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| A French Town Reels After Teenage Girl Vanishes, Apparently to Join Jihadists | A French Town Reels After Teenage Girl Vanishes, Apparently to Join Jihadists |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| BETHONCOURT, France — French intelligence officials got in touch with the parents of a shy, 15-year-old Muslim girl in this depressed town in eastern France last May to convey some shocking news: Their daughter had become a frequent visitor to websites preaching jihad. | |
| The parents asked the French authorities to take steps to block their child from leaving the country and took possession of her passport, according to local officials. In the months that followed, the girl showed no sign that she intended to head for Syria or Iraq. She took off her veil to go to school, as French law requires, and she spent her days close to her mother. | The parents asked the French authorities to take steps to block their child from leaving the country and took possession of her passport, according to local officials. In the months that followed, the girl showed no sign that she intended to head for Syria or Iraq. She took off her veil to go to school, as French law requires, and she spent her days close to her mother. |
| Then last month, she disappeared. The surveillance cameras in the Mulhouse airport, 50 miles from her home, showed her moving confidently and alone as she used her older sister’s passport to fly to Istanbul and then on to Gaziantep, a Turkish city known as the gateway to Syria for jihadists. | Then last month, she disappeared. The surveillance cameras in the Mulhouse airport, 50 miles from her home, showed her moving confidently and alone as she used her older sister’s passport to fly to Istanbul and then on to Gaziantep, a Turkish city known as the gateway to Syria for jihadists. |
| Government officials say they believe that the girl, whose first name is Soukaïna but whose last name cannot be published under French law, became one of the small but growing number of adolescent girls who, seduced by Internet recruiters, have shown amazing determination in their efforts to join Islamic jihadists. | Government officials say they believe that the girl, whose first name is Soukaïna but whose last name cannot be published under French law, became one of the small but growing number of adolescent girls who, seduced by Internet recruiters, have shown amazing determination in their efforts to join Islamic jihadists. |
| While there is enormous concern for the fate of these young women in Syria and Iraq, there is also a growing fear that the girls, far less likely to draw attention from security officials than their male counterparts, could pose a significant risk in their home countries, primarily in Europe. | While there is enormous concern for the fate of these young women in Syria and Iraq, there is also a growing fear that the girls, far less likely to draw attention from security officials than their male counterparts, could pose a significant risk in their home countries, primarily in Europe. |
| Another 15-year-old girl, who was intercepted by French intelligence officers as she tried to go to Syria months ago, has since told the authorities that once her recruiters realized she was unlikely to be able to leave the country anytime soon, they began pressing her to strike at home against Jews. She told them she had begun looking for weapons and targets. | Another 15-year-old girl, who was intercepted by French intelligence officers as she tried to go to Syria months ago, has since told the authorities that once her recruiters realized she was unlikely to be able to leave the country anytime soon, they began pressing her to strike at home against Jews. She told them she had begun looking for weapons and targets. |
| So far, teenage girls hoping to join the jihadists’ cause have been identified in a half dozen countries in Europe, and include three youths traveling from America and arrested in Germany. | So far, teenage girls hoping to join the jihadists’ cause have been identified in a half dozen countries in Europe, and include three youths traveling from America and arrested in Germany. |
| But experts say that the problem appears most severe in France, which has a large Muslim population from the Middle East and North Africa and where more than a hundred families have been talking to experts to help them cope with their daughters’ growing radicalization. | But experts say that the problem appears most severe in France, which has a large Muslim population from the Middle East and North Africa and where more than a hundred families have been talking to experts to help them cope with their daughters’ growing radicalization. |
