The Terrorist Image: Decoding the Islamic State's Photo-Propaganda

By Charlie Winter

The summer of 2014–when the Islamic State seized Mosul, Iraq’s second city; captured vast swathes of eastern Syria; and declared itself a latter-day Caliphate–marked a turning point in the history of photography, one that pushed its already contested relationship with reality to its very limits.

Uniquely obsessed with narrative, image management and branding, the Islamic State used cameras as weapons in its formative years as a Caliphate. The tens of thousands of propaganda photographs captured during this time were used to denote policy, to navigate through defeat and, perhaps most importantly, to construct an impossible reality: a totalising image-world of Salafi-Jihadist symbols and myths.

Based on a deep examination of the 20,000 photographs Charlie Winter collected from the Islamic State’s covert networks online in 2017, this book explores the process by which the Caliphate shook the foundations of modern war photography. Focusing on the period in which it was at its strongest, Winter identifies the implicit value systems that underpinned the Caliphate’s ideological appeal, and evaluates its uniquely malign contribution to the history of the photographic image. The Terrorist Image travels to the heart of what made the Islamic State tick during its prime, providing unique insights into its global appeal and mobilisation successes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hurst Publishers
• Release date: Apr 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781787388550

Book preview

THE TERRORIST IMAGE

CHARLIE WINTER

The Terrorist Image

Decoding the Islamic State’s

Photo-Propaganda

HURST & COMPANY, LONDON

First published in the United Kingdom in 2022 by

C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.,

New Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

© Charlie Winter, 2022

All rights reserved.

The right of Charlie Winter to be identified as the author of this publication is asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

A Cataloguing-in-Publication data record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 9781787385672

This book is printed using paper from registered sustainable and managed sources.

www.hurstpublishers.com

For H. and A.

CONTENTS

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments

List of Illustrations

1. Introduction

2. The Islamic State’s Approach to Propaganda

3. Disentangling the Islamic State Brand

4. The Semiotics of Propaganda

PART ONE

JIHĀD

5. The Soldier

6. The Army

7. The Enemy

PART TWO

KHILĀFAH

8. The State

9. The Nation

10. The Victim

11. Conclusion

Notes

Index

Figure 5.1 "The clashes with the rāfiḍī army and its militias with light weapons in the Ṭayraan neighbourhood"

Figure 5.2 Courage, not retreat

Figure 5.3 "An inghimāsī [suicide assault] operation on the apostate PKK south of Kasrah Shaykh Jama’ah in southern Raqqah"

Figure 5.4 Targeting the apostate peshmerga with medium[-calibre] weapons on the outskirts of the cement plant in Sinjār

Figure 5.5 The safe return of the brothers, thanks be to God

Figure 5.6 Aspect of the raid on the al-Bū Ṭarāḥ region north of Ramādī—seizure of the barracks of the apostates

Figure 5.7 Pictures from the ongoing battles near the Kawkjalī region of eastern Mawṣul

Figure 5.8 The safe return of the soldiers of the caliphate, thanks be to God

Figure 5.9 "Ribāṭ of the soldiers of the caliphate in the mountains of Tūrā Būrā"

Figure 5.10 "The ribāṭ duty of the soldiers of the caliphate against the Kurdish apostates in the northern Ḥalab countryside"

Figure 5.11 "Aspect of the ribāṭ of one of the sniper units in the province"

Figure 5.12 "The performance of the maghrib prayers before going out for work"

Figure 5.13 "’Ishā’ prayers in one of the ribāṭ points"

Figure 5.14 Believers, when you meet a force in battle, stand firm and keep Allāh firmly in mind, so that you may prosper

Figure 5.15 When you begged your Lord for help, He answered you, ‘I will reinforce you with a thousand angels in succession’

Figure 5.16 "The brother Abū ‘Umar al-Baghdādī—may Allāh accept him—the implementer of the istishhādī [martyrdom-seeking] operation in the Ṣaḥah area"

Figure 5.17 "The istishhādī bids farewell to his father before departing"

Figure 5.18 "The moment of implementation for the istishhādī brother on the gatherings of the rāfiḍī army"

Figure 5.19 "The ‘ilāmī brother Abū Ayman al-Maghribī—may Allāh accept him"

Figure 6.1 "Bay’ah to death in the cause of Allāh"

Figure 6.2 "Bay’ah of the inghimāsiyyīn to the death before the assault on secularism in the village of Qurah Qawzāq"

Figure 6.3 Camp of Shaykh Abū Muḥammad al-Furqān—May Allāh accept him

Figure 6.4 Graduation of a new batch from the camps of the province east of Dimashq

