ISIS bride Shamima Begum was just a “dumb kid who made one mistake” when she joined the jihadists, she said in a new interview in which she professed her love for Western culture — including “Friends” and Kanye West.
“I don’t think I was a terrorist. I think I was just a dumb kid who made one mistake,” the 21-year-old woman told filmmaker Andrew Drury for his TV show, “Danger Zone,” about leaving London to join ISIS in Syria, the Independent reported.
“I personally don’t think that I need to be rehabilitated, but I would want to help other people be rehabilitated. I would love to help,” added the young woman, who was wearing a Nike cap and jeans for the sit-down.
“I wear these clothes, and I don’t wear a hijab, because it makes me happy,” said Begum, who is being detained at the Al Roj refugee camp in Syria.
Begum opted for a more Westernized look in favor of the hijab she used to wear. Andy Drury/ Magnus News
Shamima Begum had her citizenship revoked on national security grounds in 2019. Andy Drury/ Magnus News“And anything in this camp that makes me happy is like a lifesaver,” she added.
Asked what she would say to people in the UK, the former child bride from Bethnal Green in east London answered: “Can I come home please, pretty please?”
She also revealed that she has been following news of Kim Kardashian’s divorce from Kanye West, whose music she loves, and is also watching reruns of “Friends.”
(From left) Amira Abase, Kadiza Sultana, and Begum flew to Syria as teenagers in 2015. PA Images/Sipa USABegum was just 15 when she and two classmates, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, set off for Syria to join the terror group.
Her citizenship was revoked on national security grounds in 2019. It’s believed the other two were killed in the fighting.
Begum has lost three children born in the years since, the last a boy born in 2019 after she married an ISIS fighter from the Netherlands. That year, she said, her first two children died “of sickness” in a camp.
Filmmaker Drury believes Begum deserves another chance after her “unbelievably stupid” mistake. Andy Drury/ Magnus News
Andy Drury/ Magnus NewsDrury, who shoots documentaries from war zones for Netflix, said after meeting Begum he believed she should be allowed to return to the UK to stand trial.
“We were about to say ‘goodbye’ and I didn’t know the protocol because, bear in mind, she is there as a terrorist,” he said, according to the Independent.
“I went to shake her hand and she started to cry and said to me, ‘Can I have a hug?’” he said.
Begum has lost three children in Syria, the last a boy in 2019. PA Images/Sipa USA“This girl is a vulnerable 21-year-old who did something unbelievably stupid. It was a childish mistake from a 15-year-old,” Drury added.
Begum asked Drury for a hug before the filmmaker left. Andy Drury/ Magnus News
A woman holds hands with a child while walking through the al-Hol camp in Syria. REUTERS