Many people believe that the pursuit of ISIS’s elements in Iraq, Syria and in the Arab world, as well as the pursuit of the remnants of Al Qaeda is sufficient to put an end to terrorism. As a matter of fact, this is not entirely true. Despite the extreme urgency to confront these two organizations, the world should not rely on confrontation because it is not the only way to eliminate the threat of terrorism.
There are several things about the terrorist phenomenon that the world does not want to talk about. What recently happened in Britain is perhaps a wake-up call that needs to be taken seriously. It is unacceptable to give statements to discharge accusations of Islam and Muslims as being responsible for terrorism, without diving into the true causes of this phenomenon.
It is true that extremist ideology exists in various parts of the Muslim world. Nonetheless, extremism has nothing to do with religious instructions. The Islamic religion has existed for more than 1,400 years but the world has been suffering from extremism and terrorism only in recent years. So, we must think wisely and conclude that the current wave of terrorism is not related to the essence of Islamic religion. People involved in this wave of terrorism claim defending the Islamic religion and raising its flag. After all, this does not mean linking these terrorist organizations to Islam, because terrorist crimes happen in the entire world and are committed by various creeds. However, Islam remains the only religion that receives the charge of terrorism.
The West knows that linking terrorism to Islam and taking actions that target Muslims is like a free gift to terrorist organizations. This facilitates the task of marketing the idea of hostility and war against the Islamic religion. Terrorism comes from, on one hand, the extremist interpretations of Islamic religion due to the decline of the role of religious institutions which have left an empty space to the groups of terrorism for decades. On the other hand, many Arab and Islamic countries have retreated from their social and developmental roles resulting in a huge vacuum filled up by terrorist groups. These organizations have assumed a social role in the political and religious propaganda to attract thousands of people to their political ideology which is based on the denial of the State and the idea of reviving the Caliphate.
There are also two vital issues that promote terrorism which are related to the Arab and Muslim world as well as the West. Underdevelopment, corruption, unemployment, and the failure of educational, health and social systems in various Arab and Islamic countries caused the spread of terrorist thoughts among young people. We also find that marginalization, exclusion and failure of containment policies allow right-wing extremist and racist groups to display further hostility against Islam in the West. These issues have unsettled social stability in Western societies through radical ideology and the spread of hatred and incitement. Several Western countries allowed the presence of terrorist organizations on their territory under claims of respecting human rights, freedom and that these organizations are being monitored by these States, whereas the real goal was having a card to play as a political pressure on some Arab regimes to achieve certain objectives.
There are also geostrategic reasons that cannot be separated from the terrorist phenomenon. Most obviously, the international and regional conflicts have had a prominent role, during previous historical stages, in supporting and supervising this ideology and even providing weapons. For instance, during the Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan, the United States introduced jihadists to fight against the Soviet armies.
There are also reasons related to cases of occupation unresolved for decades, despite the end of the colonial era. Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands is still a major Arab issue that is employed by terrorist organizations in recruitment and polarization, despite the fact that these organizations do not have any intention to act against Israel.
What recently happened in the UK is a risk that we should consider carefully. The person involved in the terrorist crime was born there and had already been subject to investigations that are unrelated to terrorism. British Prime Minister confirmed that the British security services did not have any clue about the intention of this person to carry out a terrorist attack. The person has not been arrested given the fact that he had no links to terrorism.
ISIS cliamed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued by its news agency (Aamaq). This raises questions about the relation between conventional criminals and terrorist organizations. Is there a new kind of alliance between conventional crime and terrorist organizations? Criminals are not suspected of terrorism in various countries. So, are these organizations recruiting these criminals and simply using them to commit crimes for their interest in exchange of money?
Specialist researchers state that marginalization is the greatest danger in Western societies. Terrorist organizations use it to convince the marginalized people that the free society where they live discriminates against them because of religion and ethnicity. According to several studies, the majority of extremists in the West were the most frustrated and marginalized people in society.
The problem in the West seems deeper than in the Muslim world. In fact, the existence of about five million Muslims in Britain requires a precise vision that can strategically separate Islam from terrorism, so as not to fall into the trap of terrorist propaganda in this country. Furthermore, it is necessary to promote cooperation with the moderate Islamic countries in order to uncover the truth of some groups and organizations which are wrongly affiliated with Islam in the West.
Terrorism, this complex phenomenon that requires consciousness to avoid its evils in the whole world, instead of following the path of Islamophobia, is globalizing.
