FDD: "Radicalization of Muslim youth: a self-fulfilling prophecy?"

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« Iranian Visa Office? (RWC) | Main | Europe must distinguish between Islam and Jihadism »

July 05, 2008

"Radicalization of Muslim youth: a self-fulfilling prophecy?"

Phares at the European Policy Center

Brussels, the European Parliament, European Foundation for Democracy, Future Terrorism Project. June 30, 2008

As part of his tour under the auspices of the European Foundation for Democracy, Professor Walid Phares gave a lecture at the European Policy Center (EPC) under the title of "Radicalization of Muslim Youth: se self fulfilling prophecy." In partnership with the King Baudouin Foundation, the EPC describes itself as an independent Think Tank at the cutting edge of European Union affairs. The lecture series is under the EU integration and Citizenship program.

The event was chaired by Mrs Shada Islam, Senior Program Executive of EPC and attended by many diplomats including representatives from the embassies of Afghanistan, Singapore, Indonesia, US, Canada, Romania, Austria, Malaysia, Japan, UK, Poland, the European Commission, the Council of Europe and members of the European Parliament. Also representatives from NGOs including the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, European Students Forum, the Institute for Community Cohesion and the Futures Institute of the University of Coventry, Conrad Adenauer Institute, Church and Society Commission of CEC, Center for Equal Opportunity and Opposition to Racism, Comite Permanent de Controle des Services de Renseignments, the Commission of the Bishops Conferences of the EC, and the East West Institute. Also attended the director of the European Foundation for Democracy Roberta Bonazzi and the senior staff.

Following is the summary of the event as posted by the EPC.

Event Report: Radicalization of Muslim youth: a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Quote: "The EU must confront the threat of Jihadism through national security policies to prevent more terrorist attacks in Europe, long-term EU measures to address the tensions which fan this violence, and measures to prevent it spreading outside Europe’s borders, Walid Phares, Visiting Fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy, told an EPC Policy Briefing held in cooperation with the King Baudouin Foundation. An open debate with democratic forces in the Arab and Muslim world is also crucial." Shada Islam

Walid Phares, visiting fellow, European Foundation for Democracy, said the radicalization of Muslim youth impacts on both EU internal and external activities, including on its national economies and security, so policies are needed to confront the growth of Jihadism, which is a recruiting ground for young Muslims. "The inability of understanding the roots of this growth in militant and ideological activities is a main reason for the need to debate it and propose better responses to the challenges."

Dr Phares offering his remarks

It is important, said Phares that "Europeans identifies the phenomenon of Jihadism, understand why their perception of it was compromised for so long, and move forward to design new more efficient policies to contain it." Phares expanded as follows:

1) Identification:

a. While Jihadists may have local demands in the various European countries, they still have one ideological display, mostly Salafi Jihadism. When one examines the ideological roots of almost all cases of violence, a unified doctrinal background is clearly detected. Next to Salafism, Khomeinism can also be found.

b. A battle of Identification has been taking place for years between a school of analysis claiming that at the roots of Jihadism are European Foreign Policies, economic disparities and socio-psychological tensions; and another opposing school raising the issue of theological issues behind violence. But in reality, and despite the impact of all the above components, it is an "ideology" which has been found systematically at the strategic roots of the strikes and Terror activities.

c. This ideology has a history beginning in the 1920s with the Wahsbis and the Muslim Brotherhoods and as of 1979 with the Khomeinists; it has developed global strategies; and as we can see clearer now, it waged three wars of ideas to confuse its foes, democracies."

EPC Reporting on the lecture

Summarizing the lecture, the EPC newsletter reported that Phares said that a national security policy is needed to prevent future incidents of Jihadist terrorism like those in Spain in 2004 and the UK in 2005; secondly, the EU needs to take long-term measures to address the civil and urban tensions which fan this violence; and thirdly, the Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy needs to include measures to prevent it spreading outside Europe’s borders.

What is Jihad?

Mr Phares said Western governments have not been able to deal with the Jihadist threat, as they have not fully understood how it is growing both in Europe and in Muslim countries, so the first step is to define Jihadism, in order to be able to prevent it.

Jihadism is the movement for those who follow Jihad, and is a particularly radical interpretation of Islam, but the Jihadism as a religious movement has been “transformed” into an ideology. It responds both to local demands - for example, it is used as a recruiting ground by appealing to people’s discontent over the handling of issues such as immigration, or internal security, and Jihad also has a broader world “vision”.

Jihadism has two branches: Salafism, based on Wahhibist thought, developed by the Muslim brotherhood during the early part of the 20^th century, and now espoused by second- and third-generation Salafists; and Khomeinism, based on the strand of Shiism developed by Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

Dr Phares with moderator Mrs Shada Islam during the discussion period

Mr Phares disagreed with those who argue that Jihadism is essentially a school of thought which has developed as a reaction to Western foreign policy in the Middle East. He pointed out that it began in the 1920s, long before the Arab-Israeli conflict.

