Exclusive - ISIS Slogans in Baghouz Say Group ‘Here to Stay’

SDF members ride in a truck in the town of Baghouz, Syria. (Reuters)
SDF members ride in a truck in the town of Baghouz, Syria. (Reuters)
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Exclusive - ISIS Slogans in Baghouz Say Group ‘Here to Stay’

SDF members ride in a truck in the town of Baghouz, Syria. (Reuters)
SDF members ride in a truck in the town of Baghouz, Syria. (Reuters)

ISIS may be on the verge of defeat in its last enclave in eastern Syria, but the walls of the town of al-Baghouz are covered in slogans that attest to the group’s past and lingering presence. ISIS is “here to stay and is expanding,” reads one slogan. Another defies the international coalition’s campaign against it.

Asharq Al-Awsat toured the destruction in Baghouz and noted the slogans that have been written on the walls of houses and storefronts. Store names give away the nationality of their owners. In the town center lies the “Fallujah Store,” meaning the owner was likely Iraqi. Next to it lies the “Al-Zeituna” currency exchange shop, indicating that the owner came from the Arab Maghreb region. The owner of the “Maakoulat al-Sham” restaurant was likely from Damascus.

At the “Al-Kawthar” internet cafe, male and female customers are segregated into their own separate areas. A destroyed truck that used to belong to an Afghan tailor advertised traditional Afghan clothes that became popular after ISIS’ takeover of the region. The entrance of a nearby clinic showed the sign “Dr. Abou Mohammed al-Sudani,” meaning the owner hailed from Sudan.

Destruction has spared very little in Baghouz. Stores and houses in the center of the town have been turned to rubble where fierce clashes took place between ISIS and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Baghouz has come under the control of various forces since the 2011 uprising. The area was captured from the regime by Free Syrian Army factions in 2013. It then fell to the al-Nusra Front-Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. In mid-2014, it was captured by ISIS, which is now facing an SDF campaign that has so far seized 99 percent of territory held by the group. ISIS now only holds a few hundred meters of agricultural land that extends to the border with Iraq.

Despite the group’s imminent defeat, the slogans in Baghouz serve as a reminder to the people of ISIS’ former years in control. Slogans addressed to teenagers offer them false promises, while others directed at women warn them of the need to respect the correct dress code. Slogans that encourage people to fight in ISIS ranks are also prominent.

On Tuesday, the SDF said it was close to defeating ISIS in its final scrap of territory in Baghouz after seizing an encampment from the terrorists, though the battle was not over yet.

“This is not a victory announcement, but a significant progress in the fight against ISIS,” said Mustafa Bali, a media official with the SDF on Twitter.

Bali said late on Tuesday clashes were ongoing and that fighters remain “in several pockets and their presence is not limited to a defined geography”.

The SDF captured hundreds of wounded militants when it overran the camp on Tuesday, Bali said. It also captured 157 mostly foreign fighters.

ISIS fighters and followers have been steadily forced back to Baghouz after years of retreats in the face of military campaigns by an array of foreign and local forces.

The group’s defeat at Baghouz will mark a milestone in the struggle against the terrorists, although adherents are still widely seen as a big security threat with a presence in remote territory and capable of mounting guerrilla attacks.



Israel's Bedouin Communities Use Solar Energy to Stake Claim to Land

This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert Photo: Menahem KAHANA
This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert Photo: Menahem KAHANA
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Israel's Bedouin Communities Use Solar Energy to Stake Claim to Land

This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert Photo: Menahem KAHANA
This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert Photo: Menahem KAHANA

At the end of a dusty road in southern Israel, beyond a Bedouin village of unfinished houses and the shiny dome of a mosque, a field of solar panels gleams in the hot desert sun.

Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's Negev desert is the home of the Tirabin (also spelled Tarabin) Bedouin tribe, who signed a contract with an Israeli solar energy company to build the installation.

The deal has helped provide jobs for the community as well as promote cleaner, cheaper energy for the country, as the power produced is pumped into the national grid.

Earlier this month, the Al-Ghanami family in the town of Abu Krinat a little further south inaugurated a similar field of solar panels.
Bedouin families have for years tried and failed to hold on to their lands, coming up against right-wing groups and hardline government officials.

Demolition orders issued by Israeli authorities plague Bedouin villages, threatening the traditionally semi-nomadic communities with forced eviction.

But Yosef Abramowitz, co-chair of the non-profit organisation Shamsuna, said solar field projects help them to stake a more definitive claim.
"It secures their land rights forever," he told AFP.

"It's the only way to settle the Bedouin land issue and secure 100 percent renewable energy," he added, calling it a "win, win".

For the solar panels to be built, the land must be registered as part of the Bedouin village, strengthening their claim over it.

Roughly 300,000 Bedouins live in the Negev desert, half of them in places such as Tirabin al-Sana, including some 110,000 who reside in villages not officially recognised by the government.

This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert
This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev desert Photo: Menahem KAHANA
Villages that are not formally recognied are fighting the biggest battle to stay on the land.

Far-right groups, some backed by the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have stepped up efforts in the past two years to drive these families away.
A sharp increase in home demolitions has left the communities vulnerable and whole families without a roof over their heads.

"Since 2023, more than 8,500 buildings have been demolished in these unrecognized villages," Marwan Abu Frieh, from the legal aid organization Adalah, told AFP at a recent protest in Beersheva, the largest city in the Negev.

"Within these villages, thousands of families are now living out in the open, an escalation the Negev has not witnessed in perhaps the last two decades."

Tribes just want to "live in peace and dignity", following their distinct customs and traditions, he said.

Gil Yasur, who also works with Shamsuna developing critical infrastructure in Bedouin villages, said land claims issues were common among Bedouins across the Negev.
Families who include a solar project on their land, however, stand a better chance of securing it, he added.

"Then everyone will benefit -- the landowners, the country, the Negev," he said. "This is the best way to move forward to a green economy."

In Um Batin, a recognised village, residents are using solar energy in a different way –- to power a local kindergarten all year round.

Until last year, the village relied on power from a diesel generator that polluted the air and the ground where the children played.

Now, a hulking solar panel shields the children from the sun as its surface sucks up the powerful rays, keeping the kindergarten in full working order.

"It was not clean or comfortable here before," said Nama Abu Kaf, who works in the kindergarten.
"Now we have air conditioning and a projector so the children can watch television."

Hani al-Hawashleh, who oversees the project on behalf of Shamsuna, said the solar energy initiative for schools and kindergartens was "very positive".

"Without power you can't use all kinds of equipment such as projectors, lights in the classrooms and, on the other hand, it saves costs and uses clean energy," he said.

The projects are part of a pilot scheme run by Shamsuna.

Asked if there was interest in expanding to other educational institutions that rely on polluting generators, he said there were challenges and bureaucracy but he hoped to see more.

"We need people to collaborate with us to move this forward," he said, adding that he would "love to see a solar energy system in every village".