatwas against ISIL, and repurposing it into a series of tweets, to make it more accessible and understandable by regional youth who are fluent in social media.

But counter-extremism experts and former officials like Mr Gonzalez say that this aspect of the centre’s mission will be the most difficult and perhaps even ill advised, because moderate voices are unlikely to have any impact on potential ISIL recruits, who are already far along the spectrum of radicalisation.

Social media broadcasting is only one part of the puzzle of radicalisation, the former officials and experts said. The one-on-one interaction with supporters is what pushes people to travel to Syria.

While much more difficult to achieve, it should be replicated by experts at the centre, the observers said.

Abu Dhabi counter-terrorism centre to battle ISIL’s online lies | The National

 

[Al Bhatti]

July 8, 2015

Abu Dhabi Centre to counter ISIL message online goes live


The US-led anti-ISIL coalition’s new Sawab Centre to combat terrorism in the region went live from Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

US undersecretary of state Richard Stengel attended the centre’s launch with Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

The centre, named after the Arabic word for “the right and spiritual path”, will develop social media tools to tackle propaganda disseminated by ISIL among young Arabs.

“The centre will make an important contribution to the stability and security of the region,” Dr Gargash said.

“It will make a start in reclaiming the online space from extremists.”

Analysts said winning the war of ideas was a crucial strategic objective for the coalition and countering ISIL’s messaging online was vital to succeed.

“The centre is another manifestation of a broader US and coalition strategy to meet the ISIL threat at conventional and unconventional battlefields,” said Johan Bergenas, an Abu Dhabi security expert and deputy director of the Managing Across Boundaries Initiative at the Stimson Centre think tank.

Taufiq Rahim, a Dubai-based analyst, said the region and the broader Muslim world were facing an existential conflict.

“There are thousands of ISIL-linked accounts on Twitter that serve as tools for disinformation, recruitment and other propaganda,” he said. “We should not underestimate the reach of social media in cultivating followership for extremists, especially from young adolescents.

“It is vital that leadership emerges from the region to confront extremism, whether on the actual battlefield or the virtual one. ”

Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, political science professor at UAE University, said the challenge was huge.

“We’re finding out by the day that ISIL is here to stay for a long time,” he said. “If that’s the case, then this is one more attempt that might or might not lead somewhere but at least something is going on,” he said of the new centre.

Mohammed Almarashda, an Emirati PhD researcher in homeland security, at Bournemouth University, said the initiative was a valuable step.

“This is the first step as a government to become a regional hub for this specific purpose,” he said.

“Such a centre as the Sawab Centre is considered a first building block towards creating an international group of expertise to refute radicalisation and violence.”

He said that social media had become the main part of the puzzle in radicalisation.

“Social media has always been the way in which terrorists employ their potential for propaganda, to promote their ideas and intellectual beliefs,” he said.

“So I think the centre comes at the right time.”

Danny Sebright, president of the US-UAE Business Council, said as the world and the Middle East grappled with the scourge of violent extremism, the centre could be a tipping point in efforts to offer alternative messages to youth and others swayed by terrorists.

“The UAE is to be applauded for its leadership role in working with others in the region and the US to spearhead this timely and vital effort,” he said.

More information can be found at www.sawabcenter.org and @SawabCenter on Twitter.

------------------------------------


July 8, 2015

Counter-terrorism centre launched in Abu Dhabi
Sawab will use online tools to amplify moderate voices and challenge Daesh’s doctrine of hate

A new counter-terrorism centre was launched in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to fight Daesh’s (the so-called Islamic State militant group) online propaganda and recruitment.

Co-founded by the UAE and the United States, the Sawab Centre will work with governments in the region and around the world, including from the 63-country coalition that is confronting Daesh.

The Sawab Centre will also work with religious leaders, organisations, businesses, and youth to amplify their voices, challenge Daesh’s doctrine of hate and intolerance, and highlight and demonstrate the true values and diversity of Islam.

Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Richard Stengel, US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, launched the Abu Dhabi-based Sawab Centre, a joint online engagement initiative, in support of the global coalition against Daesh.

Sawab, Arabic for “doing the right thing” or being on the “right path”, seeks to do just that by giving a voice to the millions of Muslims and others around the world that stand united against the terrorism and falsehood propagated by Daesh.

Dr Gargash said, “By tackling the problem of online radicalisation, the Sawab Centre will make an important contribution to the stability and security of the region and will make a start in reclaiming the online space from the extremists.” Stengel added that the US truly appreciates its partnership with the UAE when it comes to countering violent extremism.

He further underlined that “by creating the Sawab Centre, we are sending a clear message to Daesh and other extremists that moderate Muslims everywhere reject their hateful ideology and sensational brutality and are united with their partners around the world in support of a stable and prosperous Middle East that is free from the scourge of extremism.”

Sawab Centre will use online communication and social media tools to put things in the right perspective and to amplify those moderate voices that regularly get drowned by the noise of the extremists. Through its online engagement, the Sawab Centre will counter the false claims and religious misinterpretations that are being propagated by Daesh and will seek to engage with those vulnerable online communities that are an easy prey for Daesh recruiters.

The Sawab Centre builds on and links into the various other counter-extremism initiatives that have been initiated in the UAE in recent years, including the Hedayah Centre to Counter Violent Extremism and the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies. These initiatives demonstrate the UAE’s strong and enduring commitment to a moderate and tolerant society that is deeply rooted in the UAE’s history and traditions, where extremism has no place and no future.

Dr Theodore Karasik, a UAE-based analyst of regional geopolitical affairs, said Sawab will be able to counter Daesh’s online propaganda through real-time narratives based on the expertise of its staff who understand Daesh thinking and are able to anticipate Daesh campaigns.

“Taking advantage of Daesh’s losses and mistakes, combined with a thorough knowledge of the group’s illegitimate use of Islamic thinking, Sawab Centre can work with local and regional experts to communicate narratives that mitigate, tear down, dissect and refute Daesh’s arguments. This effort moves countering violent extremism to a new level and platform that will arrest Daesh recruitment and trash the cultlike pull of the Islamic State [Daesh] through innovative means and methods for denial and deception tactics in cyberspace, specifically social media platforms,” Dr Karasik said.

Dr Karasik added Sawab Centre is different and more agile than the Centre for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC), set up by the US state department in 2011, to fight Daesh online via social media platforms.

“The CSCC is seen as a failure because of a lack of strategy towards content and understanding Daesh’s narratives and sophisticated approach to social media. CSCC also was disjointed in the sense that literally geography and time zones played a role given the real-time need for countering Islamic State [Daesh] messaging. In addition, bureaucracy hurt CSCC’s mission,” Dr Karasik said.

Dr Karasik suggested that the strategy to be adopted by the Abu Dhabi-based centre is extremely vital. “The Caliphate is actually seen as a viable model by Daesh and is attractive to recruits. Daesh provides salary, housing, health care, the right to arm oneself, a wife and one or more sex slaves. In countries where dowries are required, Daesh helps to negotiate lower prices. Sawab Centre is taking into account this viewpoint with seriousness while highlighting the macabre nature of the group. The approach is to counter Daesh’s economic model and to influence the ground root level of the Caliphate and its appendages about moral rights and obligations,” Dr Karasik said.

On whether moderate voices aired on social media are likely to have any impact on potential Daesh recruits, Dr Karasik said moderate voices are necessary but many Daesh recruits see moderate voices as government voices. “This is especially true in Saudi Arabia where Daeshites see Saudi clerics as part of the state apparatus. What is more important is to tug at geo-spatial identity issues, that is defined as localism, and engage these voices in debate that helps guide youth away from the attractiveness of Daesh,” Dr Karasik added.

Counter-terrorism centre launched in Abu Dhabi | GulfNews.com