Recently-slain American journalist Steven Sotloff had dual citizenship in Israel and still managed to practice his Jewish faith under the captivity of the Islamic State.
According to The Guardian, the 31-year-old’s Israeli citizenship was revealed in a tweet from a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry this morning.
Paul Hirschson’s message said,
Cleared for publication: Steven Sotloff was Israel citizen RIP.
The citizenship was kept secret while the Florida native remained in captivity for nearly three years because it very well could have resulted in his immediate death.
Israeli authorities went to great lengths to make sure there was no evidence of Sotloff’s relationship to the Jewish state on the Internet during this time.
Sotloff moved to Israel in 2008 to finish his undergraduate degree at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and traveled to Yemen, Libya and Egypt to report for several Israeli media outlets.
He was captured in Syria in 2013 while covering the country’s ongoing civil war.
Most would never dream of observing religious practices as hostages of Islamic extremists, but Sotloff found ways to pray and fast.
A former prisoner of the Islamic State said that Sotloff pretended he didn’t feel well so he could observe Yom Kippur, which requires 24 hours of fasting.
According to the Guardian, Yedioth Ahronoth told Israeli media,
He told them he was sick and doesn’t want to eat, even though we were served eggs that day.
Ahronoth added that Sotloff was even brave enough to pray to the Jewish God when his captors looked the other way.
He said,
He used to pray secretly in the direction of Jerusalem. He would see in which direction they were praying and then adjust the angle.
According to an Israeli journalist, Sotloff was used to hiding his faith, often telling local Syrians that he was raised a secular Muslim and that his eastern European last name was actually Chechen.
via The Guardian, Photo Courtesy: SITE
Read more: http://elitedaily.com/news/world/steven-sotloff-israeli-citizenship-practied-judaism/738272/
Steven Sotloff Had Israeli Citizenship And Secretly Practiced Judaism While In ISIS Captivity
dual citizenship, ISIS, jewish, Jewish faith, Steven Sotloff
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