Jihadi John

April 1, 2016

Journalist and author Verkaik provides a detailed analysis of Mohammed Emwazi, who was given the sobriquet "Jihadi John" by many in the Western press. Beginning in early 2014, the terrorist group Daesh, or the Islamic State (IS), as it is now called in the West, began to execute the foreigners it had abducted. The gruesome beheadings of the hostages were posted on YouTube and other social media and highlighted the presence of Western-born terrorists who had left their countries to join IS. The video of a jihadist with a British accent raised curiosity about the identity of the executioner who was later revealed to be a 26-year-old British man of Kuwaiti origin from West London. Emwazi's parents belonged to the Bedoon (without), the tribal people who became "stateless" after Kuwait's independence. Emwazi's father was able to obtain a job in Kuwait, but he, like many other Bedoon people, remained on the fringes of Kuwaiti society. The family was eventually granted asylum in Britain in 1996. VERDICT This book is more than just the story of Mohammed Emwazi. Verkaik delves into the broader issues of marginality and the fluid identity of young people such as Emwazi to provide an enthralling account of the rootlessness of many second-generation European immigrants.--Nader Entessar, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.