The End of the Beatles Terrorist Group
On Friday, August 20th, the official sentencing of a British terrorist was announced in a U.S. court. He was sentenced to 8 life terms, which were issued following his conviction in April for playing a key role in the murder of four American hostages held by ISIS in Syria. This court session marked the end of several phases of police and judicial efforts to capture specific ISIS terrorists who, during a certain period when ISIS dominated Iraq and Syria, became well-known figures in global news.
They came from a land far from Iraq and Syria, from Britain, and their first distinguishing feature was their British accent, which stood out in the violent videos they released. This four-member group was perhaps insensitively nicknamed the Beatles terrorist group, which was unfair to what is perhaps the greatest and most important music group in world history.
El Shafee Elsheikh
The hostages held by ISIS, who were tortured under him, had nicknamed Elsheikh ‘Jihadi George.’ This young Briton was the son of Sudanese immigrants who left his country, Britain, and joined ISIS. He faced multiple charges, and the significance of his recent trial in the U.S. brought their stories of crime back into the media spotlight after years.
Elsheikh had become highly skilled in capturing and torturing their targets, and the bitter and terrifying accounts of their treatment of hostages, especially what Elsheikh did, were shocking. One of Elsheikh’s simplest and most merciful programs involved forcing hostages to fight each other in a closed room, threatening the loser with water torture and execution of simulated drowning, known as waterboarding. Elsheikh had reached the highest level of skill in executing waterboarding.
Aine Davis
A young man from Hammersmith, London, in the early 2000s had several drug-related charges and was imprisoned in 2006 for illegal possession of a weapon. After his release from prison, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Hamza. In 2013, as a fervent extremist, he went to the Levant to join ISIS. Turkish police arrested him in 2015, and he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for membership in ISIS. After being released from Turkish prison and upon entering British soil, he was arrested for illegal possession of weapons and committing various terrorist crimes and is currently undergoing judicial proceedings.
Mohammed Emwazi
We arrive at the two more famous faces of the Beatles terrorists. Mohammed Emwazi was born in Kuwait and migrated to Britain with his family. He was a graduate of the University of Westminster. Emwazi had the most famous nickname among the four and was known as Jihadi John. He was seen in several videos without covering his face, and a significant part of his fame was due to his leading role in ISIS hostage beheading videos. He was one of the top names on the wanted list for ISIS and was killed in a powerful operation by Britain and the U.S. in November 2015.
Alexanda Kotey
Alexanda Kotey, like Mohammed Emwazi, was often seen without a mask. In April of this year, he confessed in a U.S. court to committing at least eight specific crimes. His confessions, particularly his role in the death of four Americans, were of great significance to American audiences. The news of their capture and death, especially the horrific manner of their execution during Barack Obama’s presidency, shook American society. Kotey and Elsheikh were captured together.
Elsheikh’s Sentence, a Bitter Trial, and the End of the Beatles
The trial of El Shafee Elsheikh took place amid the efforts of his victims’ families on one side and the judicial authorities finalizing the case of the Beatles terrorist group members on the other. Nevertheless, the court was a scene of emotional moments for many, even the prosecutor, who, referencing Dante’s Inferno, stated that he knew no words that could express the pain and suffering endured by the victims.
It was on the anniversary of James Foley’s murder that El Shafee Elsheikh’s sentence was announced. James Foley’s mother was allowed to speak in court after the sentence was announced, and she addressed Elsheikh with bitter and meaningful words. She said, ‘El Shafee, you will spend the rest of your life in prison for your horrific acts, but you have also lost your freedom, citizenship, and family contacts.’
We all lost. Love is far more powerful than hate. I pity you for choosing hate and succumbing to false religious beliefs because Islam is truly a religion of love, kindness, and peace.
