The anguished mother of a US journalist held hostage by the bloodthirsty ISIS terrorists who beheaded another American newsman begged his captors in a video released Wednesday to spare him from the same horrible fate.
Freelance journalist Steven Sotloff, 31, who disappeared while reporting in Syria 12 months ago, appeared in an ISIS video last week showing the decapitation of American journalist James Foley.
In the video, broadcast Wednesday on Al Arabiya Network, Sotloff’s mother, Shirley speaks directly to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“My son Steven is in your hands. Steven is a journalist who traveled to the Middle East to cover the suffering of Muslims at the hands of tyrants. Steven is a loyal and generous son, brother and grandson,” Shirley Sotloff said in the rare public appeal. “He is an honorable man and has always tried to help the weak.”
In her determined plea, delivered with little emotion, but obvious anguish, Shirley Sotloff describes the pain of being apart from her son.
“We have not seen Steven in over a year and we miss him very much,” Shirley Sotloff says. “We want to see him home safe and sound and to hug him.”
She appealed to the terror leaders to abide by their religion.
“Since Steven’s capture, I have learned a lot about Islam,” she says. “I’ve heard that Islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others.”
Then she asks Bakr al-Baghdadi to apply that belief to her son.
“Steven has no control over the actions of the US government,” Shirley Sotloff says. “He’s an innocent journalist. I’ve always learned that you as the caliph can grant amnesty. I ask you to please release my child.”
Although her voice is soft, it never wavers. She wears a black blazer over a white blouse and is sitting in front of a closed curtain.
Steven Sotloff disappeared while reporting from Syria in August 2013, but his family kept the news secret, fearing he’d be harmed if they went public.
Out of public view, the family and a number of government agencies have been trying to gain Steven Sotloff’s release for the past year.
His mom’s plea for mercy is a rare public appeal in the face of ongoing terror.
“As a mother, I ask your justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over,” she says.
She mentions the Prophet Mohammed by name.
“I ask you to use your authority to spare his life and to follow the example set by the Prophet Mohammed, who protected people of the book,” Shirley Sotloff says.
Steven Sotloff, 31, grew up in South Florida with his mother, father and younger sister.
After graduating from college, he began taking Arabic classes and picked up freelance work with a number of publications, including Time, Foreign Policy, World Affairs and the Christian Science Monitor.
His work took him to Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and, eventually, Syria.
In addition to Steven Sotloff, ISIS is also holding two humanitarian- aid workers, a man and a woman. They are not being identified at their families’ request.
In the gruesome video of Foley’s murder, a militant warned that Steven Sotloff’s fate depends on what President Obama does next in Iraq.
A day later, Obama vowed the United States would be “relentless” in striking back against ISIS.
Sotloff’s mom closed her statement by saying she wants “what every mother wants — to live to see her children’s children.
“I plead with you to grant me this,” she says.