Figures 6.5–6.7 Targeting an armoured vehicle of the apostate police near the village of Abū Ḥuṣaynī west of the city of al-‘Arīsh

Figures 6.8–6.12 "Sniping a member of the rāfiḍī army in the Sayyid ‘Abd Allāh region south of Baghdād"

Figure 6.13 "The istishhādī brother Abū ‘Amād al-Shāmī—may Allāh accept him"

Figure 6.14 "The moment of departure for the istishhādī brother Abū ‘Amād al-Shāmī—may Allāh accept him"

Figure 6.15 "The moment that the istishhādī brother Abū ‘Amād al-Shāmī—may Allāh accept him—broke through towards the positions of the rāfiḍī army and mobilisation [units] and the fleeing of the apostates"

Figure 6.16 "The moment that the istishhādī brother Abū ‘Amād al-Shāmī—may Allāh accept him—detonated on the positions of the rāfiḍī army and mobilisation [units]"

Figure 6.17 "The moment that the istishhādī brother Abū ‘Amād al-Shāmī—may Allāh accept him—detonated on the positions of the rāfiḍī army and mobilisation [units]"

Figures 6.18–6.19 "Bombing a transporter for the nuṣayrī army with a projectile from a remote-controlled plane west of the city of Khayr"

Figure 6.20 "Ghanā’im of the mujāhidīn from the apostate Afghan Army in the Jawjawrī region of Nanjarhār"

Figure 7.1 Allāh is the highest and most almighty

Figure 7.2 "Ṣalībī coalition air support to the murtadd Kurds north of the city of Manbij"

Figure 7.3 "Ṣalībī coalition air support to the murtadd Kurdsnorth of the city of Manbij"

Figure 7.4 "Resisting the air support of the ṣalībī coalition in the countryside north of Manbij"

Figure 7.5 "Members of the nuṣayrī army fleeing from an encounter with the mujāhidīn in the village of Rasm al-Sarḥān [Original highlighting lost due to grayscale print]"

Figure 7.6 "Murtaddīn of the ṣaḥwāt flee from a clash with the soldiers of the caliphate in Sirt"

Figure 7.7 "The fleeing of the nuṣayrī army while under fire from the mujāhidīn"

Figure 7.8 "A captive from one of the militias of the national army loyal to the nuṣayriyyah in the village of Bughayliyyah [Face has been blurred by publisher; the original is unpixellated]"

Figure 7.9 "The capture of a nuṣayrī combatant [Face has been blurred by publisher; the original is unpixellated]"

Figure 7.10 "The implementation of the rule of Allāh on two spies of the rāfiḍī government [Face has been blurred by publisher; the original is unpixellated]"

Figure 8.1 "Aspect of the work of the men of the ḥisbah—wandering through the city market"

Figure 8.2 Seizing a large quantity of cigarettes and incinerating it in the city of Qayyārah

Figure 8.3 "Aspect of the work of the Ḥisbah Centre—seizing a load of undesirable goods and destroying it"

Figure 8.4 "Implementing the ḥadd of banditry on corrupters of the land—the Muslims gather to watch the ḥadd"

Figure 8.5 "Announcement of the shari’ī īruling on theft"

Figure 8.6 "Implementation of the ḥadd on a group of thieves"

Figure 8.7 Listening to the speech ‘And they live upon the evidence’ in a media kiosk

Figure 8.8 The distribution of materials and al-Naba’ newspaper in the village of Fāḍiliyyah

Figure 8.9 "Collective bay’ah of the people of the Shu’aytāt region after the completion of the seminary"

Figure 8.10 Aspect of the games that were played during the meeting

Figure 8.11 Distributing the questions to those sitting the examinations

Figure 8.12 An institute for Qur’aan memorisation for the cubs of the caliphate—physical preparation

Figure 8.13 Intensive seminary for Qur’aan memorisation in the city of Raqqah

Figure 8.14 "Giving zakāh to those in need of it"

Figure 8.15 "Distribution of the zakāh to those in need of it in the village of Ḥarīrī in the Shaddādī countryside"

Figure 8.16 "Aspect of the work of the Zakāh Centre in the province—Distribution of the zakāh to the poor and needy"

Figure 8.17 Aspect of the work of the Services Centre—taking care of the roads

Figure 8.18 Tour of the offices and the centres of the ministries in the city of Būkamāl – services

Figure 9.1 Harvesting potatoes in Zawba’

