Skip to main content
  • English
  • العربية
  •  
  •  
Home Al Jazeera Media Network

A truly global network

play

Live

Main navigation

  • Who We Are
    • Our Story
    • Vision
    • Mission
    • Values
    • Our Journey
    • Virtual Tour
    • Code of Ethics
    • Editorial Standards
    • Code of Conduct
  • Leadership
  • Our Network
  • Faces
    • Arabic
    • English
    • Mubasher
    • Balkans
  • Awards
  • Events
  • Press Releases
  • More
    • Publications
    • Videos
    • FAQ
    • Press Kit
    • Our Martyrs
play

Live

ISIS expert tells Upfront “They want Muslims to choose between them”

Published on: 19 Feb 2016
  • Share
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • “They’re baiting us” – Lydia Wilson
  • “This is a clear strategy to be brutal, to change the behavior of the enemy” – Jurgen Todenhofer
  • “They want Muslims to choose between being part of societies that don’t want them, or joining the Islamic State” – Will McCants
  • “ISIS has always had this mindset the West would go after them even if they don’t do anything in the West” – Hassan Hassan

(Washington D.C. – 19th, February, 2016) – In an exclusive and special discussion on Al Jazeera English’s flagship current affairs show, ‘UpFront’, four of the world’s leading authorities on ISIL discussed what the group aims to achieve by carrying out attacks around the world. 

If we believe what they say, and I do…They’re baiting us,” said Lydia Wilson, a research fellow at Oxford University’s Center for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict.

Wilson, who recently interviewed ISIL fighters in northern Iraq, believes ISIL wants Western countries to attack them at home.

“They’re inspiring terror and drawing the Western powers, or the unbelieving powers…into wars that they cannot afford or draw them directly into the region not just by proxies,” she said.  “[Terror attacks] produce the response that we are giving them,” she added.

Jurgen Todenhofer, the first Western journalist to be granted access to ISIL controlled territory, weighed in saying, “I think the brutality of these terrorists is their strategy. They want the Western governments to overreact, to send bombers, to kill civilians, and this is a terror breeding program.”

“This is a clear strategy, to be brutal to change the behavior of the enemy,” he added.

Also joining the “UpFront” special roundtable was Will McCants, a former State Department senior adviser on countering violent extremism, and author of the new book “The ISIS Apocalypse.” He explained how ISIL’s attacks intend to polarise and act as a recruitment tool.

“The Islamic State is seeking, particularly in the West, to make Muslims face a choice,” he said. “They want Muslims to choose between being part of societies that don’t want them or joining the Islamic State.”

“And the more that they can cultivate anger among non-Muslims in the West against Muslims, cultivate paranoia against them, the more they hope to be able to recruit from the resulting alienation amongst Muslims in the West,” he added.

Rounding out the panel was Hassan Hassan, co-author of the book “ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror,” but who believes ISIL would prefer the West not attack them.

“If ISIS had a choice, I think it would have wanted the West to stay away from it,” he said.

“However, I think ISIS has always had this mindset of the West would go after them even if they don’t do anything in the West,” he added.

*ENDS*

 NOTES FOR EDITORS:

·         Short preview of this show: https://www.facebook.com/AJUpFront/videos/1501183090190356/

·         This UpFront special on ISIL is airing this Friday February 19th. The segments will be available through this link: www.aljazeera.com/upfront from 19.30GMT onwards. Please add this link to your online copy if quotes are used.

·         Please credit Al Jazeera English and ‘UpFront’ if you plan to use any quotes from this ISIL special.

·         UpFront, hosted by Mehdi Hasan, broadcasts on Fridays at 19.30 GMT.

·         Follow UpFront on Twitter @AJUpFront

PRESS RELEASES

Peabody awards two exclusive Al Jazeera documentaries on Gaza war carnage
Al Jazeera English wins two Overseas Press Club awards
Al Jazeera English’s Fault Lines Investigates Israeli Military Shootings of Children in Gaza
Al Jazeera strongly condemns the assassination of its correspondent in Gaza Hossam Shabat
Al Jazeera Arabic’s channel on YouTube surpasses 20 million subscribers
Al Jazeera English's Gaza investigative film by Fault Lines receives prestigious RTS Award
Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on recent election loss, Easter bombing investigations, and prosecution of the Rajapaksa family
Al Jazeera Documentary Industry Days opens submissions for 4th edition
Al Jazeera English ‘Head to Head’ interview with Kimani Ichung’wah, the Majority leader of the Kenyan National Assembly
Al Jazeera Media Institute Partners with the University of Aberdeen on a Master's Programme
‘The Palestine Laboratory’ exposes Israel’s export of unique systems of control and surveillance technology around the world
Al Jazeera condemns in the strongest terms the arrest of Mohamad Atrash by the Palestinian Authority and calls for his immediate release
  • Load More

About

  • About Us
  • Code of Ethics
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Cookie preferences
  • Work for us

Connect

  • Contact Us
  • Advertise with us
  • Apps
  • Channel Finder
  • TV Schedule
  • Podcasts
  • Submit a Tip

Our Channels

  • Al Jazeera Arabic
  • Al Jazeera English
  • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
  • Al Jazeera Mubasher
  • Al Jazeera Documentary
  • Al Jazeera Balkans
  • AJ +

Our Network

  • Al Jazeera Center for Studies
  • Al Jazeera Media Institute
  • Learn Arabic
  • Al Jazeera Center for Public Liberties & Human Rights
  • Al Jazeera Forum
  • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners
 

© 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network.