Wednesday April 18, 2018
By Euan Kerr
Norwegian journalist Asne Seierstad is author of "Two Sisters: Into the Syrian Jihad." Euan Kerr | MPR News
In October 2013, two Somali teenage girls named Ayan and Leila shocked their parents by running away to join ISIS in Syria. Their radicalization story is unusual in that it happened in Norway.
Acclaimed Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad spent years researching what happened. Now her book, "Two Sisters: Into the Syrian Jihad" is available in the United States.
Seierstad, who discusses her book Monday night at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, said she didn't go looking for the story.
"The story actually came to me," she said. "It was the father of the girls who actually wanted the story to be written."
His name is Sadiq, a Somali man who worked for years to bring his family to Norway. He hoped for a better life. He thought things were going well, then everything collapsed when Ayan and Leila disappeared.
When the girls left home, their parents were in shock, Seierstad said. "They hadn't understood what was this about. Why? And then as months went by and they got to learn more about radicalization, they realized that all the signs had been there. That the girls were like a textbook case of radicalization. And he [Sadiq] wanted the book to be written to warn others, to tell this story to warn other parents."
It is a perplexing story. Ayan and Leila were bright, and opinionated. They didn't put up with being pushed around.
"And that is somehow part of why they left, in their logic," said Seierstad, adding that the girls were convinced Syria and ISIS offered a chance of eternal life.
"They believed that life here and now is not real life. Real life happens after death. And this life is only important as a test. So the better your score, the better you behave in this life, the better position you will have in heaven for eternity. So isn't that better?"
Seierstad is known for her in-depth reporting. Her book "One of Us," about Anders Breivik, the gunman who killed 77 people in Norway's worst terror attack, is an international best-seller.
When published in Norway Seierstad said, "Two Sisters" became the top-selling book for two years running. What pleases her most is the breadth of her readership. She gets email from young Somali girls, and also from government officials who want to prevent future radicalization.