ISIS to new Miss Iraq: Join us or Die

Kevin WhitemanDecember 23, 2015

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In a land where kidnapped is synonymous with butchered, Shaima Qassem Abdulrahman understands completely what was meant in a recent phone call. As reported by Kuwait’s al-Watan news via The Jerusalem Post, the pretty 20-year-old was threatened not long after being the first woman crowned Miss Iraq in almost half a century. As reported, within hours of being named as her nation’s representative to the 2016 Miss Universe contest “received a threatening phone call in which she was warned that if she refused to join the ranks of the Islamic State movement she would be kidnapped.”

It was also noted that “The beauty queen from the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq was distressed by the phone call, but has said that she will not let the threat stop her. She expressed her determination to ‘continue forward despite any obstacles,’ according to a report published by the organizers of the Miss Iraq competition.”

Provided she doesn’t voluntarily relinquish her crown or become a victim to the terrorists of Islamic jihad, Abdulrahman is set to represent Iraq in the upcoming Miss Universe contest slated for Thailand in March 2016.

As NBC also reported, “Like many Iraqis, Abdulrahman has been directly affected by the violence brought to her country by ISIS. Two of her cousins were members of Iraq’s federal police until they were killed while fighting the militants. Five of her fellow contestants were also forced to find new homes last year after ISIS overran the northern city of Mosul.”