August 26, 2014

Call them pathetic figures, not holy fighters, nor martyrs!

editor:	Murat Suner

In 2008, a classified briefing note on radicalisation, prepared by MI5’s behavioural science unit, was leaked to the Guardian. It revealed that, “far from being religious zealots, a large number of those involved in terrorism do not practise their faith regularly. Many lack religious literacy and could ... be regarded as religious novices.” writes Mehdi Hasan in New Republic.

The Guardian further says the analysts concluded that “a well-established religious identity actually protects against violent radicalization.”

The evidence goes back to two young Jihadists Yusuf Sarwar and Mohamed Ahmed who set out from Birmingham last year to fight in Syria for... actually for what?

According to Amazon's database Yusuf Sarwar and Mohamed Ahmed, both of whom pleaded guilty to terrorism offences last month, purchased "Islam for Dummies" and "The Koran for Dummies". Doesn't that tell the story?

Consequently, former MI6 chief Richard Dearlove calls this sort of people “pathetic figures,” instead of holy warriors or martyrs.

Against this backdrop, Mehdi Hasan concludes: "If we want to tackle jihadism, we need to stop exaggerating the threat these young men pose and giving them the oxygen of publicity they crave, and start highlighting how so many of them lead decidedly un-Islamic lives."

Wouldn't that be a much more prudent way to offer public opinion an alternative seeing the true face of these phenomena, instead of boosting outrage for the sake of sheer and false attention?