Sunday, July 24, 2011 7:17:32 AM
Norway, Islam and the threat of the West
After Oslo was rocked by a deadly explosion and a shooting massacre killed dozens on Utoya Island, initial speculation blamed 'Islamic terror groups' - revealing fears and prejudices inherent to many in the West
[REUTERS]
Dismissing this murderous act as the work of "a lone madman" ignores a more detailed study of the killer's motivation.
Ibrahim Hewitt
Last Modified: 23 Jul 2011 14:52
A few years ago, the respected Cambridge scholar T J Winter, also known by his Muslim name of Abdal Hakim Murad, gave a fascinating lecture to Humanities staff and students at the University of Leicester. The title was "Islam and the threat of the West", turning on its head the more usual - then and now - "Islam and the threat to the West".
It was a novel approach which, in a nutshell, illustrated that, historically, aggression has been directed more from Europe to the Muslim world than the other way round. His evidence for such a view was impeccably sourced.
I thought about Abdal Hakim's talk this morning as I read the reports coming in of the dreadful bombing and shooting in Norway wherein, of course, there was speculation that these two events were "Islamic-terror related". No doubt we will learn more over the coming days, but the early signs are, in fact, that the perpetrator was a "blond, blue-eyed Norwegian" with "political traits towards the right, and anti-Muslim views". Not surprisingly, the man's intentions were neither linked to these "traits", nor to his postings on "websites with Christian fundamentalist tendencies". Any influence "remains to be seen"; echoes of Oklahoma 1995.
Interestingly, this criminal is described by one unnamed Norwegian official as a "madman". He may well be, but this is one way that the motivations for heinous crimes can be airbrushed out of the story before they have the chance to take hold in the popular imagination.
Closing the book
In 1969, for example, Denis Michael Rohan, an Australian Christian who set fire to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, was dismissed as a "madman" and sent for psychiatric treatment; end of story. The right-wing fundamentalists plotting to destroy the mosque, and the nearby Dome of the Rock, lived to fight another day. I suspect that that is what will happen with the Norwegian bomber/shooter; his right-wing links and Christian fundamentalist contacts will be dismissed as irrelevant. This, we will be told, was the work of a "deranged" person "acting independently". Ergo, the only organised "terror threats" to civilisation are still "Islamic-related" and the focus of anti-terror legislation and efforts must remain in the Muslim world and on Muslim communities in Europe and the USA.
If we allow this to happen, we will be doing the world a great disservice, not least because the new right is on the rise across the West - and Oklahoma was proof that its followers are capable of immense destruction.
Neo-Nazi immigrants from Eastern Europe have even been active in Israel where the government, while deploring such far-right activity in its midst is actually edging ever more to the far-right on a daily basis. Ministers advocate the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in order to purify Israel as a "Jewish state"; precious human rights for which the world has struggled are overridden in the name of "state security"; criminals in uniform are allowed to get away, quite literally, with murder.
All of this takes place with the collusion of Western governments which are themselves showing right-wing tendencies towards double-speak on matters of respect and tolerance for minorities. If you are even remotely "different" in Europe today, especially if you are a Muslim, you are eyed with suspicion and must go out of your way to "prove" your loyalty to a state which, if the truth was made known, would get rid of you if only it had the guts to pass the necessary legislation to do so. In some cases, such legislation is virtually in place in the guise of "anti-terror" measures.
All of this is backed by a vociferous and influential right-wing media which supports Israel right or wrong - and a pro-Israel lobby which acts as if it is untouchable. Given the political context across the West, it probably is.
Attacks against the left
It is significant that the target of the Norwegian "madman" appears to have been the left-leaning Labour Party, both in Oslo and on the island where the shootings took place. Across Europe, the left has been forming alliances with Muslim groups to fight fascism and racism of all kinds, and it cannot be a coincidence that The politics of multiculturalism in the new Europe, a collection of essays from across the continent, published in 1997, concluded almost without exception that "the challenge" facing Europe was the presence of large Muslim communities in "our" midst. Anyone who claims therefore, that the perpetrator's "right-wing traits" and "anti-Muslim views", or even links with "Christian fundamentalist" websites are irrelevant is trying to draw a veil over the unacceptable truths of such "traits" and expecting us to believe that right-wing ideology is incapable of prompting someone towards such criminality.
