Shamima Begum was interviewed on Good Morning Britain this morning. Not a programme I watch, but this is how the newspapers are reporting her session.
Former Islamic State (IS) bride Shamima Begum has told the UK that she can help fight terrorism in Britain “because you clearly don’t know what you’re doing”. She told Good Morning Britain: “I want to say that you are clearly struggling with extremism and terrorism in your (not yours then. Yet you apparently want to come back) country. And I want to help with that with giving my own experience from with these extremists and what they say and how they persuade people to do what they do and to come to places like Syria.
Begum added that while she believes the only crime she committed was being “dumb enough” to come to Isis, she still deserves a fair trial. She said: “Honestly, the only crime I think I committed was being dumb enough to come to Isis, and even that can be refuted because I was 15 when I came, and you can’t, you know, judge a 15-year-old for making a mistake which he or she very quickly regretted making.
“I am willing to go to court and face the people who made these claims and refute these claims, because I know I did nothing in IS (so-called Islamic State) but be a mother and a wife. ..”
She said she would “rather die than go back to IS” and added: “The only crime I committed was being dumb enough to join IS.”
Begum said she came to Syria expecting simply to get married, have children and ‘live a pure, Islamic life’, adding: ‘The reason I came to Syria was not for violent reasons.’ She added: ‘At the time I did not know it (so-called Islamic State) was a death cult, I thought it was an Islamic community I was joining.
The east London schoolgirl who dumped her veil a year ago and now straightens her dyed hair, paints her nails and wears make-up, fled her home in 2015 to join the so-called Islamic State terror group in Syria with two friends both now believed to be dead. She denies her image change is a publicity stunt.
The 22-year-old east London schoolgirl, who fled her home in 2015 to join terror group Isis, was questioned on comments she made about the bombing on Good Morning Britain today (Wednesday). In 2019, she said the attack that killed 22 people was ‘justified’ because of airstrikes that killed civilians in Syria.
Begum said she regretted her actions and asked the British people for forgiveness.
She said: “I do not believe that one evil justifies another evil. I don’t think that women and children should be killed for other people’s motives and for other people’s agendas.”
Begum said she did not know that women and children were hurt in Manchester. “I did not know about the Manchester bombing when I was asked. I did not know that people were killed, I did not know that women and children were hurt because of it”, she said. If she knew that the arena was bombed then she knew that the casualties were little girls and their mothers, because the target audience was known within seconds. I won’t forget that night in a hurry.
Speaking from Syria and wearing a Nike baseball cap and grey vest, Begum said it was ‘not justifiable to kill innocent people in the name of religion’. (of course the Islamic definition of innocent isn’t necessarily the same as the Judeo-Christian/classic definition)
In an apology to the public, she said: “Of course I am completely sorry for anyone that has been affected by Isis.”
She said: “I’m in a different camp, obviously. I have friends now. I have a security shield now around me with my friends and I feel more confident in myself. . . I obviously don’t have my son anymore so I only have to think about my safety so if I do get attacked for taking my hijab off, it’s on me. While I’m in this camp, I’m trying to change myself. I’m trying to better myself, because I can.”
“I want them (the British public) to see me as an asset rather than a threat to them.”
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