During the pandemic, extremist organisations have spread their ideologies online on a much larger scale than before. There was a massive increase in the use of Telegram by extremist groups after April 2020 and radicals are always on the lookout for new messaging platforms. Isis has been experimenting with a number of platforms to disseminate its violent ideology, as reported by Etidal - an international counter-extremism hub.
So I went on a journey speaking to former extremists to find out how they were radicalised and what factors led to their reformation. There were three lessons I learnt. 1. Having a strong moral upbringing protects from radicalisation later on. 2. Traveling shows you how different cultures and faiths peacefully coexist 3. Spending time with those different to you humanises them These experiences are found in all three of the following people I spoke with. Drew As long as a child’s upbringing is based on solid moral foundations and a respectful and tolerant worldview, they’re less likely to complete the radicalisation process and be involved in violence, even if exposed to extremist content later in life. I spoke to Drew who had a liberal upbringing and was taught to be accepting of others. But being autistic and exposed to online gaming communities during the Gamergate controversy, which was a culture war around female representation in games, he started harbouring hateful views towards feminists, immigrants and Muslims. Each Muslim terror attack ingrained those views further. But after the Nice attacks in France when there was an increase of Islamophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment, he realised this was not the way he had been brought up. After seeing anti-Semitic posters in university, the gravity of his worldview hit home and he abandoned the anger he had towards other groups. Drew also went traveling to Europe after the Nice attacks and visited the city, where he saw people of different faiths mourning together. Yossi Distance and generalisations about those we have anger towards contributes to radicalisation. Yossi is a Jew originally from New York whose dad survived the holocaust. He hated Germans and the rest of the world after hearing his father’s stories. But his parents also taught him respect and living life with dignity. As a teenager he joined the Jewish Defence League and even prepared terrorist attacks. But he could never take the leap to violence. He could be friends with terrorists but couldn’t become one of them. Deaths caused by the JDL shocked him and when the group got more extreme he re-examined his beliefs and travelled to Europe. Here he described “small acts of kindness” and curiosity about Jews by Europeans as moments which led to his deradicalisation. He started to remember that while his father warned him about the world, he also taught him to be a good person. Yossi moved to Jerusalem and spent time praying with Muslims and Christians eventually developing a “deep love for Islam”. Now he’s involved in peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians. Alex When we learn about other faiths and cultures based on isolated incidents in the media, it’s easy to develop animosity towards them. Alex grew up in Texas thinking that all Muslims lived in the Middle East and were extremists. Though he never believed it, these thoughts were difficult to challenge as he’d never spent time with Muslims. “My lack of education and exposure to Muslims muddled my perception of them,” he said. His mother taught him to respect everyone; she was the daughter of an army colonel and spent time in Libya, Greece, Japan and other countries. Alex moved to Singapore as part of a student exchange programme and lived with a Muslim family during Ramadan, observing their “kindness, devotion and commitment to their children”. He said: “Living with different cultures really humanises people and too often in the US, ethnic and racial groups live in the same city but separate areas so you could go your whole life not having to meet a Muslim.” He credits the change of his views to his mother and spending time with the Muslim family. He noticed that in Singapore schools have cultural education days and its Ethnic Integration Policy prevents the formation of ethnic enclaves placing quotas on how many residents of one racial group can live in a building. I decided to speak to people like Drew, Yossi and Alex to understand why people turn to extremism, how they turn back from it and what we can do to prevent radicalisation. It was part of a UN project called EDIN - Empowering Dialogue & Interfaith Networks - to equip young faith leaders and young media makers to tackle hate speech online. My conversations have reinforced the need to remove the barriers to open conversations, meet people different from you, and give children strong moral frameworks with which to see the world. Covid has meant extremists have turned to online media even more to spread their hateful views. But there are a host of young media makers and faith leaders like me providing the counter-narrative.
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AuthorAtif Rashid writes about faith, extremism & mental health. Categories
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August 2021
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