| Jihadists have been masterful at recruiting adolescents on the Internet, experts say, reaching them first through exchanges over hair, makeup or even something as banal as the best chocolate bar, before drawing them into political discussions. They then show the girls heartbreaking videos of violence against Muslims — before eventually targeting them with offers of marriage or the chance to do humanitarian work in support of an ideal, religious society. | Jihadists have been masterful at recruiting adolescents on the Internet, experts say, reaching them first through exchanges over hair, makeup or even something as banal as the best chocolate bar, before drawing them into political discussions. They then show the girls heartbreaking videos of violence against Muslims — before eventually targeting them with offers of marriage or the chance to do humanitarian work in support of an ideal, religious society. |
| In Bethoncourt, where unemployment is more than 24 percent, Soukaïna lived in a relatively isolated area of low-income housing projects. Her neighborhood has only a small strip mall with two cafes frequented only by men. Many of the older Arab women do not speak much French and rarely leave their homes. | In Bethoncourt, where unemployment is more than 24 percent, Soukaïna lived in a relatively isolated area of low-income housing projects. Her neighborhood has only a small strip mall with two cafes frequented only by men. Many of the older Arab women do not speak much French and rarely leave their homes. |
| Friends say Soukaïna’s parents understand little about the Internet, and even after her parents started watching her more closely, she clearly continued to plan her departure carefully. She went online at an Internet cafe shortly before taking a taxi to the airport. On the day of her departure, she told her parents she would eat lunch at school and spend the night with a friend afterward. | Friends say Soukaïna’s parents understand little about the Internet, and even after her parents started watching her more closely, she clearly continued to plan her departure carefully. She went online at an Internet cafe shortly before taking a taxi to the airport. On the day of her departure, she told her parents she would eat lunch at school and spend the night with a friend afterward. |
| “She succeeded in putting everyone around her to sleep, even those who were closest to her,” said Thérèse Brunisso, the local prosecutor. | “She succeeded in putting everyone around her to sleep, even those who were closest to her,” said Thérèse Brunisso, the local prosecutor. |
| Her departure has left many in this struggling town stunned, questioning how they could have been so blind to what was happening to a timid, quiet young woman who liked to braid her friends’ hair and draw ornate henna tattoos on their hands. | Her departure has left many in this struggling town stunned, questioning how they could have been so blind to what was happening to a timid, quiet young woman who liked to braid her friends’ hair and draw ornate henna tattoos on their hands. |
| “You see these things on television and you say, ‘Well, that could never happen here,’ " said Samia Messaoudi, a longtime family friend. “The parents who lived with her every day did not feel this coming. I know this girl very well, I go to that house all the time. I never would have believed it possible.” | |
| As with the young men who are leaving Europe to join the jihadists, the young women seem driven in part by the difficulties of assimilating to a culture that many consider hostile to their religion and an economy that offers them little hope of a better life. | As with the young men who are leaving Europe to join the jihadists, the young women seem driven in part by the difficulties of assimilating to a culture that many consider hostile to their religion and an economy that offers them little hope of a better life. |
| Once this small town thrived. But many of the Muslim families that came here decades ago to work in a nearby Peugeot factory lost those jobs to mechanization and never found other work. | Once this small town thrived. But many of the Muslim families that came here decades ago to work in a nearby Peugeot factory lost those jobs to mechanization and never found other work. |
| The town, which has shrunk from a population of 11,000 to 6,000, is sharply divided — with a middle class, largely white population on one side of the railroad tracks and a largely poor Muslim one on the other. | The town, which has shrunk from a population of 11,000 to 6,000, is sharply divided — with a middle class, largely white population on one side of the railroad tracks and a largely poor Muslim one on the other. |
| “Everything was nice here until the 1990s,” said Jean André, the mayor, who blames the fact that there is little to do in the housing projects for the restlessness of the town’s youth. “When they built them, they forgot that human beings would be living there. There is no cinema there, no entertainment. There is nothing for them there.” | “Everything was nice here until the 1990s,” said Jean André, the mayor, who blames the fact that there is little to do in the housing projects for the restlessness of the town’s youth. “When they built them, they forgot that human beings would be living there. There is no cinema there, no entertainment. There is nothing for them there.” |
