Western
societies have a problem indeed
“Teenage
angst can cause all kinds of unfortunate behaviour, but when
schoolgirls tell their parents they want to join the fight in Syria
and Iraq, then society has a serious problem. Alarmingly, this is
increasingly happening in France, as young Muslims express their
desire for jihad. Worse still, an estimated 100-150 young women and
girls have actually joined groups such as the self-styled Islamic
State (Isis), travelling to a war zone to devote their lives to
setting up a highly militarised caliphate and, if necessary, dying
for the cause.”
“... in
June, a 14-year-old girl known as Sarah disappeared from her home in
a Parisian suburb, heading for Syria. She texted her parents, telling
them to search her bedroom where, under the mattress, they found a
pained letter saying she was 'heading for a country where they do not
prevent you from following your religion'. Rather than a fanatical
interpretation of Islamic teaching, or anger at western attacks on
countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, Sarah’s motivations were
based on what she regards as homegrown discrimination. This is
markedly different from British jihadis, who tend to position
themselves in a worldwide struggle against aggressive interference in
the Muslim world.”
“All of
the would-be women militants rally against France’s distrust of
Islam, which has manifested itself in a range of discriminatory
legislation. This prejudice is exemplified by the burqa ban.
Introduced in 2011 as a way of stopping a small minority of women
from covering their faces in public, it provoked a vindictive debate
about the place of Muslims in French society. Vengeful attacks on
Muslim women became commonplace, ranging from assaults by rightwing
vigilantes to people ripping veils off women’s faces as part of
their 'public duty'.”
“Politicians
of both left and right have since supported a variety of measures
aimed at curbing expressions of faith among about 5 million Muslims
living in France. These include bans on praying in the street – a
practice French Muslims are forced into because of the lack of
mosques – and controls on the supply of halal meat.”
“The
National Front, a party enjoying massive electoral success, uses all
these cases to campaign for an end to what it views as the
Islamification of French society. As in the social media messages
left by the Syria-bound girls, young Muslims speak about being abused
in the street, or worse. Their general perception is that the
majority of the French do not like them and would rather they moved
elsewhere.”
Full
article:
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What we see here is actually a
vicious cycle: The more the poverty and inequality grow, the more
extremism finds new material, especially among the youngest people
who suffer from unemployment. The more the extremism grows, the
more the suppression imposed by the state to the citizens
increases, and so on.
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