What do the ISIS Jihadists do to relax after a hard day at work committing atrocities? According to a former captive, they enjoy watching a strange mix of TV shows that includes Teletubbies and Game of Thrones .
Former French hostage, Nicolas Henin — who was kidnapped in Raqqa, Syria in June of 2013 alongside Pierre Torres and released 10 months later — said in an interview with the BBC that his captors had difficulties coming to terms with the violence of the acts they committed.
“They watched everything, from Teletubbies to Game of Thrones . The recruits are fragile people – once pushed to commit a crime when they arrive there is no way they can turn back.”
While Henin gave some details of what kind of people the ISIS terrorist known as Jihadi John — identified as Londoner Mohammed Emwazi — and his henchmen really are, he refused to be too specific because his fellow hostage, British journalist John Cantlie, is still in the hands of the barbaric group.
However, Henin talked about the time he and Torres spent in captivity, and how beheaded British hostage, David Haines, taught them a game they would play at night. The 39-year-old former captive also said that Russian engineer, Sergey Gorbunov — who was killed while Henin was held by ISIS– was remembered in a simple ceremony by the rest of the prisoners.
Despite the confidence the ISIS Jihadists show in their gruesome videos, Henin says that talking with his captors during his 10-month long ordeal revealed doubt, “and a lot of bad faith, because they had to justify it to themselves, and some of their acts were impossible to justify.”
“I remember with a couple of the captors, we had discussions that showed their convictions were a bit fragile and that they maybe even had regrets about what they were doing. A bit of chat might help, but no pity for sure because they are totally closed to pity. Asking for pity is the worst thing you can do. It’s stupid. Never try it.”
ISIS Jihadists want to establish an Islamic Caliphate with strict Sharia Law for those who fall under their rule, while they enjoy entertainment coming from the West and watching sexually explicit shows such as Game of Thrones and kids shows like the Teletubbies. ISIS claims that it wants to return to the “early days of Islam rejecting all innovations in the religion, which it believes corrupts its original spirit,” according to a report in Quartz .
[Image via HBO and BBC