Journalist J. Neurink talks about ISIS and living in Iraq
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
ANA-MPA — A few days ahead of her TED talk in Athens on Saturday, Dutch journalist and author Judit Neurink talked to the ANA-MPA about her experiences living in Iraqi Kurdistan for the past eight years, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of Islamic State.
From her vantage point covering events in the Middle East, and for the needs of her book “The Women of the Caliphate”, Neurink said she had heard shocking stories from women in ISIS, as well as speaking about the refugee crisis and the role of journalism in democracy.
She said that Islamic State appears to be losing ground in Syria and Iraq, in terms of both territory and support in the lands it had occupied, where the economy was extremely bad and people were becoming impoverished “because Islamic State is busy filling its own pockets and the pockets of its leaders.”
She warned, however, that defeating ISIS in Syria and Iraq would not make the problem go away since they were already moving on and becoming strong in Libya.
“The rumour here in Iraq is that the leaders of ISIS have already left. This means that even if you managed to drive ISIS out of Syria and Iraq, that is not the end of them.”
Another problem, she said, was the collapse of the education system, with schools converted to “training camps” teaching only the Koran and Sharia laws.
“This means that even if ISIS leaves, the problem with the children will not be solved. It will be like what happened in Germany after WWII with the so-called Hitler Youth,” she added.
Talking about her book, Neurink said that had heard “horrible” and “shocking” stories about the abuse suffered by women and young girls. “There are many ugly things that ISIS has done but they way they treat women are one of the worst,” she said.
On the refugee crisis, Neurink noted that the problem was both the war and some mistaken ideas about life in Europe.
“Very many believe that Europe is a paradise…. The situation for those arriving in Europe is that they cannot work and cannot bring the rest of their family…people have the wrong impression about these things,” she said.
Neurink is due to speak for TEDAthens at the Pallas Theatre in the city.