When Yeshiva University informed its students of heightened security over the holiday break, a rumor circulated that this was in part the result of a threat the school received from ISIS. Security declined to say much on the matter, but a member of security stated, “Especially with what’s going on in the world we’re gonna be a little more vigilant than we normally are.” The claim of a direct threat to the institution is dubious and unfounded, but is also more telling than its rumormongers may realize.
When Yeshiva University informed its students of heightened security over the holiday break, a rumor circulated that this was in part the result of a threat the school received from ISIS. Security declined to say much on the matter, but a member of security stated, “Especially with what’s going on in the world we’re gonna be a little more vigilant than we normally are.” The claim of a direct threat to the institution is dubious and unfounded, but is also more telling than its rumormongers may realize.Although the danger presented by Islamic State, the name the group calls itself, on Yeshiva University’s undergraduate population is an analysis better performed by experts, how it journeyed into the mouths of YU students is not hard to ascertain. The terrorist organization has made a rapid shift from a regionally specific threat to one of global concern that dominates headlines and newscasts, so much so that name-dropping ISIS in conversation has become a norm.
Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is an Al-Qaeda offshoot comprised of Sunni extremists who follow Sharia law. Their violent tactics, disregard for international boundaries, and rapid growth enabled their current control of significant territory in the Middle East and declaration of a caliphate, an established Islamic state. Foreign recruitments, a frightening phenomenon to the Western world, and funding, as well as theft and extortion furthered their expansion.
The militant group began their territorial advancements this past June, making front pages around the globe with their foray on major Iraqi cities like Mosul and Baghdad. Their attempts to remap the Middle East are accompanied by the targeting of all non-believers and minority groups like the Kurds and Christians and public executions. The group’s frequent use of media includes horrifying beheadings of citizens and captives released in brutal videos, including the recent murder of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, who was Jewish and held Israeli citizenship.
The group has also expressed anti-Semitic statements and propaganda. The Anti-Defamation League reports that the primary ISIS spokesperson blamed Jews for the opposition the group is now facing from the United States and other countries. Pro-ISIS demonstrators have called “Death to Jews” and supporters on Twitter have threatened another holocaust.
The American response to ISIS recently escalated as President Obama resolutely declared war against the group this month. In a televised address from the State Floor of the White House, he said, “Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL.” Calling for a global alliance to fight the group, he laid out a strategy while promising to avoid ground troops and combat. He announced the launch of airstrikes in Syria, our country’s first incursion into the brutal civil war sedulously avoided until now. Thus far, the growing US-led coalition has more than forty nations including Arab allies like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
As the frightening ascent of ISIS now poses a threat to global – and possibly national – security, US media and consequently its citizens, college students included, have rapidly become familiarized to the terrorist group’s name. In Yeshiva University, where the summer’s Palestinian-Israeli conflict hit home for many students and placed the name of a different extremist group, Hamas, into many a conversation, ISIS too has now arrived. It is hard to find someone who has not heard of the rebel group and their intentions.
At this very moment, protests and unrest in Hong Kong, civil war in Sudan, insurgents in Yemen and terrorist attacks in Pakistan are only some instances of the other global issues that threaten to garner the international concern ISIS merits. When placed in a broader context, Islamic State is but one of a dauntingly and depressingly long list of major world conflicts. The outbreak in West Africa of a deadly disease called Ebola made its way to the forefront of American news cycles this month. Other issues in parts of the hemisphere remain tense; an apprehensive cease-fire in Ukraine, undetermined results of this summer’s war in Gaza, and the persisting question of Iran’s nuclear status.
In President Obama’s speech to the nation on September 11, he cited Islamic State as the “greatest threat” of the moment, saying, “We cannot erase every evil in the world…that’s why we must remain vigilant as threats emerge.” While the vigilance of YU security and the American military are hard to compare, and it is difficult to assess just how serious the threat of ISIS may be. But the threat of Islamic State may not be a rumor after all. While the terrorist group’s priorities for attack locations seem overwhelmingly unlikely to be Yeshiva University, its existence is one of utmost relevance and concern for any student here.