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Why Are You Fighting?
Why do “prospective” Islamists decide to participate in the fighting in
the first place?[2] Islamists were asked why they joined their group,
and many responses were quite consistent with views expressed by rebel
fighters from the reportedly more moderate FSA.[3] As can be seen in
Table 1 (see PDF version), the most common rationales for joining are to
defend their community, to defeat the al-Assad regime, and to take
revenge against al-Assad forces.
Of course, many Islamists also claim that they are fighting for Islam
and to build an Islamic state, but this is not among the top three
responses. Instead, the authors find that underlying social-community
ties and sectarian-political grievances may be an important predictor of
who joins and who does not. People who volunteer to fight have strong
attachments to their communities and nurse grievances against the
al-Assad regime. Religious ideation is secondary or even a tertiary
motivation for joining. Many Islamists and moderate FSA fighters are
risking their lives for similar reasons: to take revenge against
al-Assad forces (79% FSA vs. 79% Islamists), to defeat the al-Assad
regime (69% FSA vs. 90% Islamists), and to defend their communities (71%
FSA vs. 84% Islamists).
While Islamists claim unanimously to support the goals of their group,
they may also intentionally over-represent their own religiosity and
attachment to the group. In a clarifying question “what is the most
important reason for joining,” only a quarter (25%) claimed that “fight
for Islam, and to build an Islamic State” was their main reason for
fighting.
Another interesting result from the discussions with Syrian Islamist
fighters is how they view the motivations of other individuals who
joined their group. For example, when asked, “Why do you think others
joined your group?” (see Table 2 in PDF version), the religious reason
“to fight for Islam” is not even among the top three most popular
responses. The main reasons listed by Islamist fighters are remarkably
similar to those of FSA fighters (first, to defend their community;
second, because al-Assad must be defeated; and third, to take revenge
against al-Assad forces).
full:
https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-motivations-of-syrian-islamist-fighters
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