Figure 9.2 Hāl market in the city of Raqqah

Figures 9.3–9.18 Tour in one of the sweet shops

Figure 9.19 Night-time photographs of the markets of the city of Mawṣul

Figure 9.20 "One of the cubs of the caliphate gives a khuṭbah for the people and leads them in Friday prayers"

Figure 9.21 Friday prayers in the market mosque

Figure 9.22 Pictures from the town of Zāb east of the city of Shirqāṭ

Figure 9.23 Feast of ‘Ashā’

Figure 9.24 "Aspect of the joys of ‘īd in the Fayqah region—the Muslims congratulating each other"

Figure 9.25 Office of Services—public parks in the city of Raqqah

Figure 9.26 Recreation of the ordinary people in Ramaḍān on the banks of the Furāt River

Figures 9.27–9.34 Pictures of the region of the Sājūr River

Figure 9.35 The city of Raqqah

Figure 9.36 A dust-storm sweeps through the city of Mayādīn

Figure 10.1 Crimes of the army of the apostate Erdogan against the rights of Muslim children living in the city of Bāb

Figure 10.2 "The remains of a ṣalībī bombardment on a house of the houses of Allaah in the city of Binghāzī"

Figure 10.3 "The remains of a ṣalībī bombardment on a house of the houses of Allaah in the city of Binghāzī"

Figure 10.4 "The remains of the ṣalībī bombardment on a restaurant in which displaced families live in the Muṭaḥīn district"

Figure 10.5 "Rebuilding the buildings that were targeted in raids by ṣalībī planes"

Figure 10.6 "Services Office—cleaning the streets after ṣalībī bombing on the city of Raqqah"

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The images analysed and printed within this book are from the personal collection of the author. Seventeen thousand photographs from this same collection have been made accessible to researchers via a collaborative project with the Imperial War Museum in London.

All the images were originally published by the Islamic State via its official media distribution network between 2015 and 2017. They were archived by the author from August 2016 onwards. Several images from Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 10 are not printed in the book even though they are analysed at length. They were omitted on account of their graphic nature. Moreover, a number of faces have been blurred out at the discretion of the author and publisher.

All Arabic terms and names are transliterated using ALA-LC romanisation standards. When they appear in captions, all place names are fully transliterated; when they appear in-text, however, Westernised versions are used. The same is true of Allāh/God.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book, which started its life as a doctoral thesis, would not have been possible without the patient support, advice, and feedback that was provided by my first and second supervisors, Peter Neumann and Neville Bolt. Their input throughout the project was pivotal. I also owe particular thanks to Thomas Hegghammer and Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, my examiners, as well as the two anonymous review­ers appointed by Hurst, who provided invaluable feedback on earlier drafts of the text. I would also like to thank the countless scholars and analysts who have influenced my thinking over the years, among them Mina al-Lami, Abdullah bin Khalid al-Saud, Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, Audrey Alexander, Amarnath Amarasingam, Marc-André Argentino, Amelia Arsenault, Moustafa Ayad, Rajan Basra, J.M. Berger, Ali Bissoondath, Charis Boutieri, Cole Bunzel, Colin P. Clarke, Maura Conway, Joana Cook, Blyth Crawford, Paul Cruickshank, Cory Dauber, Chelsea Daymon, Karim El Damanhoury, Stacey Gutkowski, Mohammed M. Hafez, Tore Hamming, Usama Hasan, Haroro J. Ingram, Johanna Inness, Florence Keen, Elisabeth Kendall, Michael Kerr, Craig Larkin, Shiraz Maher, Dounia Mahlouly, Devorah ‘Div’ Margolin, Ashley Mattheis, Daniel Milton, Pieter Nanninga, Wassim Nasr, Thomas Pierret, Shawn Powers, Daniele Raineri, Alastair Reed, Mark D. Robinson, Hannah Rose, Inna Rudolf, Erin Saltman, Richard Todd, Inga Trauthig, Gina Vale, Pieter Van Ostaeyen, Guy Van Vlierden, Simon Waldman, Craig Whiteside, Carol Winkler, Aaron Y. Zelin, and Barbie Zelizer. Lastly, thank you to the team at Hurst for helping me to realise this project.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Graphs and charts

Figure 3.1: Number of photo-reports (weekly)

Figure 3.2: Number of photo-reports (monthly)

Figure 3.3: Photo-reports by state (monthly)

Figure 3.4: Global Themes

Figure 3.5: Organising Themes (War)

Figure 3.6: Organising Themes (Civilian Life)

Figure 3.7: Evolution of Global Themes

The Islamic State images