And if he wasn’t Jewish they would have found another reason.

Via INN:

The Islamic State terror group (also known as ISIS or ISIL) recently released what it says was a letter written by murdered American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff just days before his execution, and justifies his killing by noting that he was a Jew.

Sotloff was beheaded by ISIS days after the first such execution of another journalist, James Foley, in revenge for a US-led air campaign against the jihadi group in Iraq. As the campaign spread to Syria, two other hostages – British aid workers David Haines and Alan Hennings – were similarly executed.

In the latest issue of ISIS’s English-language magazine, Dabiq, the group responds to criticism of its decision to systematically execute journalists and aid workers by citing Sotloff’s Jewish heritage and Israeli citizenship.

“The case of Steven Sotloff contains a direct refutation against those who portray western journalism and humanitarian aid as purely innocent, for this man was a Jew and citizen of the Jewish state,” the article read.

It went on to note that apart from working for several major US publications such as TIME, Foreign Policy and Christian Science Monitory, Sotloff also did freelance work for two Israeli publications: the Jerusalem Post and the Jerusalem Report.