Daniel Pipes: Jihadist Recruitment of Western Women Will Grow

Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes called the recruitment of Western women by jihadists like ISIS a “significant problem” that he believes will continue to grow.  

On Thursday’s “CNN Newsroom,” Pipes said that appeals to women to raise their children as jihadists “tend to attract women who are insecure and unsure of sure of themselves. And here is a structured environment, where they can fit in, they’re told what to do and they’re doing something that’s beneficial. Secondly, it is an appeal to join a community that is very intense and powerful, not floundering in one’s own community.  Thirdly, there’s the notion of motherhood and being part of the community of women who are working together and having a fine husband who is off fighting the jihad.”

“We are seeing a number of women from Britain, from Austria, from the United States taking their chances and going off there, and it’s likely to be something that grows over time as this network on social media grows, as the advice grows, as the women there who can appeal to others back in the West. It is not as great a problem as the men, but it is a significant problem” he added.

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