How a Blonde Tattooed Texas Girl Became an ISIS Twitter Star

[Blue_Tires]

Last Monday, I had 60 followers on Twitter. Today, I have more than 4,300. Not to brag or anything, but that’s more than Benjamin Wittes; more than Bobby Chesney; more than Jack Goldsmith; more than my boss, Daniel Byman. But here’s the problem: A healthy number of them are Islamic extremists, including no small number of supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). A lot of them live in Saudi Arabia.

And some of them want to marry me.

The reason is a single tweet.

Early last week, the hashtag “#MuslimApologies” began trending on Twitter. The hashtag was a tongue-in-cheek response to those—such as right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham—who, in the wake of the beheadings of Westerners by ISIS, have questioned why Muslims have not been more vocal about denouncing terrorism carried out in the name of Islam (except that many have). Tired of constantly being asked to apologize for the acts of a few vile individuals who twist Islam to justify their barbarism, Muslims on Twitter decided to take a humorous stand—by apologizing for everything: the Twilight saga, World Wars I and II, that Pluto is no longer a planet, and, my personal favorite, that Mufasa had to die in The Lion King. Some also used the hashtag to sarcastically apologize for the important contributions Islamic culture has made to the world, from algebra to coffee to the camera obscura.

Of course, I wanted to get in on the fun. After tweeting my sarcastic apology for the terrible ending of the television show LOST, I decided to tweet something a little more serious: a 140-character summary of my conversion story:


Jennifer Williams @jenn_ruth
Follow
Sorry I read the Quran to learn abt terrorist beliefs but ended up converting to Islam b/c of what it said. #MuslimApologies #sorrynotsorry


12:00 AM - 24 Sep 2014

11,540 Retweets 7,153 favorites

http://www.lawfareblog.com/2014/10/how-a-blonde-tattooed-texas-girl-became-an-isis-twitter-star/

[flamingdem]

1. There you have it.

We know what turns Isis on.



Let's send a few thousand over there to distract them.

[chrisa]

13. Unfortunately, their extreme cognitive dissonance and denial of human nature causes them to

treat women especially brutal. In their minds, women to blame for the (normal) feelings they have when seeing them. That's why they demand dumb stuff like that women should cover up.

The only thing worse than trying to reason with someone who's crazy is reasoning with a fanatic.

[BronxBoy]

2. Reminds me of Middle Men.....

life imitating art and all.

[JaneyVee]

3. That was a fascinating eye opening article. Thanks.

[Blue_Tires]

5. Evidently the blonde fetishists stalking her are even easier to lead around...

[Blue_Tires]

6. Friday kick

[ProfessorGAC]

7. This Made The Gangsters Like Her?

I'm missing something. She has followers in Isis because of this tweet? These thugs actually now like her because she clearly disagrees with them?

That's not making sense to me. Not that Isis makes much sense either.

[Blue_Tires]

9. Even though she disagrees with them

1. She is a convert from Christianity, which they love and,

2. She is a Westernized, Arabic-speaking young blonde which for whatever reason drives muslim fundamentalists insane with lust...There was another story a couple months back about a "matchmaker" who had to find and screen prospective wives for terrorist leaders in the ME, and obviously the American/European blondes drew the highest prices by far...

3. Then again, it *IS* Twitter, and a pretty girl with an attractive photo is guaranteed to get 2000 instant followers, no matter who she is...

[ProfessorGAC]

10. OK I Buy It

But, you have to admit that your first two answers, while likely accurate, still don't make much sense.

[Blue_Tires]

11. True...I can't wrap my head around the disconnect

Especially the obsession with Western women (while systematically oppressing the women of their native nations)...There's some weird gender/societal/sex politic in play that I can't figure out...Or maybe they stereotype blondes as sex machines or something...

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Must Be

It is strange, indeed.

[ismnotwasm]

8. Interesting

If you me on the street, you would never suspect I’m a Muslim: I don’t wear hijab. I have platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. And I am heavily tattooed. I grew up in Texas and was raised Southern Baptist. I use the word “y’all” a lot—and not ironically. But I am Muslim. I also speak Arabic and hold a Master’s degree in International Security with a focus on terrorism and the Middle East. Several years ago, I realized that although I had long studied, analyzed, and written about Islamic political theory and how jihadist ideologues like Osama bin Laden use the Qur’an to justify their heinous acts of violence, I had never actually read the Qur’an. So I read it—and what I found in its pages changed my life. I found answers to questions about faith and belief and morality that had been plaguing me since my youth. I found the connection to God I thought I had lost. And three years ago, I converted to Islam.