Islamic State, terorrist gear available online: t-shirts, hoodies, figures
The Sunni Muslim terrorist group, Islamic State, now has merchandise including t-shirts, hoodies and hats. The items went on sale through Facebook as an Indonesia company offers a wide array of items, also promoting the Taliban and Hamas.
ISIS t-shirt available through Facebook
The T-shirts cost as little as $7 to $13, and have been on sale for several months, reports Vocativ. With more than 9,000 likes on Facebook, retailer Zirah Moslem on its website calls itself a purveyor of “Islamic style” and sells clothing that promotes a range of Islamist groups.
Some shirt options: the group’s black and white jihadist logo, the slogan “Mujahideen Around the World/ United We Stand” or the simple message “Jihad Today.”
Other Indonesia-based companies selling jihad-themed clothing online include Kavkaz Struggle Wear, which sells T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “I Love Jihad” in English and Arabic, and Rezji Islamic Clothing and Shop, which advertises small figures of Isis fighters, which come with a free sticker.
“ISIS is more than likely not producing shirts but indirectly they are benefiting from it,” Scotty Neil, a former Green Beret who founded Operator, a clothing company geared towards special ops soldiers, told FoxNews.com in their Aug. 18 article. “I don’t think that T-shirt company X is sending the Islamic State funds, but people wearing these shirts are making an outward statement and that often starts a dialogue and debate that furthers their message.”
Neil adds that use of trendy clothing to promote violent jihad is nothing new.
“I was with the first wave of Special Forces in Afghanistan and it was the same thing,” he said. “We would find World Trade Center Lighters, posters and other stuff all the time. One of the groups we discovered was the Foreign Fighter Network, which was recruiting Muslim fighters from all over the world in a similar way. They were very calculated in how they sent their message out to others to join the cause.”
In Indonesia, it is not illegal to join or promote jihadist groups, and 50 Indonesians are believed to have travelled to Syria to fight for Isis and other Islamist groups since the beginning of the year.
In February, Indonesian Isis supporters held a public fundraiser on the outskirts of Jakarta, and collected more than $3,500 for the group.