| After the news of Soukaïna’s disappearance, Mr. André sought out her mother and went to visit her. “It is hard to see such distress,” he said. “The phone rings and she runs thinking it is her daughter. But it is not.” | After the news of Soukaïna’s disappearance, Mr. André sought out her mother and went to visit her. “It is hard to see such distress,” he said. “The phone rings and she runs thinking it is her daughter. But it is not.” |
| A Facebook page belonging to Hadda oum Soukaïna, a partly made-up Arabic name, and through which her friends were contacted, had few personal details. Her profile picture featured the Palestinian flag. | A Facebook page belonging to Hadda oum Soukaïna, a partly made-up Arabic name, and through which her friends were contacted, had few personal details. Her profile picture featured the Palestinian flag. |
| The 15-year-old who told the authorities she was pressed to attack Jews in France said she had already picked a location and figured out how to arm herself before the police arrested her, according to Dounia Bouzar, an anthropologist who founded an anti-radicalization center in Paris. | The 15-year-old who told the authorities she was pressed to attack Jews in France said she had already picked a location and figured out how to arm herself before the police arrested her, according to Dounia Bouzar, an anthropologist who founded an anti-radicalization center in Paris. |
| Ms. Bouzar said the girl had been encouraged to isolate herself from her friends and family. She was also bombarded with Internet messages and phone calls from people about the atrocities in Syria, and shown videos of babies gassed by the government forces. | Ms. Bouzar said the girl had been encouraged to isolate herself from her friends and family. She was also bombarded with Internet messages and phone calls from people about the atrocities in Syria, and shown videos of babies gassed by the government forces. |
| In the magazine L’Obs, the girl was quoted saying: “Little by little I stopped talking to people. I stayed in my room with the shutters closed. And I signed on to the Internet.” | In the magazine L’Obs, the girl was quoted saying: “Little by little I stopped talking to people. I stayed in my room with the shutters closed. And I signed on to the Internet.” |
| Sasha Havlicek, the chief executive of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a British research organization, said much of the recruiting glorified the role of women as supporters. | |
| One friend of Soukaïna’s reached through Facebook said she suspected that the recruiters had been able to tap into the resentment that some Muslims feel in France, which has, for instance, put restrictions on women wearing veils. | |
| “The fact that we can’t live our religion the way we would like in France might have been a factor,” said the friend. “The people who manipulated her probably kept pressing that point, offering her a better life. | “The fact that we can’t live our religion the way we would like in France might have been a factor,” said the friend. “The people who manipulated her probably kept pressing that point, offering her a better life. |
| One adolescent from France, Nora, quickly contacted her family from Syria saying she wanted to come home. Her brother, Fouad, traveled to Syria to get her but was not allowed to bring her home. He said his sister, deeply upset, had ended up babysitting for the children of jihadists. | One adolescent from France, Nora, quickly contacted her family from Syria saying she wanted to come home. Her brother, Fouad, traveled to Syria to get her but was not allowed to bring her home. He said his sister, deeply upset, had ended up babysitting for the children of jihadists. |
| He said that she appeared to be living well. All of her expenses were paid for and she received an allowance of $70 a month. “It all seemed incredibly well organized. If ISIS saw a nice villa, they would just throw the family out and live there themselves. These people played video games all day.” | He said that she appeared to be living well. All of her expenses were paid for and she received an allowance of $70 a month. “It all seemed incredibly well organized. If ISIS saw a nice villa, they would just throw the family out and live there themselves. These people played video games all day.” |
| Few in Bethoncourt want to talk about Soukaïna. Outside the mosque, only one man would address the subject, saying that her departure “had tarnished the image of Islam.” | Few in Bethoncourt want to talk about Soukaïna. Outside the mosque, only one man would address the subject, saying that her departure “had tarnished the image of Islam.” |
| Ms. Messaoudi said Soukaïna’s parents were still holding out hope that she simply ran off with friends. Teenagers, Ms. Messaoudi said, were so difficult to understand. | Ms. Messaoudi said Soukaïna’s parents were still holding out hope that she simply ran off with friends. Teenagers, Ms. Messaoudi said, were so difficult to understand. |
| “What they say to you,” she said, “is different than what they say to their friends. You never know every facet of a teenager.” | “What they say to you,” she said, “is different than what they say to their friends. You never know every facet of a teenager.” |