February 2017 began in Mosul with fear and trepidation. The Iraqi army had already taken back the eastern half of the city from ISIL. By mid-February, the army was preparing to cross the Tigris and retake the rest.
With Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, then being prized free from the grip of ISIL, the Sawab Centre in Abu Dhabi started a social media campaign. The centre is a joint UAE-US venture that aims to counter ISIL's ideology online; it has hundreds of thousands of followers across several social media platforms.
The campaign was called #AfterDaesh, using the Arabic acronym for the militant group and featured every day images of life without ISIL.
Here were heartwarming photos of two young Iraqi newlyweds “among the thousands of young people moving forward with their lives #AfterDaesh”; here was a young Iraqi boy, declaring, “For a long time, no-one took us to school” and looking forward to a return to education. Other posts, on Twitter and Instagram, featured photos and videos of young men and women, dancing and enjoying freedom.
What is absent are the images of loss and pain so commonly associated with reports of ISIL. There are no graphic images of ISIL atrocities. The focus of #AfterDaesh is on how Iraqis have overcome the militant group, on the triumph of the human spirit.
Tackling the ideas and ideologies of extremist groups is a continuing theme of public policy, in both the west and the Islamic world.
In the Middle East, the focus is ISIL, but there are other dangers, too. In the US, there is deep concern about the possibility of Russian influence using social media; in Europe, far-right extremism uses many of the same methods of dissemination as Islamist extremists. The outcome is not in doubt; the only question is how to manage it.
One method is to remove the material. The American tech giants YouTube, Twitter and Facebook (which also owns Instagram) faced the US Senate last month to explain what steps they were taking to filter and remove extremist content. Recognising the possibility of public outrage or legislation, the tech companies have moved to put resources into, in particular, "machine learning", which allows computers to identify extremist material and remove it.
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The focus on Facebook, YouTube and other major platforms is not misplaced, but incomplete. Governments and large platforms have the resources to analyse, target and remove the worst of extremist content. Battlefield footage, killings and the most gruesome videos can be removed by these large providers.
But the internet is vast and broadly unregulated. These companies are facing down a threat from a group of ideologues determined to distribute this content, and would-be recruits eager to access it. There are simply too many websites and apps out there for all to be regulated. Removing the worst means that many people will not simply stumble across this material, which is important. But they may be led to the material by other means.
Just last week, a high ranking UK government adviser on terrorism warned of “remote radicalisation”, where terrorists are radicalised and given plans via websites and mobile applications, without ever meeting recruiters.
Governments, not merely the UK, have long operated on the assumption of “nodes” of known radicals influencing others, usually in gathering places such as mosques or other spaces. By watching these nodes, they often were able to discover those at the periphery, who may be radicalised into committing violent acts. But the rise of the online space as a discussion and recruiting ground has made it much harder to spot radicals.
That is particularly concerning because the radicalisation can occur relatively quickly. And because the online space is governed by the same norms of celebrity and status as the offline world.
It is known, for example, that some online jihadis become stars in extremist circles, especially on more immediate and interactive mediums like Twitter, where the curious can ask and have questions answered in real time. Many ISIL recruits have tweeted and posted videos live from the battlefield. It must not be underestimated how glamorous these scenes can appear to young men and women in grey bedrooms on safe streets. The celebrity – notoriety is the better word – of these militants have drawn young men and women to Syria and Iraq, and will continue to draw them wherever groups like ISIL re-emerge.
That is why merely removing the material is an incomplete approach. The Sawab approach is unusual in the world of counter-extremism, but it is worth considering. What it seeks to do is provide a form of inoculation at an earlier stage to those who may fall prey to these ideologies.
Because the extremist material doesn't occur in isolation; there is a broader worldview that is propagated from the same sources, one that pushes separation and difference, one that focuses on the harm caused by outsiders rather than what unites us, as countries, cultures and people. Most importantly, it does so online, contesting the very spaces where this extremism thrives.
There is still a great deal to do. But by trying to change the narrative of grievance and difference that allows extremist ideas to flourish, the Sawab approach seeks to stop or interrupt these ideas before they can grow. Extremism thrives on difference; by focusing on what connects us, the #AfterDaesh campaign is trying to stop Daesh's ideas before they can even take root.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
The specs
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Stats at a glance:
Cost: 1.05 billion pounds (Dh 4.8 billion)
Number in service: 6
Complement 191 (space for up to 285)
Top speed: over 32 knots
Range: Over 7,000 nautical miles
Length 152.4 m
Displacement: 8,700 tonnes
Beam: 21.2 m
Draught: 7.4 m
Scorecard
Scotland 220
K Coetzer 95, J Siddique 3-49, R Mustafa 3-35
UAE 224-3 in 43,5 overs
C Suri 67, B Hameed 63 not out
Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