He also disagreed with those who claim that the Jihadist movement is born out of frustration over economic disparities, pointing out that its supporters come from all levels of society - while some are poor, many are engineers or doctors and it is funded by members of rich upper-class Muslim benefactors.

The failure to see the rise of the Jihadist movement

Mr Phares said the world had failed to detect the rise of the Salafist movement, which was founded in the 1920s and became more visible from 1945 onwards, during the period of de-colonization. At this time, the Jihadists were able to inject their ideology into anti-colonialist thinking, through educating young men in the network of madrasas or religious schools founded throughout the Muslim world thanks to support from oil-rich Arab nations.

Jihadism achieved greater prominence after 1990 and the collapse of the Soviet Union, which Jihadists see as a “defining moment”.

The Jihadists were able to expel Soviet troops from Afghanistan, and when this was followed by the - totally unrelated - collapse of the USSR, they believed their actions had brought down one of the strongest countries on earth. They took this as a sign that, despite the huge imbalance of forces, they had won, through Allah’s intervention. So, they argued, what can the West do in the face of such a movement?

Currently, there are two branches of Jihadism: the realists and the radicals. The realists do not believe in engaging with the major powers such as the EU or the US, so take their fight elsewhere - to Chechnya or the Philippines. They also believe in biding their time until they are strong enough to win.

The radicals, on the other hand, believe in taking immediate action - for example, Osama Bin Laden’s attack on the Twin Towers. They argue that this will provoke engagement with the West and Allah will intervene to grant them success. Realists within Al-Qaeda have recently criticized Bin Laden for carrying out the 9/11 attacks when he could not win the larger battle.

Dealing with Jihadists

Mr Phares outlined several measures which would help prevent the spread of Jihadism.

The first is to define the ideology so one knows who one is dealing with.

The second is to work with the moderates in the Arab and Muslim world to define Jihadist ideology, and Mr Phares was scathing about what he described as “the battle of the lexicon”, in which Western policy-makers draw up a list of words to be avoided in order not to fan Muslim-Western tensions.

Thirdly, one should explain to the public exactly what Jihadism is trying to achieve and the disasters that will result if its proponents are not stopped.

Fourthly, one should encourage an open debate about both the theology and the politics of Jihadism. The “tipping point” will be reached when one can engage with the democratic forces in the Arab and Muslim world. In Europe, the debate should include all Arab and Muslim communities, giving a space for all political and religious forces - not just the Salafists or the Khomeinists - to speak (End of EPC Reporting)

Posted by Walid Phares at 08:09 AM | Permalink

Comments

"Mr Phares said the world had failed to detect the rise of the Salafist movement,..."

This is a most important part of the talk. The Jihadist's are just the violent or overt part of tha Salafist movement. The Salafist tradition is that Islam is the one true faith and that the world must brought under the umbrella of Islam. Salafist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, and its successor organizations such as CAIR, work within a society to expand the influence of Islam. What is worse, takeover by stealth or violence?

"...The second is to work with the moderates in the Arab and Muslim world to define Jihadhist ideology, and Mr Phares was scathing about what he described as “the battle of the lexicon”, in which Western policy-makers draw up a list of words to be avoided in order not to fan Muslim-Western tensions..."

One of the greatest problems in the Western world at this time is the influence of Salafist groups on Western governments. In the US, despite its small membership, CAIR has a great influence on the Federal governments approach to Islam and Jihadism in particular.

Governments have to remove Salafist advisors from their midst.

Posted by: davod | July 06, 2008 at 08:46 AM

"Mr Phares said the world had failed to detect the rise of the Salafist movement,..."

Governments have to remove Salafist advisors from their midst.

Posted by: davod | July 06, 2008 at 08:48 AM

Although one may not logically or pragmatically encourage to refute the arguments offered by Dr Phares, yet there is no valid justification to give linkage of so called radicalization/ Jehadism to the ideology of political Islam. Europe may take all prevent measures to halt this phenomenon of radicalization of Muslim youth without exercising any means of cultural and political polarization towards the Muslim Youth living in Europe.

Posted by: Syed Qamar Afzal Rizvi | July 23, 2008 at 01:03 AM

Phares made a crucial point: The rise of Jihadism is the work of Jihadi indoctrination in as much as the rise of Nazism was the work of the national socialists. Socio-economic problems are a constant factir with constant evolution, but the ideological factor can make a difference in socialization and violence. Disenfranchized immigrants can become marxists, anarchists, fascists or Jihadists, or follow the path of hard work and reform and climb the scales of self empowerment. It is the network of well funded Jihadism that transforms them into suicide bombers not the socio-economic pressures. Political Islam or not, there is a direct link between the ideology of Jihadism and Terrorism. Simple.

