Naji al Jerf

Naji al Jerf (Arabic: ناجي الجرف‎) (1977 – December 27, 2015), also known as "Uncle", a Syrian journalist, filmmaker, editor and both a co-founder and filmmaker for the organization Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently in Gaziantep, Turkey, was known for his reporting about ISIS and uncovering their secrets before he was assassinated.[2][3]

Naji al Jerf
Born	ca. 1977[1] 38 Salamiyah, Syria[1]
Died	27 December 2015 Gaziantep, Turkey
Cause of death	Gunshot
Body discovered	Gaziantep, Turkey
Resting place	Yeşilkent Şehitlik cemetery, Turkey
Nationality	Syrian
Alma mater	Tishreen University
Occupation	Journalist/filmmaker
Employer	Hentah
Organization	Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently
Home town	Salamiyah, Syria[1]
Title	Uncle
Spouse(s)	Boshra Kashmar
Children	2 girls

Personal life

Al Jerf was born in Salamiyah, Syria, and was from an Ismaeli background, a branch of Shia Islam.[2][4] He graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Tishreen University.[1]

He was married to Boshra Kashmar, a poet; the couple had 2 daughters.[1][5][6][7] While in Homs, his wife, gave birth to their first daughter, whom they named Emesa, after Hom's ancient Greek title.[2][8]

He was known by many as 'Uncle' because of his mentoring and training of many young people in the revolutionary movement.[9]

He is buried at Yeşilkent cemetery.[10]

Career

Al Jerf was a journalist, filmmaker, and editor.[11] He worked as an Al Jazeera documentary producer in Damascus until the beginning of the civil war.[1] He also worked as editor-in-chief of Hentah, a Syrian magazine that reports on the "daily lives of Syrian citizens." It produced local news and untold stories in Salamiyah and elsewhere. Al Jerf expanded Hentah magazine, increasing reach and continuing to publish articles about prisoners and martyrs, refugees, Kurds, Palestinians, Free Syrian Army, ISIS, and broader questions regarding Syria and the revolution.[1][12][13] He also founded Hentawi magazine, a version geared towards 9-to-15 year-old readers.[1]

Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently

Naji Al Jerf was an activist throughout Syrian civil war.

Early on, he was active in organizing in his community founding Salamiyah City Media Office and various coordination committees in Salamiyah, Syria, as well as serving as a liaison between them.[2][1]

Later, Naji Al Jerf was one of the co-founders of Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently and a spokesperson for the organization. The Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently organization is a group exposing human rights abuses in the Syrian capital of ISIS. While with the group, he made a documentary about ISIS's killing of media activists and a health worker in Aleppo. The documentary was also broadcast by Al Arabiya channel, which attracted more than 12 million viewers.[14][3]

Assassination attempts

Naji al-Jerf has escaped several assassination attempts before his death. Turkish security services have failed on two, one of them by defusing an explosive under his car.

Death

Aleppo

Damascus

Gaziantep

Gaziantep, Turkey is located on the border near Syria and shown relative to Syria's largest city Aleppo and its capital city Damascus.

Al Jerf was killed in Gaziantep, Turkey, where he had been since leaving Syria in 2012.[15] He was preparing to leave Gaziantep on a Turkish Airlines flight for France with his family around the time he was assassinated.[7][10] Before Al Jerf was shot, he has been receiving death threats from ISIS over fake Facebook accounts.[16] His death happened during the day around 3:20 p.m. when he was at a restaurant to order some food for his daughters. While he was waiting outside in front of the restaurant, in downtown Gaziantep, a white car drove by and a masked man with a silencer shot Al Jerf. He was taken to the Aralık State Hospital where he later died.[5][17][18][19]

Daesh (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the murder that very night. This organization also claimed responsibility for the murder of two of his colleagues, beheaded in early November 2015 in Şanliurfa, Turkey.[20]

Impact

Naji Al Jerf was one of the co-founders of Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently and a spokesperson for the organization. He helped fund and deliver aid to the intentionally displaced. He also trained others with making documentaries.[4][5][21]