Of course, that idea is nonsensical. Right-wing ideology was behind the Holocaust; it has been behind most anti-Semitism and other racism around the world; the notion of Europe's and Europeans' racial superiority - giving cultural credibility to the far-right - gave rise to the slave trade and the scramble for Africa leading to untold atrocities against "the Other"; ditto in the Middle and Far East. Ironically, it is also far-right Zionism - far from the socialist myths of Zionist pioneers in the 1930s and before - which has been behind the ethnic cleansing of Palestine throughout the 20th century, right up to today, as a specific policy to be pursued - by military means if necessary.
This is well-documented and yet ignored by our political masters. In the context of the latest apparently far-right atrocities in Norway, it is equally ironic that the word in English for a traitor who collaborates with an enemy power stems from Major Vidkun Quisling who ruled Norway on behalf of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
We dismiss this "madman" as a one-off "not linked to any international terrorist organisations" at our peril. If nothing else, history has shown us that such ideologies are trans-national across and beyond the West, with catastrophic effects on the rest of the world. We have been warned.
Education and media consultant Ibrahim Hewitt is the chair of trustees of the Palestinian Relief and Development fund [ http://www.interpal.org.uk/ ] and is Senior Editor of the Middle East Monitor [ http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/ ]. He is also a trustee of Creative Arts Schools Trust [ http://creativeartstrust.org/home/ ].
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
Copyright 2011 Al Jazeera Network (emphasis in original)
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/2011723135619293955.html [with comments]
===
Why We Were Attacked in Norway
Jalees Rehman, M.D. [ http://huffingtonpost.com/jalees-rehman ]
Scientist and Physician
Posted: 7/23/11 09:10 AM ET
The news about the terrorist attacks that took place yesterday in Norway kept on getting worse and worse. First, we heard that a massive bomb blast took place in the heart of Oslo, causing major destruction and chaos. Then came the news about a subsequent related attack on the island of Utøya, where a gunman had killed at least 10 people attending a youth camp of the Workers' Youth League (Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking), which is affiliated with the governing social democratic Labor Party of Norway (Arbeiderpartiet). As if this was not horrifying enough, we later found out that at least 80 people had been murdered [ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/23/norway-attack-utoya-shooting-oslo ] in the youth camp and that many of the shooting victims were children. The gunman was apprehended and the suspect has been identified as Anders Behring Breivik, who has a purported Facebook account and he has left a number of comments on political websites, which are currently being analyzed by the police. It is not clear what his motives were, whether he acted alone or as part of a group and whether he suffers from a mental illness. During the next days, we are bound to find out more, as Norway recovers from this shock and its police force conducts all the necessary investigations.
One of the key questions that arose initially was whether the terrorist attacks had been conducted by religious extremists or by domestic political extremists. The initial preliminary clues do not suggest any obvious link between the suspect Anders Behring Breivik and religious extremism. However, the comments that he allegedly made on the political website www.document.no [ http://www.document.no/ ] suggest that Breivik strongly disliked multiculturalism, immigrant culture, left-wing or "Marxist" ideas [ http://www.document.no/anders-behring-breivik/ ], and felt that traditional Norwegian values were being threatened by multiculturalists, Muslims and left-wing politics.
Breivik's comments are quite characteristic of the growing far-right political movements in Europe, therefore it is quite possible that the motives for his terrorist acts may have been in part influenced by this right-wing extremist ideology. Breivik's dislike for left-wing politicians may also explain why he chose a youth camp of the social democratic Labor Party as a target for his attack. The tragic irony is that in many ways, right-wing extremists in Europe who promote a culture of hatred against mostly Muslim immigrants are not too dissimilar from Muslim right wing extremists, who in turn try to promote a culture of hatred against "unbelievers." Both groups strongly resist the progressive-liberal values that are represented by the center-left political parties, both groups want to replace multiculturalism and tolerance of the "other" with a more homogeneous and traditional society, and members of both groups have shown that they are willing to use violent means to achieve their goals.
One of the biggest shocks to all of us was that these attacks occurred in Norway, which is characterized by an open and peaceful society. However, if one looks at it from the perspective of religious or political right-wing extremists, Norway is exactly the kind of country that would offend such extremists. The fact that the society in Norway is tolerant, peaceful, promotes progressive-liberal values, provides strong welfare support, while maintaining a high level of quality of life must be a thorn in the flesh of right-wing extremists. This is why the response to these horrifying events has to be cautious. When I heard the Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg respond to the attacks by saying "You will not destroy us, you will not destroy our democracy and our idea for a better world," [ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/07/22/norways-prime-minister-je_n_907386.html ] I felt a great sense of relief and some pride in being a progressive-liberal European. If the ultimate goal of right-wing extremists is to undermine our core values and try to force our hand by giving up the tolerant and open societies we have built in Europe, we cannot let them win.
One of the most painful aspects of the massacre yesterday is the murder of the children. These teenagers were attending the political youth camp to promote values such as tolerance, social justice and peace. Their participation was a sign of their commitment to further improve our society, and in this sense, they are heroes similar to the firefighters and policeman who died during the September 11, 2001 attacks in the line of duty. We will mourn the victims of all these terror attacks and we can hope and pray that their families will recover from their grief. At the same time, we also need to look towards the future and work together so that we can try to prevent such attacks from happening again. Recognizing the right-wing extremist threat is just the first step. We then have to develop short-term and long-term strategies to counter this threat without sacrificing our core liberal progressive values. We owe this to the victims.
Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jalees-rehman/why-we-were-attacked-in-n_b_907567.html [with comments]
===
Grappling with EXTREMISM: All Blends
Steve Clemons
Jul 23 2011, 11:21 AM ET
The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin
jumped to the conclusion [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/norway-bombing/2011/03/29/gIQAB4D3TI_blog.html (at http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=65487026 )] that radical Islamists and/or al Qaeda had a hand in Norway's double tragedy yesterday. This is not a crime; what was out of line was that she exploited the incident before we knew more to pound legislators for flipping the gravity switch on the Pentagon's budget.
Yesterday's event had one element that made this look like a possible al Qaeda terrorist incident -- complexity. A bomb in Oslo and a linked shooting and mass slaughter at a youth camp had the appearance of planning, a hallmark of al Qaeda's terrorism. A friend of James Fallows suggests [ http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/a-norwegian-view-on-the-mutation-of-jihad/242403/ ] that some fanatical, right wing groups may be adopting the techniques of al Qaeda.
Many others jumped in the direction that this 'might' be an al Qaeda-linked event, including my colleague Max Fisher [ http://www.theatlantic.com/max-fisher/ ] -- who nonetheless properly and cautiously wrote in his piece [ http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/al-qaedas-problem-with-norway/242352/ ]: "So far, the cause of the explosion is unknown, as is the culprit."
Given how publics in Europe and America have been conditioned to turn a blind eye [ http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/jennifer-rubins-fear-mongering/242401/ ] to domestic, right wing terrorism inside their own societies for the easier to blame-and-fear fanaticism abroad, it's not surprising that we don't think first of Timothy McVeigh as a template for what the world just witnessed in Norway and rather think of 9/11.
But the real problem is extremism writ large -- and there are some interesting meetings, perspectives and resources emerging that deal with extremism in all corners of our societies.
[embedded video]
I am impressed by the work of Quilliam [ http://quilliamfoundation.org/ ], which dubs itself the world's first counter-extremism think tank. In the above TED Edinburgh July 2011 video, Quilliam Executive Director Maajid Nawaz addresses fanatical terrorism both in Islamic societies as well as from right wing radical corners in developed countries. It's a fascinating 18-minute talk which reflects on his own 13 years as a transnational radical Islamist.
In a report issued by Quilliam this morning, I found this framing by the organization's head of research constructive:
'The tragic events in Norway show that extremism, violence and terrorism are not confined to any one race or religion. There are extremists in all communities and all societies. Often at the root of such extremism is an irrational hatred of others, a blind acceptance of conspiracy theories and a web of simplistic but ultimately false narratives and ideologies. All too often, as events in Norway show, this toxic combination can lead to the de-humanisation of other human beings and to the use of violence against the innocent
'Extremism and i.ntolerance - regardless of whether it comes from far-right nationalists or far-right Islamists - is a threat to us all. The only lasting cure for such violence is to challenge the ideas and attitudes that underpin it. We must be less tolerant of intolerant and hate-preaching, wherever it comes from. In addition, we must create shared civil society challenges to such extremism, ideally through uniting Muslims and non-Muslim in common cause against all forms of extremism.
'While the main terrorist threat to democratic societies around the world still comes from Islamist extremists, events in Norway are a reminder that white far-right extremism is also a major and possibly growing threat. While governments must maintain their focus on the Islamist threat they must also clearly pay greater attention to extremist groups on the right. In particular governments should be aware that Brievik seems to have partly radicalised himself online. Radical right-wing and anti-Muslim websites and those who post on them clearly merit much greater scrutiny in future.'
Another interesting recent 'convening [ http://www.againstviolentextremism.org/ ]' on this subject was organized in June of this year in Dublin. The meeting -- sponsored by Google, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Tribeca Film Festival -- focuses on extremism "wherever it may occur."
Episodes like the one that has just tragically erupted in Norway shouldn't be exploited by fear-mongerers, but should be used to turn the spotlight on ourselves, to better understand where extremism of any kind comes from and what can be done to roll it back.
Copyright © 2011 by The Atlantic Monthly Group
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/07/grappling-with-extremism-all-blends/242405/ [with comments]
After Oslo was rocked by a deadly explosion and a shooting massacre killed dozens on Utoya Island, initial speculation blamed 'Islamic terror groups' - revealing fears and prejudices inherent to many in the West
[REUTERS]
Dismissing this murderous act as the work of "a lone madman" ignores a more detailed study of the killer's motivation.
Ibrahim Hewitt
Last Modified: 23 Jul 2011 14:52
A few years ago, the respected Cambridge scholar T J Winter, also known by his Muslim name of Abdal Hakim Murad, gave a fascinating lecture to Humanities staff and students at the University of Leicester. The title was "Islam and the threat of the West", turning on its head the more usual - then and now - "Islam and the threat to the West".
It was a novel approach which, in a nutshell, illustrated that, historically, aggression has been directed more from Europe to the Muslim world than the other way round. His evidence for such a view was impeccably sourced.
I thought about Abdal Hakim's talk this morning as I read the reports coming in of the dreadful bombing and shooting in Norway wherein, of course, there was speculation that these two events were "Islamic-terror related". No doubt we will learn more over the coming days, but the early signs are, in fact, that the perpetrator was a "blond, blue-eyed Norwegian" with "political traits towards the right, and anti-Muslim views". Not surprisingly, the man's intentions were neither linked to these "traits", nor to his postings on "websites with Christian fundamentalist tendencies". Any influence "remains to be seen"; echoes of Oklahoma 1995.
Interestingly, this criminal is described by one unnamed Norwegian official as a "madman". He may well be, but this is one way that the motivations for heinous crimes can be airbrushed out of the story before they have the chance to take hold in the popular imagination.
Closing the book
In 1969, for example, Denis Michael Rohan, an Australian Christian who set fire to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, was dismissed as a "madman" and sent for psychiatric treatment; end of story. The right-wing fundamentalists plotting to destroy the mosque, and the nearby Dome of the Rock, lived to fight another day. I suspect that that is what will happen with the Norwegian bomber/shooter; his right-wing links and Christian fundamentalist contacts will be dismissed as irrelevant. This, we will be told, was the work of a "deranged" person "acting independently". Ergo, the only organised "terror threats" to civilisation are still "Islamic-related" and the focus of anti-terror legislation and efforts must remain in the Muslim world and on Muslim communities in Europe and the USA.
If we allow this to happen, we will be doing the world a great disservice, not least because the new right is on the rise across the West - and Oklahoma was proof that its followers are capable of immense destruction.
Neo-Nazi immigrants from Eastern Europe have even been active in Israel where the government, while deploring such far-right activity in its midst is actually edging ever more to the far-right on a daily basis. Ministers advocate the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in order to purify Israel as a "Jewish state"; precious human rights for which the world has struggled are overridden in the name of "state security"; criminals in uniform are allowed to get away, quite literally, with murder.
All of this takes place with the collusion of Western governments which are themselves showing right-wing tendencies towards double-speak on matters of respect and tolerance for minorities. If you are even remotely "different" in Europe today, especially if you are a Muslim, you are eyed with suspicion and must go out of your way to "prove" your loyalty to a state which, if the truth was made known, would get rid of you if only it had the guts to pass the necessary legislation to do so. In some cases, such legislation is virtually in place in the guise of "anti-terror" measures.
All of this is backed by a vociferous and influential right-wing media which supports Israel right or wrong - and a pro-Israel lobby which acts as if it is untouchable. Given the political context across the West, it probably is.
Attacks against the left
It is significant that the target of the Norwegian "madman" appears to have been the left-leaning Labour Party, both in Oslo and on the island where the shootings took place. Across Europe, the left has been forming alliances with Muslim groups to fight fascism and racism of all kinds, and it cannot be a coincidence that The politics of multiculturalism in the new Europe, a collection of essays from across the continent, published in 1997, concluded almost without exception that "the challenge" facing Europe was the presence of large Muslim communities in "our" midst. Anyone who claims therefore, that the perpetrator's "right-wing traits" and "anti-Muslim views", or even links with "Christian fundamentalist" websites are irrelevant is trying to draw a veil over the unacceptable truths of such "traits" and expecting us to believe that right-wing ideology is incapable of prompting someone towards such criminality.
Of course, that idea is nonsensical. Right-wing ideology was behind the Holocaust; it has been behind most anti-Semitism and other racism around the world; the notion of Europe's and Europeans' racial superiority - giving cultural credibility to the far-right - gave rise to the slave trade and the scramble for Africa leading to untold atrocities against "the Other"; ditto in the Middle and Far East. Ironically, it is also far-right Zionism - far from the socialist myths of Zionist pioneers in the 1930s and before - which has been behind the ethnic cleansing of Palestine throughout the 20th century, right up to today, as a specific policy to be pursued - by military means if necessary.
This is well-documented and yet ignored by our political masters. In the context of the latest apparently far-right atrocities in Norway, it is equally ironic that the word in English for a traitor who collaborates with an enemy power stems from Major Vidkun Quisling who ruled Norway on behalf of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
We dismiss this "madman" as a one-off "not linked to any international terrorist organisations" at our peril. If nothing else, history has shown us that such ideologies are trans-national across and beyond the West, with catastrophic effects on the rest of the world. We have been warned.
Education and media consultant Ibrahim Hewitt is the chair of trustees of the Palestinian Relief and Development fund [ http://www.interpal.org.uk/ ] and is Senior Editor of the Middle East Monitor [ http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/ ]. He is also a trustee of Creative Arts Schools Trust [ http://creativeartstrust.org/home/ ].
