When the sisters departed on October 17, 2013, the family first contacted Asker and Bærum police station. Parts of their case were subsequently transferred to PST. I was granted access to the police station log from the first days and got statements from PST on how they handled the case.
In addition, I used sources in the diplomatic services regarding the consular assistance provided in Turkey in March 2015.
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Is it ethically defensible to focus on the lives of two girls when they have not granted their consent?
My answer is yes. The entire world is trying to understand the reasons for radicalization among Muslim youth. Researchers, politicians, and youth workers are attempting to understand why some teenagers reject education and a life in peaceful surroundings to join a terror organization. There is no single explanation, but one can point to several factors, including the search for identity, meaning, and status; the desire to belong; the influence of others; excitement; the need to rebel; and romantic notions. In the girls’ case, elements of a profound religious awakening can be added. Push-and-pull factors feature prominently when researchers talk about radicalization. Something pushed them out, something pulled them in.
An examination of those involved in extreme Islamist milieus found radicalization to be “a multiethnic phenomenon, typified by young men with low education, criminal backgrounds, and lack of involvement in working life,” PST stated in a report in autumn 2016. Six of ten had immigrated to Norway in childhood or when they were young. The milieu was characterized by a high dropout rate from secondary schools and unemployment. As long as the same number of youths continued to live with these challenges, the potential for recruitment remained.
As a journalist, it is my task to put my finger on problematic aspects of our society. Confronted with this story, we must ask: Is this merely to do with them, or does it also have something to do with us?
I offer no explanation, neither of what attracted them to Islamic radicalism nor what propelled them out of Norway. I relate my findings. It is up to each reader to draw his or her own conclusions. Where did it start? What were the underlying reasons? When could they have taken different choices? How could an aspiring diplomat choose to become a housewife in Raqqa? Why did they become more interested in life after death than this life?
To understand the choices people make in their lives, we need to know something about those people. A religious choice is personal. It does not stand in isolation from a person’s private life; on the contrary, it is closely tied up with what he or she has experienced, the circumstances in which the person has lived, and the environment the person grew up in.
I therefore also decided to focus upon individuals other than the sisters, as closely as I found justifiable.
Two Sisters introduces a number of Norwegian nationals who travel to Syria. The descriptions are dramatic. They deal with childhood, internal family relations, abuse, fraud, betrayal, murder—and love.
Allow me to present examples of choices I made concerning the publication of personal information. One important individual in the book is Aisha Shezadi. I used her full name, as she herself has opted to be in the public eye through her own texts and interviews prior to her departure for Syria, and afterward through Facebook posts open to the public about life in Raqqa. Neither she nor her parents have responded to my requests to talk to them. Aisha’s story is written as related by her friends and written sources. I quoted the verdict against her father that was made by Oslo District Court in May 2016, which is accessible to the public and casts light on her childhood.
Research on those traveling to Syria, from both Norway and other European countries, shows that young men with backgrounds in violent or broken homes, and youths with an unstable childhood and a criminal past are overrepresented. It is during the vulnerable teenage years that most European foreign fighters are radicalized. With regard to the two sisters, I found that in addition to being a quest for meaning and identity, their actions were born of a religious awakening, a protest, and rebellion.
In order to shed light on all this, I focused more closely on some people than they themselves would want. One of these is Arfan Bhatti, who features in the book due to his marriage to one of the sisters’ friends. He made it clear to me in person, both face-to-face and in writing, that he did not wish his private life to appear in print. I did not comply with that wish, on the basis that he has been, and remains, a central figure among radicalized Muslims in Norway. His personal actions cannot be viewed as distinct from his leadership role. As Aisha put it, he is “the glue” of the Prophet’s Ummah. In May 2017, he was arrested and accused of storing weapons, but he was released after a few months.
Ubaydullah Hussain likewise did not wish to contribute. I met him during Ramadan in summer 2015 to arrange an interview and was asked to contact him again after the fasting was over. I informed him, via messages and letters—the last two addressed to him in prison—about the topics I was interested in and requested his version of the story. He declined to respond. In April 2017, he was convicted of recruiting others to IS and received a sentence of nine years in prison.
The third man who appears in this book through marriage to the sisters’ friends is now dead. I carefully trawled all the information on, and accusations against, Bastian Vasquez, given that he can no longer defend himself. The information I chose to use was confirmed by several sources in statements independent of one another. I also reviewed police documents and other case papers from the period prior to his departure for Syria.
Consequently, I based the portrayals of Bastian Vasquez, Arfan Bhatti, and Ubaydullah Hussain in
