“James was incredible,” Diane Foley explains to me over Skype. “He was our first born of five and I loved him so much”.
Foley’s son, James, 40 when he was murdered by ISIS. He was an American journalist beheaded by a cell of the terror group now known as ‘the Beatles’ in Syria four years ago. He had been working as a freelance war correspondent before being abducted in November 2012. Two years after his capture, he became the first American citizen to be executed by ISIS.
ISIS turned his killing into their signature style slick propaganda, claiming that it was a response to the US airstrikes on Iraq. A video of his murder was broadcast via a YouTube entitled “A Message To America”. His remains were never recovered.
“It has been very difficult since James died” Diane continues, reflecting on the fact that the terror group are in the headlines again this week because their final stronghold – in the town of Baghuz near the border with Iraq – is thought to be about to fall.
“I try to take some comfort in his legacy” Diane continues “– in helping other journalists who, like him, are keepers of the truth. I loved him as a mother, but I didn’t see the man of moral courage he became until after he died”. James’s story was made into a critically acclaimed film – Jim: The James Foley Story – in 2016.
With the collapse of the Islamic State playing out in real time on our news channels, urgent questions are being asked about what countries around the world will do if any of their citizens who left home to join them try to return. It’s thought that this includes around 900 British citizens.
One of them, Shamima Begum, has been in the headlines solidly for over a week now after she made a plea to return to Britain in an interview with The Times.
Shamima Begum is now 19-years-old. Four years ago, her decision to leave for Syria became national news, and her image –wrapped in a parka coat and clutching a small holdall as she strolled through security at Heathrow airport with three other teenagers – became instantly synonymous with the ease with which the Islamic State were able to recruit from Britain. Then aged 15, we didn’t know her by her name, but as one of the three notorious 'Bethnal Green Girls'. They quickly became poster girls for the 'ISIS brides' problem in our national press.
For over a week now Shamima Begum’s future and her past choices have been the subject of national debate, dividing the nation. But if we’re conflicted, how must Diane Foley, whose personal tragedy is so intertwined with the rise and fall of ISIS, feel?
“James’ death has challenged me personally” Diane says, “and it continues to challenge the way that I think. So, with regards to Shamima Begum, and other “ISIS brides” like her, who are now wanting to come back to the good life they left behind, I have to think about his values”.
“It is challenging me right now”, she adds.
Begum – who is now in a Syrian refugee camp and gave birth to a baby boy only days ago –wants to come home, but the Home Office have now confirmed that they would not be cooperating with her request. More than this, in a letter sent to Begum’s family the government made clear that steps are being taken to revoke her British citizenship entirely. Begum’s lawyer said that they were “considering all legal avenues to challenge the decision” and that her family are “disappointed”.
Naturally, the debate is far from over. Many are questioning the powers of the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, who has essentially bypassed the UK judicial process and “unilaterally deprive someone of their citizenship”. Others argue that Begum was a child – influenced by dangerous propaganda videos like the one containing footage of James Foley’s execution and groomed online – and that this decision is a travesty for basic human rights of UK kids.
This is, perhaps, not a stance you’d expect a woman whose son was murdered by ISIS to take but, for Diane Foley, human rights must be paramount in any discussion about how the world deals with the unravelling of the Islamic State.
On Tuesday night, when I broke the news to her that Begum’s citizenship was being revoked, she looked downward. “I hadn’t seen the news, no,” she says. “I can’t say that I think revoking Begum’s citizenship is the right decision to make. Now she is stateless, so now she is going to be angrier than ever. That means she is, potentially, an even greater threat if she remains at large with no one monitoring her and her colleagues”.
Despite what she’s been through, Foley thinks it’s important to put human rights at the fore. “I think it’s very important that we show that we care about human rights” she explains. “It is good that the UK’s public is debating how best to deal with this young lady, who obviously made a terrible decision four years ago. It means that the public cares about human rights”.
That said, she doesn’t find any of this easy. “It is a very difficult issue,” she concedes, “I believe in forgiveness, certainly. And I would love for that new, little son of hers to have a new start in the UK and to be with his grandparents. That seems very reasonable to me. But I would think this young woman and the others who have chosen to wreak such havoc and terrorism on the Syrian people, on the British citizens, on our son and others, must expect accountability and justice for their decision. We must stand up for justice. If we don’t, we have nothing at all.”
Diane has spent the years since her son’s public murder campaigning for the rights of journalists by speaking events and set up a foundation, in her son’s name, to help protect freelance reporters at risk. She is considered in her tone and aware that her ideals – for an international court of justice to be set up in order to bring terrorists to justice; for all those perpetuating violence to be held accountable in the right way – are just that: ideals which not everyone will share.
I put to her the argument, being made by some, that Begum – and her 'Bethnal Green Girl' peers, one of whom is now dead, another of whom is missing – was, in the eyes of the law, a child when she left. Is she truly responsible for her actions? Would we speak in the same way of another British person, groomed for sex or any other sadistic action?
“Certainly, there’s some truth to the opinion that this woman has been groomed – that she was technically a child and made a decision as a child” she says. “The thing is that now, regardless of that, she has been indoctrinated – brainwashed, even, whatever you would like to call it – with a true hatred for her fellow citizens and against people who look for peace and justice in the world. So that is the problem and she would need an awful lot of surveillance, should she have been allowed home.
“I feel it’s vital that we consider each person individually” Diane continues. “All of our countries must take some responsibility for these people – but I do recognise that this is a huge burden, to take on the vetting of so many people who want to return to the good life they had in the UK, or the young lady who wants to return to the United States, for example. For Scotland Yard, for the FBI, for surveillance – it is just huge”.
Diane recognizes the complexities but feels that we have a moral obligation to take responsibility as a global community. “if we don’t undertake that burden, my fear is that ISIS or some other terrorism group will just start up, again, somewhere else. The stateless people – like Begum, now – will eventually come together in their anger. I don’t believe that should be allowed to happen.”
For Diane, her son’s legacy is at the forefront of her mind in everything she does – which perhaps allows her to approach such a complicated conversation with compassion and clarity.
“While we’re distracted by Brexit, and Trump, we are apathetic” Diane warns, “I am fearful of that. I have so much pride for James and, ultimately, I just don’t want evil to win. I don’t want greed to win. I want people who care about others to win. That’s what James stood for.”
As the debate wages on, Diane is continuing her to spread her message and ensure her son’s memory survives. Shamima Begum’s future might be topical now, but she is just one of many. “This is still the beginning”, Foley says. With more people being displaced in Syria every day perhaps, if anything, we should take heed of that.