01/10/2013 / SYRIA - TUNISIA
Are the reports of a Syrian 'sex jihad' a hoax?

   - video <http://observers.france24.com/category/type_article/video>
   - Tunisia <http://observers.france24.com/category/tags/tunisia>

Screen capture of a report claiming to show "Tunisian jihadists", broadcast
on TV stations close to the Syrian regime. In reality, this footage shows
women who were fighting in Chechnya in 2010.
Over the past few weeks, various media outlets have been awash with
sensational stories of an alleged “sex jihad” taking place in parts of
Syria controlled by the rebels. Hundreds of Muslim women, notably from
Tunisia, are reportedly going to Syria to offer themselves to jihadist
fighters as a sign of their devotion to thecause. While this certainly
makes for an interesting story, it may all be a hoax.
The first mention of “sex jihad” dates back to December 2012, in a screen
shot of a tweet by Saudi Sheikh Mohamed al-Arefe, which was widely
circulated online. This Salafist theologian is widely respected among
jihadists, and is known for his strict sermons.
The screen capture of a "Tweet" that "authorised" the practice of so-called
sex jihad.
The tweet says: “Muslim women, from the age of 14, are authorised to marry
a jihadist for a few hours, then marry other jihadists, in order to
strengthen the fighters’ morale and open the door to paradise.”
Such a message coming from someone such as al-Arefe would have the weight
of a religious fatwa, if it were authentic. However, something is not
right: the tweet is 200 characters long, well over Twitter’s 140-character
limit.
Despite this anomaly, the “sex jihad” story gained traction and was taken
up by several Arabic
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_hsGakidh4&feature=youtu.be>and Iranian
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0AJ3RI77WA>television stations in 2012.
Sheikh al-Arefe was quick to deny being the author of the message, and
explained that “no such fatwa
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U1HfYGBPP0>has ever been posted on my
official Facebook or Twitter
<https://twitter.com/MohamadAlarefe>accounts.”
Excerpt of a sermon by Sheikh Mohamed al-Arefe in which he denies ordering
a "sex jihad" fatwa.
This didn’t stop the “sex jihad” story from continuing to spread across
media and social networks. The fatwa was no longer attributed to the
sheikh, but to an “unknown source”.
Since January 2013, television channels close to the Syrian regime have
seized on this story. They have even used images of Chechen fighters, filmed
in Chechnya <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypxzonHbkvM> in December 2010,
and presented them as Tunisian
women<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1gjzit9F-s>who had travelled to
Syria to show their gratitude to the jihadists
fighting there.
Some journalists tried to denounce this hoax. Reporter Malika Jebari said
she resigned from the Lebanese television station al-Mayadeen because they
were pushed to “completely make
up<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juQ10Ckcjtg>this ‘sex jihad’ story”.
After a lull of several months, the “sex jihad” resurfaced again in
September. Videos of “witnesses’
accounts”<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnoRTcyFSxo>and the
“rosters” <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSaxYASs52o> of women supposedly
taking part in it have been broadcast by different Syrian and Lebanese
media.
But it was a speech by Tunisian interior minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou at the
country’s National Constituent Assembly on September 20 that propelled the
“sex jihad” issue to the forefront. The minister, who is in conflict with
the ruling Islamist Ennahda party, did not provide any evidence to support
his claims.
There has been no credible eyewitness account of this practice. The
latest report
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp1PuffiIrQ>on the issue was broadcast on
September 22 by the Syrian channel Al-Ikhbariya, in which a 16-year-old
Syrian girl says she was a victim of incest by her father before she was
sent to the jihadists. The teenage girl describes in detail what she
allegedly went through. However, this channel supports the Syrian regime,
and has been working daily to discredit the rebels.
Contributors

Anwar Malek <http://observers.france24.com/profile/265084>
 “Right now, there’s no proof … Personally, I think it’s just a plot by the
Syrian regime”
Anwar Malek, who is from Algeria, served as an Arab League observer in
Syria.
I can assure you, I have been in contact with several Tunisian officials,
and they have all told me that this story has no basis in reality. As we
speak, there is no proof to support it.
Personally I think it’s a plot by the Syrian regime. There are certainly
Tunisian women on Syrian territory, but these women have lived there for
years. Some of them are prostitutes, but that has nothing to do with any
sort of ‘sex jihad’.

Anwar Malek <http://observers.france24.com/profile/265084>
 Post written with France 24 journalist Wassim Nasr
(@SimNasr<https://twitter.com/SimNasr>
).
 »

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