“Pretend to Be Christians, Wear Cross Necklaces” says ISIS

Imagine that!  The leaders of the Islamic State (ISIS) have put forth new guidance urging its followers in the West to pretend to be Christians before committing lone wolf, terrorist attacks.  According to The Daily Telegraph, the 58-page terror pamphlet titled “Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen” instructs its adherents to trim their beards, wear Western-style aftershave and even pretend to be Christians by wearing cross necklaces in order to avoid arousing suspicion.  “No doubt that today, at the era of the lone wolves, brothers in the West need to know some important things about safety in order to ensure success in their operations,” reads the manual (in part).  “We thought a lot of non-Arabic speaking brothers would find it interesting and may apply it in their blessed operations,” it adds.

After revealing some of the ‘best places’ to carry out terror attacks (such as loud nightclubs), the guide provides a few disturbing tips for future jihadists:

• “If you can avoid having a beard, wearing qamis [Islamic tunics], using miswak [teeth cleaning twigs] and having a booklet of dhikr [prayers and devotional acts] with you, it’s better.  It is permissible for you to wear a necklace showing a Christian cross,” it explains.
• “As you know, Christians – or even atheist Westerners with Christian background – wear crosses on their necklaces.  But don’t wear a cross necklace if you have a Muslim name on your passport, as that may look strange,” the guide adds.

This new manual, which was released on ISIS-linked Twitter accounts and other social media sites, is the latest in a series of twisted English-language propaganda attempts carried out by the terror group.  The Telegraph notes that over the past year, ISIS has released dozens of online documents, instructing their followers on everything from how to build a bomb factory to how to cross into Syria via Turkey without being caught.

Last November, supporters of the group released a pamphlet titled “Oh Media Correspondent, You are the Mujahid” in an attempt to further their social media and internet presence.  The manual, which has been published in Arabic and English, is accompanied by an 18-minute video and displays the terrorist group’s chilling knowledge of the world-wide web.

Then, in December, the group released detailed instructions via social media on how to make a home-made weapon that the writer says could disable jet fighters, notes the Washington Times.  Later in December, ISIS released guidelines encouraging fighters to disguise themselves as Iraqi security forces before committing atrocities.

To counter violent extremism, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department announced last week it will start a new task force to help allies craft localized anti-terrorism messages and help prevent the release of future English-language propaganda material.  Officials are also reworking a currently existing State Department program that was created to serve as an information war room to “challenge the Islamic State online and erode its appeal.”

“Ultimately, it is not going to be enough to defeat ISIL in the battlefield,” President Obama told representatives of more than 100-nations and civil society groups.  “We have to prevent it from radicalizing, recruiting and inspiring others to violence in the first place. And this means defeating their ideology.”

A senior administration official added that the objective in sending so many top officials to Silicon Valley was to make sure the tech firms “understand what we are up against with respect to ISIL.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel