Historian and scholar of Mosul, the author of "Mosul Eye," documented the city's transition to Islamic State rule through a clandestine blog.
Historian and scholar of Mosul, the author of "Mosul Eye," remained inside the Iraqi city during its 2014 fall to the Islamic State to provide an accurate record of the occupation. While many residents fled as the Iraqi Army dissolved, the author chose to stay and document the transition from a public voice to a hidden recorder to avoid immediate capture. The author established an anonymous blog to counter the fabrications and sensationalized stories spread by both the Islamic State and outside media. By recording specific facts—such as the demolition of the al-Fatih al-Mosuli shrine and the daily price of bread—the author sought to prevent the occupiers from becoming the sole authors of the city's history. The author noted that the Islamic State viewed the conquest as a religious destiny, yet the primary goal of the documentation was to preserve the city's memory against the systematic dismantling of its historical and cultural identity.