The Popular Mobilization Units fighting the Islamic State (IS) have a real-life hero: Abu Azrael, an Iraqi Rambo. He is fighting among their volunteer ranks, supporting the Iraqi army in the battle to retake Tikrit from IS.
Days after IS moved against Mosul, June 9, 2014, Iraqi news outlets and other Arab media organizations honed in on Abu Azrael, depicting him as a fierce fighter battling IS. He sports a short beard, dresses in black and is often armed to the teeth. There have been dozens of videos uploaded to YouTube about the battles in which Abu Azrael has fought alongside the Iraqi security forces and volunteer fighters in Tikrit.
Social worker Mohammad Qasim told Al-Monitor, “The Iraqi Rambo Abu Azrael, with his beard and black clothes as marketed by the media, is the qualitative opposite of IS members, who are characterized by long beards, are always armed and are notorious for their cruelty. … Iraqi Shiites created Abu Azrael as a symbol of their strength by telling stories about his heroic adventures in battle and his invincibility, and as a response to the killings carried out by IS members, who on many occasions brag about killing Shiites.”
As an affirmation of the power embodied in the character of Abu Azrael, a symbol of heroism, young people and others repeat his famous saying, “Now, powder,” meaning crushing the enemy, turning them into powder. The catchphrase has now spread beyond Iraq. An Australian woman appeared in a recent YouTube video repeating the phrase.
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