The Returned

David Thomson is a journalist who reported on the Arab Spring and war in Libya for Radio France Internationale. His work was recognised with the 2016 Grand Prix de la Presse Internationale, awarded by the French Association of Foreign Media (APE).

The Protagonists vii Introduction 1

Part One. Bilel
Leaving the Islamic State 11
The arrival in Syria 19
Daily Life in the Islamic State 26
The Rupture after the Paris attacks 31

Part Two. Yassin
A bullet in his stomach 37
‘Anything to bring him back’ 43
‘Salam alaykum, my son is in Mayadin’ 48
‘He weighed less than 40 kilos’ 53
The French doctors in Raqqa 56
Running backwards 60
‘Now you’re going to tell us what really happened’ 64

Part Three. Zubeir
Zubeir, 20 years old, the repentant jihadist 71
Being a jihadist means feeling important 79
The tipping point 84
Jihadist seeks YF for marriage 92
‘LOL jihad’ 97
‘I found ISIS at Fleury-Mérogis’ 105
The Islamic State, prison ward 109
Prison, jihadist territory 116
‘I’m afraid that people are afraid of me’ 124

Part Four. The Women
After jihad, a ‘quiet’ return to classes for Safya 131
‘Sharia is sharia, that’s all!’ 137
Lena, the women and the desire to kill 143
‘I felt powerful. Better than everyone else’ 153
Express weddings and quick divorces 162
In the marriage factory 171

Part Five. Kevin and Quentin
The former choirboy from Brittany 183
Nice 191

Part Six. Those Who Didn’t Return
Dope, rap, nashid and terrorism 211
From the French army to the caliphate 225

Epilogue 231

Notes 247