By Walid Shoebat (Shoebat Exclusive)
The Islamic State (ISIS) released a video Saturday in which its Japanese hostage Kenji Goto Jogo says the terrorist group is willing to trade his life for a Jordanian prisoner, Sajida al-Rishawi. But the time has past and no news of the fate of the Jordanian prisoner Muaz Al-Kassasbeh. So is Al-Kassasbeh dead or alive? And why does ISIS want al-Rishawi released?
Previously, the group asked for $100 million each for Goto and Haruna Yukawa, a second Japanese hostage. After the ransom was not delivered, ISIS beheaded Yukawa and changed its demands to focus on al-Rishawi’s release.
“They no longer want money. So you don’t need to worry about funding terrorists. They are just demanding the release of their imprisoned sister Sajida al-Rishawi. It is simple. You give them Sajida and I will be released,” Goto said in Saturday’s video, noting Japanese representatives were currently in Jordan. “You bring them their sister from the Jordanian regime and I will be released immediately. Me for her.”
The woman ISIS is seeking is a would-be suicide bomber. In 2005, al-Rishawi and her husband attacked a Radisson hotel in Jordan, but only his explosives detonated. After her explosives failed, she fled with the crowd but was later arrested. Following a televised confession, in which she claimed her husband was the mastermind of the double suicide bombing plan, she was sentenced to death.
Though al-Rishawi’s terrorist affiliations are with Al-Qaeda, which has been at odds with ISIS in some parts of the Middle East. It is not only that Rishawi is linked to ISIS through relatives, but the hotel operation was inspired by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a member of Al-Qaeda and the inspiration behind the creation of ISIS who planned the 2005 hotel attack. Al-Zarqawi’s second in command is al-Rishawi’s brother, and al-Zarqawi has been linked to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—the leader of ISIS and her husband was also ‘martyred’ even including her first husband as well. Although Rishawi failed in her mission as a second detonation it was a malfunction and not cowardice as ISIS sees it.
What ISIS wants is an icon of a Jihadi mother which is part of Islam’s history. Al-Khansa, a famous 7th-century female poet and contemporary of the Prophet Muhammad who converted to Islam and wrote elegies for his brothers, father and children after they were killed in battle.
Then we also have Rabi’a Al-‘Adawiyya for example, was a woman from Basra who first formulated the Sufi ideal of a love of Allah is such an icon in which one mosque in Al-Nahda Square in Cairo was given that name which became an icon for the four-fingers and since Rabi’a means “Fourth” it became “Rabi’a four finger sign,” which has gained widespread popularity which users from all parts in the world showed interest from Asia to Europe and from Africa to the USA. Thousands of users notably in Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt, Bosnia Herzegovina, Malaysia and Indonesia use the symbol. On the Facebook, the number of those using “Rabia sign” as a profile picture is reported to be over 100 million. Even Erdogan of Turkey is leading the way when he shows such support on most of his photo ops speaking to Muslim crowds. The symbol has now spread globally in support of an Islamic utopia.
It also appears as R4BIA which some say its Rabia For Brotherhood’s Independant Army, but at face value its the obvious symbol of Rabia For Bia (Bay’a) which Bay’a/Bay’at is “Allegiance” to the Muslim Caliphate.
The outreach of this type of thing is immense.
ISIS wants a female icon, just as Islam had for centuries and as the Muslim Brotherhood has. This is not the idea of elevating women, but that the role of mothers in Islam is strictly to produce Jihadists. In fact, this is the second time ISIS has asked for a female Al-Qaeda member in exchange for a hostage. Following the execution of American journalist James Foley, it was disclosed that ISIS wanted to trade the reporter for Aafia Siddiqui, best known as “Lady Al-Qaeda.” After Foley’s death, the terrorist organization also offered a second hostage, Steven Sotloff, for Siddiqui.
Aafia Siddiqui aka Lady Al-Qaeda
She is currently serving an 86-year sentence in Texas after being charged with attempted murder, armed assault, carrying a firearm, assaulting American officers and being an Al-Qaeda sympathizer.
Whether this deal to exchange the jordanian pilot for Rishawi will happen is a slim chance. First of all, the deadline is passed. Also the jordanians are not stupid since Al-Kassasbeh, the Jordanian pilot could have been executed already and this whole thing is a ruse and ISIS is hoping to get a freebee. That and terrorists usually ask for more in exchange for prisoners as we see the case in Israel in which Israelis exchange hundreds of terrorists for one Israeli soldier. It is likely therefore, that ISIS will either remain silent or will announce the death of both, Al-Kassasbeh first and then the Japanese hostage Kenji Goto Jogo, but we have correctly predicted the announcement regarding the fate of his partner Haruna Yukawa.
In fact, when it comes to Japan, our predictions about Japan’s real motivations stems from even further back and today Japan has a use for ISIS. Shoebat.com has warned on March of last year that Japan has an agenda. In April, a panel of Japanese government experts are expected to propose to Shinzo Abe a reinterpretation of the Japanese constitution in regards to weapons, in order to allow Japan to use weapons for defense against North Korea and now this ISIS event goes along such plans.
Last year Abe used the scenario of North Korea attacking the United States and Japan coming to its defense and using weapons to prevent arms being transferred to North Korea, expressing his urgent desire for a more militarily independent Japan. After picking the hypothetical situation of “if North Korea attacked the United States”, Abe said:
When the international community imposes economic sanctions, we also have to discuss whether we should prevent weapons and ammunition from being transported to North Korea.
So when ISIS asked for two million dollars to save two Japanese, we said that “the media is not telling you the true scoop: one of these two Japanese is a Muslim jihadi who converted to Islam and that Tokyo is unlikely to pay a $200 million ransom to free the two hostages and if they are beheaded (which most likely they will), this plays right into Shinzo Abe’s game plan against the country’s anti-war constitution.”
While the media thinks that Shinzo erred, truth is, they are naive. As we stated prior to the outcome, Shinzo had no intentions whatsoever to release any hostages and in fact, offered them on the altar of sacrifice and whether the killing was real or fake matters little, it is the outcome that is necessary: Japan, like Turkey, needs to reverse back to its historic militaristic and ultra religious nationalistic past.
Has Shinzo really cared about hostages, why would he send Yasuhide Nakayama, who has long been seen as being close to Israel, something problematic when dealing with ISIS to coordinate Japan’s response and then condemns ISIS while standing in front of an Israeli flag in Jerusalem?
His intent was to upset ISIS to gain this outcome and not to appease them for the sake of two hostages. And to top it all, Abe also chose to reach out to British Prime Minister David Cameron for help, rather than to seek assistance from Turkey. In fact, the Jordanian pilot hostage, Al-Kassasbeh’s father went to the Turkish government for assistance and publicly denounced Jordan’s efforts to get his son released. Ever wonder why? He, as any Arab Muslim on the street, knows well that Turkey carries weight with ISIS. Does anyone wonder why ISIS never executed any of the Turkish hostages and in fact released all of them? Or why ISIS never bombed a single Ottoman shrine while they bombed all others?
At times, a good question is better than any answer.
So let the music play, and if you are dealing with the Middle East, you simply have to find the best of musicians to play your tune. In the Middle East, things start slow and even play your western tunes in order to tickle your ears and then even escalate, and with lightening speed: