Coordinated attacks perpetrated by the Islamic State (IS) movement in the heart of Paris on Nov. 13 last week shocked France and the global community.
Governments across the world quickly condemned these heinous acts against innocent civilians and warned that the fight against religious extremism, IS forming its latest strain, was far from over.
Aside from military means to counteract extremist operations, many wonder if the ideological battle can also be won.
The ideological battle entails preventing people from being seduced by extreme and pernicious ideologies that inspire them to commit acts of terrorism.
As IS rapidly expands its presence in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia, the importance of the ideological
…show more content…
Michaelis ventured into reading books and listening to lectures concerning racial equality from African-American leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. This process marked the beginning of Michaelis' own self de-radicalization.
During a recent discussion about the intersection of knowledge, technology and counterterrorism at the Declara office in Silicon Valley, I asked Michaelis what made him leave the racist skinhead organization that he had helped establish.
Through a hoarse voice, he said, 'compassion is very important to me. But also, I have always been curious and I've always wanted to learn other stuff. That is what I think made me leave.'
The Michaelis case is telling, for it illustrates that it is possible even for leaders of extreme organizations, not just their followers, to experience a complete cognitive shift by cultivating their curiosities.
Furthermore, extremist groups tend to be obsessed with the control and monopoly of information. Ingrained in their teachings is the idea that they hold all the truth and information that one will ever need. Since the truth is with them, others surely possess nothing but
…show more content…
Getting information or knowledge from other sources is strictly prohibited and often penalized. IS, for example, established a fatwa (edict) Department to codify its own Islamic teachings and made the Department's publications the only permitted source of reference in Islamic jurisprudence. It has also employed a religious police called Hisbah to enforce its draconian teachings.
IS brainwashes and molds its subjects into, as Thomas Aquinas warned, people of one book ' homo uniuslibri. In this already not-so-distant dystopia, IS plans to dissuade people from reading other books that fall out of line with its teachings. IS will try to create a parochial atmosphere where everything is observed and interpreted from only one lens.
When this intellectual insularity is compounded with a penchant for violence, the only plausible outcome is the production of bigoted and enslaved individuals who have only hammers. And for those who have only hammers, everyone else who contradicts their one-sided ideology appears to be a false idol waiting to be
Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. (MLK Jr. 223)
France in the recent years has been in the view and target area for the uprising ISIS. This terrorist group has targeted both the United States as well as France. The attacks here in the United States were not as grave as 9/11 or Oklahoma, but were still acts of terrorism that took the lives of Americans. The attacks were by gunfire and bombs that did not kill a great amount of people, the attack in pulse was the greatest mass shooting at the time, which is still a terroristic event, that was soon surpassed by the horrible Las Vegas shooting that left over 50 dead at a country music
The topic of mass shootings and terrorists attacks has been of particular attention to the American public this year. But the huge event that has truly shocked Americans was the November 13th attacks on Paris. In just a half hour gunmen and suicide bombers hit a concert hall, a major stadium, restaurants and bars, and left 130 people dead and almost four hundred wounded. The attacks on Paris monopolized the media, and soon no one found themselves ignorant of the events that occurred on that Friday the 13th. Immediately the world turned to France, and for the first time Americans were able to repay the French for their empathy shown after the tragedies on 9/11.
CNN reports on “Timeline: What happened in Paris attacks” on Friday, November 13th. In Paris, a deadly terrorist attack occurred,where seven of the terrorist were killed and they killed more than one hundred people. ISIS took responsibility for this attack. In a span of about thirty minutes, six attacks took place in different locations. This is attack is being called the worst terror attack in Europe in ten years.
Over the last months, many lamentable terrorist attacks have been taking place around the world, the most recent ones happening in the world famous Paris, the capital of France. Another older attack took place in the Garissa University College where many students were killed in their dormitories. The fact is that even though both events were terrible, we never paid attention to the attacks in Kenya than the most recent ones in Paris.
Al Qaeda uses this imagined war as a rallying cry to convince a small minority in the Muslim world to join its cause, as well as a justification for its actions – casting them as a “defensive jihad” against the enemies of the faith. In situations when the faith is attacked, according to Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, “each Muslim has an individual obligation to join the battle … this must be done by all Muslims,” and as Todd Helmus writes, “Al Qaeda thus calls Muslims to Islam 's defense.” (121)
On the evening of 13 November 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks—consisting of mass shootings, suicide bombings, and hostage-taking—took place in Paris, France. The attacks killed 129 people, not including 80 admitted to hospital as critically injured. Abedellah Taïa, author and resident of Paris, explored the broader implications of the attacks and life after the attacks not only for Paris and the Parisians, but for all Western Nations and the world.
Investigators believe the Paris attacks were planned in Belgium, suicide bombers trained in Syria and became terrorist’ in liaison with ISIS. “The Paris and Brussels plotters appear to have shared a bomb maker, Najim Laachraoui, 24, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, who is widely reported as having been one of the suicide bombers at the Brussels Airport.” (Rubin, 2016). This compounds the fear factor from the Paris attacks, that the suicide bombers were part of a wider trend of fighters from Syria and Iraq. The people of Brussel were also caught by surprise, much like the incident with the Oklahoma City bombing. The network was composed of people who knew each other for
On November 13, 2015, the French capital of Paris was brutally bombarded with one terrorist attack after another. These attacks are a few of the most tragic events to grip France since WWII. The attacks may not have lasted long, but they will leave an everlasting mark on the minds of the people of France. A lot happened within a short time frame, in other words. A few main points of interest are the people behind the attack, the locations that were targeted, and the overall response from French legislation.
How: A string of hostage situations, mass shootings, and suicide bombings were planned out and executed by ISIS to target Paris. Multiple slip ups in France’s security systems may have led to easier implementation of the plans, as well as the large and sudden influx of Syrian refugees coming from the
Fanatics and fanaticism have been written about and covered in many different ways by many different sources, but the one question they fail to adequately answer is “How do you deal with a fanatic?” In David Brook’s article “How to Engage a Fanatic” he covers this exact topic. This article was written during a turbulent time period, and Brooks takes advantage of that. He mentions Brexit, the Catalan independence movement, and dealing with extremism on college campuses. Brooks cites his personal experience as well as Stephen L. Carter’s book Civility as evidence towards his argument. He surmises that we cannot avoid fanaticism, as it is too prevalent given our current time, and that we must find a way to approach it.
Hatfill and Dr. Ivins. The FBI likely faced significant barriers to adaptive sensemaking, including the tumult of the 911 attacks and the vast organizational changes that were being undertaken as a result. Therefore, while there is little cause for casting blame, the FBI’s failures are both illustrative and educational in terms of how organizational culture can thwart sensemaking efforts at every
On November 15 ,2016 during Bastille Day Celebrations the capital of France was hit with its 3rd terrorist within 18 months. Mohammed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a truck filled with firearms and explosives down a promenade in Nice, France, killing 84 and injuring 100 people.Like they did after the Charlie Hebdo and Paris attacks, French Muslims are bracing for the backlash.
On November 13, 2015 Paris was stuck with a variety of attacks, which had a lasting impact on the culture in Paris, as well as many other places. There were a series of planned terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris, the capital of France, and a Northern suburb Saint-Denis. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took responsibility for these events just a few days after they occurred. They claimed that the reason behind this was due to a retaliation to the French. Not only did this striking event effect Paris and the surrounding cities, but it also effected many other people in different countries by watching the tragedy unfold. During these attacks hundreds were killed and many were injured. Paris has been in a state of mourning
Throughout history, there have been those who take a literalist point of view, interpreting texts and edicts at face value, and acting upon such statements with a very low degree of understanding. This has resulted in what is currently known as “extremism”, and has unfortunately become very prevalent in the world today. This can be seen through the many political and religious groups that misinterpret information and act off of their own beliefs in an attempt to practise a more radicalised version of their faith. While fundamentalism and extremism are possible in every belief and position one holds, religious extremism has become much more common in the present day. Religious groups across the world have been forming terrorist