Featured image credit: PA
On September 11th 2001, the world changed forever. When Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the murder of 2,996 people after the World Trade Center attacks in New York City, the group became the entire world's number one enemy.
Out of the ashes of all the wars, violence and killing in the Middle East following 9/11, Daesh was born. Their atrocities have been widely documented and don't need to be repeated here.
But they're not the only terror group in the region. You'll often hear in news reports terms like 'rebel forces', 'Daesh' and 'government forces'.
One such group who fall into the 'rebel forces' category are Jabhat Al Nusra, who affiliated themselves with Al Qaida until only recently.
Al Nusra associated themselves with Al Qaeda primarily for funding and a footing in the Syrian civil war which broke out in 2011. Despite having a similar end goal in creating an Islamic State and enforcing Sharia Law, they do not believe in the extreme methods undertaken by Daesh or in 'global jihad'. Their focus is on Syria and overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad.
Advert
President Bashar al-Assad. Credit: PA
Clearly they were taken seriously, as the US and the UN took just ten days to brand them as a terror organisation. After a story broke of 20 Assad-supporting civilians being shot in a village, the terror group stories were confirmed despite the Al Nusra hierarchy condemning the acts as 'undertaken against the orders of the group'.
But these are all things we know, right? If you affiliate yourself with a murderous terror organisation, you're going to be branded as such, that's to be expected.
Having spent six months in Syria with rebels from Al Nusra, controversial movie director and journalist Paul Refsdal has tried to paint a different picture.
Focusing on the human aspect of the war, that these soldiers are human beings with lives, too, he created Dugma: The Button, an hour-long movie telling the stories of four suicide bombers on the front line in Syria.
"They are not interested in the West," Refsdal told TheLADbible. "They are willing to die for a cause. I'm just trying to show that this is not a black-and-white situation."
Al Nusra have been active for nearly five years in Syria and Lebanon, attacking Syrian government military targets as they try and overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
Refsdal explained that, in that time, they've accidentally killed 356 civilians. In the same period, the Syrian government has killed 183,000 civilians.
"This is a war between the Syrian people and the Syrian government," Refsdal continued. "Al Qaeda do their crimes when they attack civilians. That is fully condemned. But these guys, they do not care about anything outside Syria and do not attack civilians.
"I thought there would be some kind of hate towards the West because in 2014 they started to bomb Syria but they do not care. Their fight is with the government."
Despite having a similar but not-so-extreme end goal, Al Nusra recently disassociated themselves with Al Qaeda and renamed themselves Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, meaning Front for the Conquest of Syria.
Advert
Credit: Journeyman.tv/Dugma: The Button
In the film, suicide bomber Abu Qaswara al Maki, 25, simply gets on with his life while remaining on a list of candidates to blow themselves up for the cause.
Sadly, Refsdal explained the motivations for such an act can be societal rather than personal.
"What really bothers me is that he is still on the list for operations," Refsdal said. "He loves life and he is a very good singer and he loves talking to people.
"He is very typical of a man that age. But he wants to do his part."
The director then explained that there is a belief among Muslims that if you reach the highest part of Paradise, you can take others with you. And the way to reach the highest part of Paradise is to sacrifice yourself in the name of your religion.
"I think there is pressure from his family to do it. It is quite common for a family to designate one of their sons to the war."
The aim of the film isn't to garner sympathy - far from it. But with unprecedented access, the film is showing a side to the seemingly never-ending war in the Middle East we rarely get a glimpse of.
The only shame is that it doesn't seem like anyone will ever win this war. When asked if there was a chance of peace on the region, Refsdal simply answered: "No. There is no interest in compromise on either side."
Dugma: The Button, will be available on iTunes from Tuesday 2nd August. It promises to be a fascinating watch.
Topics: terrorism, Interesting stuff, World News, TV and Film