Reactions

Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, said, "I trust that the investigation of the murder of Naji Jerf will bear fruit and that those responsible for this crime will face trial."[15]

A spokesperson for the Committee to Protect Journalists said, "We call on Turkish authorities to bring the killers of Naji Jerf to justice swiftly and transparently, and to step up measures to protect all Syrian journalists on Turkish soil."[22]

After his death, people started sharing the documentary footage about ISIS that he had original posted on YouTube. The footage spread through other social media along with statements reacting to his work.[23]

Al Jerf was liked by many Syrian opposition activists. Hasan, Al Jerf's friend, said "I do expect and hope that the Turkish authorities will find the killer. If not, we won't forget him and this case will not be forgotten." His death has sent chills through the Syrian community of activists living in Gaziantep.[9]

His wife, Boshra Kashmar, said his assassination was a nightmare, and she wakes up every morning looking for him, standing there, and joking and laughing.[24]

Awards

The film that the Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently group made and directed by Naji has won a committee to protect journalists’ international press freedom award in November.[3]

Works

• Vilayah Haleb (also known as Aleppo Under Daesh)[19][25] The documentary was posted on YouTube, where it had over 75,000 views as of 31 December 2015.[26]

See also

• List of journalists killed during the Syrian Civil War

References

1. +Abu Mohammed. "For the sake of Syria, remember Naji Jerf". Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.
2. Omar Abbas. "For the sake of Syria, remember Naji Jerf". alaraby.
3. "Global Voices Advocacy – Syrian Filmmaker Naji Jerf Killed in Turkey After Exposing ISIS Crimes in Aleppo". 28 December 2015.
4. "Anti-IS Filmmaker Remembered for Courageous Stand". VOA.
5. "Syrian Journalist Who Documented ISIS Atrocities Slain In Turkey". NPR.org. 30 December 2015.
6. "The death of Naji Jerf and the battle facing Syria's citizen journalists". BBC News.
7. "Syrian Journalist Who Documented ISIS Atrocities Is Killed in Turkey". The New York Times. 29 December 2015.
8. "CBS Overnight News : KCCI : January 22, 2016 2:07am-4:00am CST : Free Streaming" – via archive.org.
9. Mohammad Eyad Kourdi and Gul Tuysuz, CNN (28 December 2015). "Syrian activist slain in Turkey". CNN.
10. "A farewell to Syrian activist Naji al-Jerf killed in Turkeys eastern city of Gaziantep". DailySabah. 28 December 2015.
11. "110 journalistes tués en 2015 selon Reporters sans frontières" (in French).
12. "Naji Jerf, un opposant syrien hostile à l'EI, a été tué en Turquie". www.itele.fr.
13. "Naji Jerf, Syrian Journalist And Anti-ISIS Activist, Killed In Turkey". The Huffington Post. 28 December 2015.
14. "Syrian journalist Naji Jerf shot dead in Gaziantep, Turkey".
15. "Director-General condemns the killing of Syrian journalists Naji Jerf, Zakaria Ibrahim and Batoul Mokhles al-Warrar".
16. "This Filmmaker Was Assassinated In Broad Daylight After Receiving Death Threats".
17. "Naji Jerf". Committee to Protect Journalists.
18. "Syrian Reporter Jerf Killed in Antep".
19. "Naji al-Jerf représentait à lui seul la révolution pacifique syrienne".
20. "Turkey: 3 suspects held in Sanliurfa police murder case". Archived from the original on 18 August 2015.
21. "Syria anti-Islamic State documentary maker 'assassinated' in Turkey". Telegraph.co.uk. 27 December 2015.
22. "Naji Jerf, Syrian Journalist And Anti-ISIS Activist, Killed in Turkey". huffingtonpost.
23. "After his death people are sharing Syrian filmmaker Naji Jerf's documentary on Isis in Aleppo". indy100.
24. "Widow: Murdered anti-ISIS filmmaker knew they would kill him". cbsnews. 21 January 2016.
25. Mohammad Eyad Kourdi; Gul Tuysuz. "Syrian activist slain in Turkey". CNN.
26. "ISIL in Aleppo داعش في حلب".