Denis Cuspert, aka Deso Dogg, became notorious for joining the Islamic State, but this film turns the lens elsewhere: to German and international civilians fighting terror militias in northern Syria. As Germany deploys Tornado jets and supplies weapons abroad, volunteers on the ground take up arms alongside Kurdish commandos to stop IS and build an alternative society based on gender equality, religious freedom, and the rejection of the death penalty. Journalist Sebastian Weiss embeds near the front line, meeting ex-soldiers, social workers, and unlikely fighters—from a teenage Canadian to a Polish mother—battling just kilometers from Raqqah.
Tag Archives: Islamic State
The Canadians Joining ISIS
Canadian authorities have reported that at least 130 citizens are involved in extremist activities abroad, with 30 in Syria alone. In Calgary, five youths who attended the 8th & 8th Musallah mosque are known to have joined the Islamic State, leading the Canadian media to emphatically label Calgary a hotbed of terrorism.
In response to two so-called “lone wolf” attacks last year, Canada’s Conservative government introduced controversial anti-terrorism legislation, which some fear will only further marginalize the country’s Muslim population. Suroosh Alvi traveled to Calgary to investigate allegations of radicalization among the city’s Muslim youth, speaking with the imam of the 8th & 8th Musallah, as well as the mother of Damian Clairmont, who died in Syria fighting for the Islamic State.