On March 10, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) released via its media company Al-Furqan a video showing the execution of Mohamed Sa'id Ismail Musallam, a "Mossad spy" who was captured by ISIS in Syria.[1] Last month, ISIS published an interview with Musallam in its English-language magazine Dabiq.[2] The video, some 13 minutes in duration, is titled "And Wretched Is That Which They Purchased."[3]
The first half part of the video shows the interview with Musallam that was published in Dabiq. Musallam describes how he was recruited and trained by the Mossad, and how he traveled to Syria to spy on ISIS and was soon captured by the group.
The second part of the video shows the execution of Musallam by a boy who is accompanied by a young man. The man appears to be Sabri Essid, a French national from Toulouse and the step-brother of Mohammad Merah (perpetrator of the 2012 attacks in Toulouse against the Jewish community and against French security personnel). In 2006 he was arrested by US forces on the Iraq-Syria border, and in 2009 he was convicted in France of terrorist-related charges and of forced marriage and rape. After his release in 2010 he lived in Toulouse. He joined ISIS in early 2014 with his family, and possibly also with his step-sister (Mohammed Merah's sister) Souad.
Before the execution, Essid delivers a message in French in which he praises attacks on Jews in France, presumably referring to Merah'sToulouse attacks (the video was released one day before the third anniversary of these attacks) as well as the recent attack on the kosher supermarket in Paris. He threatens that ISIS will soon be attacking the Jews' "lands and fortresses" and will "liberate Jerusalem" from the Jewish "filth." He calls upon Muslim ISIS supporters to target several other alleged Mossad agents in Jerusalem whose names and addresses appear at the end of the video.
The following are excerpts from the English subtitles that accompany his message on the video:
"O Jews, indeed Allah has gifted us with killing your followers in your own stronghold in France. As for here in the Islamic State, here are the young lions of the Khilafah. They will kill the one sent by the foolish Mossad to spy on the secrets of the mujahideen and the Muslims...
"As for the near-term, you will witness the legions of the Khilafa pounding your lands and your fortresses. They will liberate Jerusalem from your filth, by Allah's permission...
"O Jews, indeed the one who handed you Jerusalem said, 'The Crusade is over.' But today we say to you, the Islamic conquests have begun, and the Jews have become frightened because the promise is near.
"O supporters of the Islamic State... we've revealed to you some of the names and pictures of the spies in Jerusalem, so make those who recruited them see their blood flow... so that you attain the pleasure of Allah the Exalted, and success in the Hereafter..."
"O Jews, indeed Allah has gifted us with killing your followers in your own stronghold in France. As for here in the Islamic State, here are the young lions of the Khilafah. They will kill the one sent by the foolish Mossad to spy on the secrets of the mujahideen and the Muslims...
"As for the near-term, you will witness the legions of the Khilafa pounding your lands and your fortresses. They will liberate Jerusalem from your filth, by Allah's permission...
"O Jews, indeed the one who handed you Jerusalem said, 'The Crusade is over.' But today we say to you, the Islamic conquests have begun, and the Jews have become frightened because the promise is near.
"O supporters of the Islamic State... we've revealed to you some of the names and pictures of the spies in Jerusalem, so make those who recruited them see their blood flow... so that you attain the pleasure of Allah the Exalted, and success in the Hereafter..."
Following the delivery of the message, the young boy stands in front of the kneeling Musallam and executes him by shooting him in the forehead with a pistol. After Musallam falls he fires several additional rounds into his dead body. The boy may be the son of Essid's wife from her first marriage, aged 13.
The last part of the video presents details on several alleged Mossad spies in Jerusalem who had ties with Musallam: their names and in some cases their pictures and addresses. Among them are Musallam's father and brother.
[1] Twitter.com/al7aarth, March 10, 2015.
[2]See MEMRI JTTM report Issue VII of ISIS's English-Language Magazine 'Dabiq' Celebrates Attacks In France, Features Interview With Leader Of Belgian ISIS Cell, February 12, 2015.
[3]The title is based on Koran (3:187): "And when Allah took a covenant from those who were given the Scripture, [saying], 'You must make it clear to the people and not conceal it.' But they threw it away behind their backs and exchanged it for a small price. And wretched is that which they purchased."
