A retired Jewish human rights lawyer has been identified as the mastermind behind the return to Australia of successive groups of ISIS brides and their children.
One group of four wives and nine children of Islamic State terrorists arrived in the country earlier this month, sparking nationwide outrage, while a second group is now in Damascus and set to fly out within days.
Prominent Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi has been the public face of months-long efforts to bring the 34 women and children back from Syria’s Al-Roj camp, but The Australian revealed that behind the scenes lawyer Robert Van Aalst has been the central figure in complex operation to facilitate the final group’s return.
Sources told the publication Mr Van Aast controlled communications, set up confidential meetings, and worked with Syria-based contacts and Australians travelling to the Middle East to assist the ISIS-linked group.
“Everyone thinks Jamal Rifi was running this. He wasn’t. It was Robert. He was the one pulling all of the strings,” one source said.
Negotiations were conducted under extreme secrecy, with participants involved in discussions asked to leave their smartphones and watches in different rooms, while he personally left his in his car.
Sources said Mr Van Aalst assumed the leading role after gaining control of a network of Syrian contacts with the assistance of Australian helpers after a previous extraction attempt in February failed.
“He’s controlling everything. He wants everything under his control,” one source said.
Mr Van Aast was also seen at Melbourne Magistrates Court with ISIS bride relatives when two women from the first group, Kawsar Abbas and Zeinab Ahmad, were refused bail on crimes of humanity charges on May 11.
According to sources Mr Van Aalst has visited some of the brides since they have been in custody, having earned the trust of families thanks to years spent providing legal assistance, engaging with relatives and doing unpaid advocacy.
The last group of ISIS brides and children travelled by bus to Damascus last this week after the Syrian government, acting under direct pressure from the US State Department, unlocked travel funds and finalised flight arrangements.
Before the final group’s departure there were 18 Australian passport holders remaining in the notorious Syrian camp, with one bride unable to leave due to a two-year temporary exclusion order imposed by the Australian government.
The remaining six brides could face charges on their return, after Abbas and Ahmad were arrested in Melbourne and Janai Safar in Sydney earlier this month.
A fourth woman, Zahra Ahmad, Zeinab’s sister and the second wife of dead ISIS recruiter Muhammad Zahab, was not arrested and was met at Melbourne Airport by a large group of aggressive Muslim males who called female TV reporters “sluts” and punched one in the stomach as they rushed Ahmad out of the terminal.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has repeatedly denied that the Australian government has facilitated the return of the ISIS brides, but has faced criticism for allowing them to obtain passports and not doing more to prevent them from entering the country.
A poll in February found that 64% of voters opposed allowing the wives and family members of ISIS terrorists to return to Australia, with just 15% in support.
Some of the brides and children have spent time in a different refugee camp, Al-Hol, a radicalisation hub where jihadist women hid teenage boys in tunnels and sexually abused them to get pregnant., and concerns have been raised about the risk of terror in the wake of the ISIS-inspired Bondi Islamic terrorist attack.
Header image: Left, Robert Van Aalst (Instagram). Right, an ISIS bride at Al-Roj (supplied).
The post Jewish lawyer identified as mastermind behind return of ISIS brides first appeared on The Noticer.
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