ISIS Tells Supporters to ‘Dress Up Like Jews,’ Carry Out Attacks

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is encouraging its supporters to carry out terror attacks against Western Jewish communities. According to the U.K.-based newspaper, Daily Mail, ISIS members in an online jihadi chat room forum discussed disguising themselves as Jews prior to attacking.

The messages first appeared on an ISIS-affiliated Telegram Channel called Lone Mujahid (Holy Warrior), which is often used by the terrorist group to disseminate messages. The Jerusalem Post, which highlighted the Daily Mail’s report, noted:

“The full post read: ‘If you’re still in the west! Dress up like a Jews! Got to your nearest Jewish area! Make sure you have plenty of weapons under your coat!’ and then urged followers to ‘unleash the pain of Muslims’ on the potential victims.”

A subsequent message provided a list of Jewish communities in Britain and included an image of Amedy Coulibaly, an Islamist who, in January 2015, committed a terrorist attack on a Kosher supermarket in a Paris suburb. A post accompanying Coulibaly’s image, exhorted: “Take the brother’s example and terrorize the Yahood [Jew].”

As CAMERA has noted (see, for example “Poll: Majority in France Believe Jews Responsible for Antisemitism,” Feb. 12, 2016) anti-Jewish violence has risen sharply in Europe, with many attacks being perpetrated by Islamists. More recently, in February 2017, two men, “who were described as being of North African origin,” attacked two Jewish brothers in a Paris suburb. The attackers shouted, “Dirty Jews, you’re going to die,” before using a saw to cut off the finger of one of the brothers (“Jews in France: Anti-Semitic Attack Saws Mans Finger Off As Attackers Yell ‘Dirty Jews,’” International Business Times, Feb. 24, 2017).

On March 1, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, told Britain’s Jewish community leaders that jihadists were targeting Jews in Europe and the U.K. Rudd noted, “Daesh [ISIS] literature continues to identify the Jewish community as a ‘desirable and legitimate target (“ISIS Plotting Attacks on UK Jewish Community,” Express, March 4, 2017).’”

Although media outlets outside the U.S. reported the Islamic State’s recent plots, many American newspapers failed to provide coverage. A Lexis-Nexis search of major U.S. journals, including The Washington Post, USA Today and The Baltimore Sun, among others, showed no mention of ISIS’s threats.