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
Copyright 2011 Al Jazeera Network (emphasis in original)
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/2011723135619293955.html [with comments]
===
Why We Were Attacked in Norway
Jalees Rehman, M.D. [ http://huffingtonpost.com/jalees-rehman ]
Scientist and Physician
Posted: 7/23/11 09:10 AM ET
The news about the terrorist attacks that took place yesterday in Norway kept on getting worse and worse. First, we heard that a massive bomb blast took place in the heart of Oslo, causing major destruction and chaos. Then came the news about a subsequent related attack on the island of Utøya, where a gunman had killed at least 10 people attending a youth camp of the Workers' Youth League (Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking), which is affiliated with the governing social democratic Labor Party of Norway (Arbeiderpartiet). As if this was not horrifying enough, we later found out that at least 80 people had been murdered [ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/23/norway-attack-utoya-shooting-oslo ] in the youth camp and that many of the shooting victims were children. The gunman was apprehended and the suspect has been identified as Anders Behring Breivik, who has a purported Facebook account and he has left a number of comments on political websites, which are currently being analyzed by the police. It is not clear what his motives were, whether he acted alone or as part of a group and whether he suffers from a mental illness. During the next days, we are bound to find out more, as Norway recovers from this shock and its police force conducts all the necessary investigations.
One of the key questions that arose initially was whether the terrorist attacks had been conducted by religious extremists or by domestic political extremists. The initial preliminary clues do not suggest any obvious link between the suspect Anders Behring Breivik and religious extremism. However, the comments that he allegedly made on the political website www.document.no [ http://www.document.no/ ] suggest that Breivik strongly disliked multiculturalism, immigrant culture, left-wing or "Marxist" ideas [ http://www.document.no/anders-behring-breivik/ ], and felt that traditional Norwegian values were being threatened by multiculturalists, Muslims and left-wing politics.
Breivik's comments are quite characteristic of the growing far-right political movements in Europe, therefore it is quite possible that the motives for his terrorist acts may have been in part influenced by this right-wing extremist ideology. Breivik's dislike for left-wing politicians may also explain why he chose a youth camp of the social democratic Labor Party as a target for his attack. The tragic irony is that in many ways, right-wing extremists in Europe who promote a culture of hatred against mostly Muslim immigrants are not too dissimilar from Muslim right wing extremists, who in turn try to promote a culture of hatred against "unbelievers." Both groups strongly resist the progressive-liberal values that are represented by the center-left political parties, both groups want to replace multiculturalism and tolerance of the "other" with a more homogeneous and traditional society, and members of both groups have shown that they are willing to use violent means to achieve their goals.
One of the biggest shocks to all of us was that these attacks occurred in Norway, which is characterized by an open and peaceful society. However, if one looks at it from the perspective of religious or political right-wing extremists, Norway is exactly the kind of country that would offend such extremists. The fact that the society in Norway is tolerant, peaceful, promotes progressive-liberal values, provides strong welfare support, while maintaining a high level of quality of life must be a thorn in the flesh of right-wing extremists. This is why the response to these horrifying events has to be cautious. When I heard the Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg respond to the attacks by saying "You will not destroy us, you will not destroy our democracy and our idea for a better world," [ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/07/22/norways-prime-minister-je_n_907386.html ] I felt a great sense of relief and some pride in being a progressive-liberal European. If the ultimate goal of right-wing extremists is to undermine our core values and try to force our hand by giving up the tolerant and open societies we have built in Europe, we cannot let them win.
One of the most painful aspects of the massacre yesterday is the murder of the children. These teenagers were attending the political youth camp to promote values such as tolerance, social justice and peace. Their participation was a sign of their commitment to further improve our society, and in this sense, they are heroes similar to the firefighters and policeman who died during the September 11, 2001 attacks in the line of duty. We will mourn the victims of all these terror attacks and we can hope and pray that their families will recover from their grief. At the same time, we also need to look towards the future and work together so that we can try to prevent such attacks from happening again. Recognizing the right-wing extremist threat is just the first step. We then have to develop short-term and long-term strategies to counter this threat without sacrificing our core liberal progressive values. We owe this to the victims.
Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jalees-rehman/why-we-were-attacked-in-n_b_907567.html [with comments]
===
Grappling with EXTREMISM: All Blends
Steve Clemons
Jul 23 2011, 11:21 AM ET
The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin
jumped to the conclusion [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/norway-bombing/2011/03/29/gIQAB4D3TI_blog.html (at http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=65487026 )] that radical Islamists and/or al Qaeda had a hand in Norway's double tragedy yesterday. This is not a crime; what was out of line was that she exploited the incident before we knew more to pound legislators for flipping the gravity switch on the Pentagon's budget.
Yesterday's event had one element that made this look like a possible al Qaeda terrorist incident -- complexity. A bomb in Oslo and a linked shooting and mass slaughter at a youth camp had the appearance of planning, a hallmark of al Qaeda's terrorism. A friend of James Fallows suggests [ http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/a-norwegian-view-on-the-mutation-of-jihad/242403/ ] that some fanatical, right wing groups may be adopting the techniques of al Qaeda.
Many others jumped in the direction that this 'might' be an al Qaeda-linked event, including my colleague Max Fisher [ http://www.theatlantic.com/max-fisher/ ] -- who nonetheless properly and cautiously wrote in his piece [ http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/al-qaedas-problem-with-norway/242352/ ]: "So far, the cause of the explosion is unknown, as is the culprit."
Given how publics in Europe and America have been conditioned to turn a blind eye [ http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/jennifer-rubins-fear-mongering/242401/ ] to domestic, right wing terrorism inside their own societies for the easier to blame-and-fear fanaticism abroad, it's not surprising that we don't think first of Timothy McVeigh as a template for what the world just witnessed in Norway and rather think of 9/11.
But the real problem is extremism writ large -- and there are some interesting meetings, perspectives and resources emerging that deal with extremism in all corners of our societies.
[embedded video]
I am impressed by the work of Quilliam [ http://quilliamfoundation.org/ ], which dubs itself the world's first counter-extremism think tank. In the above TED Edinburgh July 2011 video, Quilliam Executive Director Maajid Nawaz addresses fanatical terrorism both in Islamic societies as well as from right wing radical corners in developed countries. It's a fascinating 18-minute talk which reflects on his own 13 years as a transnational radical Islamist.
In a report issued by Quilliam this morning, I found this framing by the organization's head of research constructive:
'The tragic events in Norway show that extremism, violence and terrorism are not confined to any one race or religion. There are extremists in all communities and all societies. Often at the root of such extremism is an irrational hatred of others, a blind acceptance of conspiracy theories and a web of simplistic but ultimately false narratives and ideologies. All too often, as events in Norway show, this toxic combination can lead to the de-humanisation of other human beings and to the use of violence against the innocent
'Extremism and i.ntolerance - regardless of whether it comes from far-right nationalists or far-right Islamists - is a threat to us all. The only lasting cure for such violence is to challenge the ideas and attitudes that underpin it. We must be less tolerant of intolerant and hate-preaching, wherever it comes from. In addition, we must create shared civil society challenges to such extremism, ideally through uniting Muslims and non-Muslim in common cause against all forms of extremism.
'While the main terrorist threat to democratic societies around the world still comes from Islamist extremists, events in Norway are a reminder that white far-right extremism is also a major and possibly growing threat. While governments must maintain their focus on the Islamist threat they must also clearly pay greater attention to extremist groups on the right. In particular governments should be aware that Brievik seems to have partly radicalised himself online. Radical right-wing and anti-Muslim websites and those who post on them clearly merit much greater scrutiny in future.'
Another interesting recent 'convening [ http://www.againstviolentextremism.org/ ]' on this subject was organized in June of this year in Dublin. The meeting -- sponsored by Google, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Tribeca Film Festival -- focuses on extremism "wherever it may occur."
Episodes like the one that has just tragically erupted in Norway shouldn't be exploited by fear-mongerers, but should be used to turn the spotlight on ourselves, to better understand where extremism of any kind comes from and what can be done to roll it back.
Copyright © 2011 by The Atlantic Monthly Group
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/07/grappling-with-extremism-all-blends/242405/ [with comments]
Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
F6
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