The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, has been attracting a lot of attention these past few days after they took the blame for the recent Paris attacks. This left people wondering, “what exactly is ISIS?”, and, “why are they spreading terror?”. If you have ever wondered these questions and you still have no idea what ISIS is, here’s everything you need to know about the terrorist organization:

ISIS is considered a caliphate, which is a form of Islamic government led by a chief civil and religious leader. Their plan is to be the central caliphate of the world and cleanse the world of all religions, making Islam the dominant religion.  This group goes by many names such as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant), IS (Islamic State), and recently other world powers have been referring to the group as Daesh, which is a transliteration of the Arabic acronym formed by the same words that make up ISIS in English. It can mean to “trample down or to crush”, it can also mean “bigot”. “I can not believe how cruel ISIS is. They lead so many unnecessary attacks against innocent humans beings. They theorize so many people that people in Paris are scared to leave their homes,”said Alex Wisely, freshman.

ISIS is the wealthiest terrorist organization in the world. They make millions of dollars through smuggling oil, robbing, extortion, kidnapping, imposing taxes in territories, and other criminal activity. ISIS uses this money to obtain weapons and spread terror across the world. The leader of ISIS is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the group targets Christians, Shia Muslims, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriac and Armenian Christians, Yazidis, Druze, Shabaks, and Mandeans. ISIS is a growing organization and the group has spread a lot fear throughout the world. The only thing the United States can do right now is keep the group contained and assist Syria in fighting against the Islamic State. “We must open ourselves up to them, not turn them away. Maybe that kindness will create a dialogue heard around the world. Maybe that dialogue will be about the beauty of religious tolerance and religious freedom. One can only hope. So as the holidays approach, I say let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me”, said teacher Dr. Beth O’Leary.

 Timeline:

• 1999: ISIS founded by Jordanian extremist Abu Musab al- Zarqawi
• 2007: ISIS considers itself part of al-Qaeda in Iraq
• 2007: US troops and Sunni Militias defeat the al-Qaeda “surge”, however they did not completely destroy it
• May 2010: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the leader of ISIS
• 2012/2013: they started rebuilding and freeing many prisoners held by the Iraqi government to join them in ranks
• June 10th 2014:  the second largest city in Iraq, Mosul  and Ninawa province is captured by Salafi
• June 11th 2014: ISIS takes  Tikrit
• Late June 2014: ISIS announced a caliphate, and global allegiance across areas in Syria and Iraq  
• Late June 2014: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaims himself as the leader (caliph) of Muslims all around the world
• July 2014:  ISIS takes power of al-Omar (the largest oil field in Syria)
• July 2014: Al-Baghdadi has his first public appearance in Mosul, where he tells all Muslims to obey him
• July 2014: ISIS says that they killed around 270 people when they captured Shaer (a gas field in Syria)
• July 2014: Days after, many Iraqi Christians leave after a warning by ISIS saying that they are going to attack
• Late July 2014: ISIS blows up Jonah’s tomb (a holy place for the Jews)
• August 2014: Militants seized the city of Sinjar, and killing over 5,00 men, and raping thousands of women

• August 2014: President Obama sets out the first air strikes outside the Kurdish city of Erbil
• August 2014: ISIS bombs the Yazidis, a sect of Christians in a section of Northern Iraq
• September 2014: ISIS claims to possess around 20,000 to 31,500 fighters
• September 2014: ISIS shows video of British aid worker, David Haines being executed
• September 2014: ISIS kills Iraqi human rights activist Samira Salih al-Nuaimi
• October 2014: : ISIS shows a video of the killing of another British aid worker, Alan Henning
• November 2014: Around 40 fighters on both sides died in Kobani,  during a feud between Isis militants and  Syrian Kurds
• December 2014: ISIS militants shoot down and capture a Jordanian pilot in northern Syria. They order the release of an al-Qaeda prisoner held in Jordan
• January 2015: ISIS attacks Saudi Arabia, which killed 4  border guards
• January 2015: ISIS releases slaughtering around 250 Yazidis
• February 2015: ISIS kills an American hostage, Kayla Mueller
• March 2015: ISIS publishes pictures of a gay man being thrown off of a building because his sexual preference
• April 2015: ISIS releases video of the killings and beheading of Christian prisoners
• May 2015: US Special Ops kill Abu Sayaaf, and his wife
• June 2015: ISIS releases another video of them killing a group of prisoners
• July 2015: ISIS bombs and kills many in Turkey
• August 2015: ISIS attacks civilians outside of Syria/Iraq
• November 2015: ISIS kills 130+ people in Paris. Some at concerts, trains, and even on the street