TerrorismCanadian “sha’hid” used by ISIS in Jihadi recruitment video

Andre Poulin, killed fighting for ISIS in Syria // Source: patoghy.ir

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’s (ISIS) strategy to use English-speaking Westerns and social media to recruit militants is unprecedented. ISIS has used World Cup hashtags on Twitter and Facebook to spread propaganda and generate death threats. The group’s adoption of new media could be seen as a move better to compete with rival militant groups. “Once ISIS expanded into Syria, it was forced to compete with a lot of jihadi groups, and it took the production of its media to a higher level than any other jihadi group had previously created,” said Laith Alkhouri, a senior analyst at Flashpoint Global Partners, a New York security consulting firm which tracks militant websites. “It literally revolutionized how it produced, distributed and translated its message very quickly. The production value is very high.”

A recent ISIS propaganda video features Andre Poulin, a Canadian who converted to Islam and later traveled to Syria to join the fight against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. In the video, Poulin discussed his normal upbringing, but he also discussed his need to support the Jihadi cause, insisting that “life in Canada was not religiously fulfilling.” Adding, “before I come here to Syria, I had money, I had family, I had good friends, I had colleagues. You know I worked as a street janitor — I made over $2,000 a month at this job. It was a very good job, a very good job.”

According to the New York Times, Gerrit Verbeek, a prosecutor in Timmins, Ontario tells a different story, noting that Poulin had been in trouble with the law before converting to Islam. Poulin was arrested on two occasions in 2009, for threatening a Muslim man with whom Poulin lived. Poulin claimed the man was not religious enough, and during his residency, Poulin engaged in an affair with the man’s wife.

On Poulin’s claims that he was not a radical while living in Canada, Verbeek notes, “He talked about making bombs — he admitted he looked on the Internet at ‘The Anarchist Cookbook’ about how to build bombs with materials you buy at the grocery store.” Adding, Poulin “said he doesn’t care if he went to jail. Then he says that nobody is going to help him and that everybody is out to get him. He said something had to be done and he talked about sacrificing himself.”

Poulin was arrested again in 2010 and served two weeks in jail. “And then I never heard from him again,” Verbeek said. “He just fell right off the radar. And apparently, it didn’t turn out so well for Mr. Poulin.”

In the ISIS recruitment video, Poulin, later known as Abu Muslim, is seen running through a field in Syria during an attack on an airport, then dying in battle. A photo of his body is shown, and he is hailed as a martyr. Poulin was about twenty-four years old at the time of his death last year.