A young man in his forties from Raqqa sold his household tools to pay ISIS tribute

With its black banners, the terrorist organization ISIS entered the city of Raqqa, and declared control of it in August 2014, beginning a bitter era in the lives of the people of this city.

The organization took the initiative to raise sword to everything different from its dark ideology, and adopted a policy based on intimidation, to spread terror and fear in the hearts of the population, and to consolidate its authority, which was based on the blood of thousands of innocent civilians.

George Youssef, 37-year-old, a member of the Armenian community, reminds us of how all of his community fled the city, fearing the oppression of this organization, which has become a source of terror for everyone alike.

But unlike them, George was forced to stay in the city of fear, due to his poor financial condition and not having enough money to flee.

“We were witnessing blood flowing in the streets, killing was practiced on a daily basis in cold blood,” so George describes to ASO News Network, the scene of the city in a brief and intense shot that summarizes the terrible tragedy that the people of Raqqa have experienced under the shadow of ISIS.

George was considered an “infidel” in the eyes of the organization’s members, so he was always cautious, and preferred to choose isolation and not to mix with people.

ISIS waited for only small mistake from the other sects to execute them without any hesitation, says George.
And in June of 2015, ISIS issued a decision giving the Armenian community a choice between paying the tribute or entering Islam, and George would only hasten to secure money to pay the tribute, as he did not want to leave his religion anyway, according to what he described.

George says, “I borrowed an amount of money, and I had to sell my household appliances, in order to secure the amount of the tribute, and I went for the first time to an ISIS headquarters, but in those eyes full of evils I found nothing but looks of contempt and disgust.”

He added, “After paying the tribute, they gave me a non-exposure card, but nevertheless this card was not comforting and reassuring to me, and it did not intercede much for me, as everyone who saw it from the elements of the organization would start to launch intimidation and exert various kinds of psychological pressure towards me,” My belief is different from theirs. ”
Although George paid the tribute, this did not cure the sublime of organization, so they forced him to convert to Islam under compulsion, and he only had to obey their order outwardly, out of his concern for his life, but he continued to practice his ritual worship in secret.
George remained in this state until the exit of ISIS and its defeat at the hands of the Syrian Democratic Forces and the International Coalition Forces in mid-November 2018.
George concludes his interview with ASO News Network by saying: “After ISIS left the city, I returned to my religion and to practice my religious rituals, not because I do not like Islam, but because I love my religion, and I will not give up on what I believe in, no matter what it costs me.”