Posted by: Sami Malek | July 26, 2008 at 12:41 AM

ATTN: News Editor
Press Statement

International Religious and Spiritual Leader H.E. Shah Sufi Saleh Uddin Ahmed Chisty Gives A Clarion Call to Establish the Religious Brotherhood on the light of Abrahamic Faith.

“The patriarch of all the believers of Allah (God), i.e. Jews, Christians, and Muslims is Prophet Ibrahim (Peace be upon him, Abraham, PBUH). He built the Kaaba in Makkah with his first-born son Ismael (Peace be upon him, PBUH). This was an order from Allah (SWT) that Ibrahim and Ismael (PBUT) construct this Holy House of Allah (SWT) as a place of worship for all the believers on earth. Ismael (Peace be upon him, PBUH) was 17 at the time he and his father built the Kaaba. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him, PBUH), a descendent of the Prophet Ismael (Peace be upon him, PBUH), would come nearly 2,500 years after Kaaba was built and reunify it as a holy place of worship, according to the teachings of the Prophet Ibrahim (Peace be upon him, PBUH). As stated in the Torah and in the Holy Quran "all the generations will be blessed through Ibrahim (Peace be upon him, PBUH)" (Genesis 12 and 18 Holy Bible, Chp 2 Verses 123-141 Holy Quran).”

Dear Religious and Spiritual Leaders,

I wish to plead and make a fervent call to all my brothers/sisters across the world through the courtesy of this letter in carrying forward, upholding the message of Allah (God), His love for mankind, and ensuring lasting peace in a troubled world. The purpose of portraying my call upon all revered world leaders, politicians, and heads of states, policy makers, academicians, and civil society, spiritual and religious leaders is aimed at removing mistrust, misunderstandings the world is unnecessarily obsessed with, we have to liberate the world of undue tensions and wrangling.

My dear revered brothers and sisters, I have been working tirelessly for establishing peace for nearly twenty-five years. We are definitely running out of time. Everyday a large number of innocent lives are taking their toll for no fault of their own. This has to be arrested. The burning question is how this can be arrested? We can only achieve this by arriving at a common consensus and share our noble vision, thoughts, pooling our energy, resources, dialogs based on religious and spiritual concepts together on one common platform and thus thrust all our force in that direction without further wastage of time. Our Holy Books and Scriptures are the source of eternal light to erase all such misconceptions and misgivings. These sacred books as ordained by Allah (God) are irrevocable. It is enshrined and has come to us as an eternal source of strength, driving force sent through our Holy prophets at different times for the betterment of mankind. Unfortunately, we have not been able to use and exploit this to our advantage, as was the enlightened desire of Allah, through His Divine prophets. We are potentially still a force to reckon with on the driving seat to harness our good virtues for the peace of the world.

It is therefore imperative, I feel, that concerted effort needed to renew our honest will to establish the doctrines of Allah in this world, in thoughts, words and deeds, if not we are bound to perish and vanish from the good book of Allah. Politicians, policy and lawmakers and religious leaders of all faith, belief has to work in close conjunction in order to materialize our dream for a world of progress and prosperity. My thoughts go out for the oppressed and the depressed. It is true, many thought provoking, peace loving individuals, groups are working in reducing tension and conflicts, but unfortunately not much has been achieved. It is only through the doctrine of preaching love and respect for families under Allah (God) and the teachings of His innumerable prophets that were sent for the welfare of mankind at different times can bring about welfare, happiness of mankind.

Followers of the Abrahamic faith having one common ancestral root in fact preach love and peace, religious harmony, having sprung from one land. This indeed is a big boon and blessing that we can be proud of. It is time for reality and not rhetoric. It is through this vehicle that we can effectively mobilize our engine together by bringing the Abrahamic faith of all religious faiths together for establishing lasting peace. I have been running all over the world relentlessly making sincere effort to preach the ideology of Islamic Sufism as enunciated and preached by our Holy prophet Hazrat Mohammad (Peace be upon him, PBUH) who inherits the fundamentals of Hazrat Abraham (Peace be upon him) as are also firmly rooted in the common ideology of our Jews and Christian brothers.

I am convinced that we can march forward in our common goals and gospel without further delay, in fostering synchronization on the principles of our common glorious heritage. I would like to make a call upon all world leaders to form a consensus to ensure that this can be established. Unfortunately in recent years, Islam has been widely misunderstood and there lies one of the saddest tragedies of our contemporary world. We believe that our prophets who had all been sent and ordained by Allah were His peaceful messengers for the spread of fraternal brotherhood and live in peaceful coexistence.

Website: http:// www.chistypcciis.org