This jihadist is the cat’s meow – at least, that’s what ISIS wants you to believe.
The terror group’s online Dabiq magazine published the cute-but-cringeworthy image of a puss cradled in a militant’s hands in an attempt to soften its image and attract recruits, according to the Independent.
While on guard duty in Syria, Abul-Harith ath-Thaghri wrote a piece titled “Contemplate the Creation” in which he said the friendly feline approached him.
After considering “whether or not I was an aggressive or compassionate soul,” the kitten jumped in his lap and featured in the photo – along with images of honeybees as supposed proof of creation.
The mag also includes photos of laughing children and hugging jihadists amid its usual collection of bloody executions.
The use of “softer imagery” is a common propaganda ploy ISIS targets at Muslims, Shiraz Maher, deputy director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London, told The Independent.
“Although we’ve grown accustomed to the ultra-violence of Islamic State, videos and images of that nature are only well known because their shock value makes them viral,” he said.
“Islamic State has actually been messaging to Muslims, and particularly Arabs, for years with softer images; showing children in playgrounds, bustling market places, functioning hospitals and schools. Images like this account for the majority of their propaganda.
“What they want to suggest is that they’re an ordinary and typical state where the physics of everyday life ticks over like it would anywhere else in the world. They do this not only to project an image of success for their state building project, but also to show they have a humanitarian side.”