TEHRAN (FNA)- Jamal Daoud, journalist and human rights activist, says the terrorists who were heavily defeated in Iraq and Syria, try to conduct attacks in the countries that have not put their security on high alert to catch the attention of the world.
In an exclusive interview with FNA, Dr. Daoud discussed the roots of extremist groups committing terrorist attacks, saying “[Saudi Arabia and its allies] are active in spreading extremism in Western countries… What made the current wave the most intense and most serious is the support the extremists received from Western countries' authorities in the form of political support, where they turned a blind eye to recruitment and brainwashing and the media adopting the extremists' story.”
Jamal Daoud, is a Sydney-based journalist and human rights campaigner who participated in many social justice movements, such as the refugee rights and anti-racism campaigns.
Below is the full text of the interview:
Q: After the US, UK, France and Belgium, we witness terrorist attacks in countries that have not been at the center stage, like Sri Lanka. Why do you think such a trend has started?
A: Many of the countries who experienced major terrorist attacks took strong security measures and harshly cracked down on extremists/sleeping cells and their supporting/logistical networks. This had weakened their ability to conduct major attacks that could have any impact. As a result, this played a major role in terrorists shifting their deadly activities to countries that are considered safe and that had not put their security on high alert.
We should take into account also the desperation of terrorist organisations and their offshoots to prove that they are still active and were not totally defeated. This is why they are desperate to continue with their terrorist attacks, even in different regions and new countries that were not on their radar. This partially explains the high number of casualties of the latest deadly attacks in Sri Lanka, as the terrorists were desperate to prove that their major defeats in Syria and Iraq did not paralyse their abilities to conduct terrorist attacks.
Q: How has the Western version of extremism come into existence?
A: Daesh and other terrorist organisations have capitalised on issues of marginalisation and crack downs on minorities, using them as excuses and as tools to brainwash and recruit support by trying to convince Muslims in Western countries that they are not welcome, are oppressed and hence need to rise up against this oppression. The extreme ideology and its groups in the Western countries were imported from different sources in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states. These countries were active in spreading extremism in Western countries for the last few decades in the form of funding to build Islamic (Wahhabi) schools, mosques and religious centres. The current wave of intense extremism/terrorism flourished with the Arab “spring”, especially the beginning of the Syrian crisis. What made the current wave the most intense and most serious is the support the extremists received from Western countries' authorities in the form of political support, where they turned a blind eye to recruitment and brainwashing and the media adopting the extremists' story of what is happening in Syria.
In Australia, it is estimated that Saudi Arabia alone spent more than $2 billion since the 1980’s to promote extremism. This is why Australia has had the largest number of Western Muslims joining the terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq per capita.
Q: Which social classes do you think are most vulnerable to extremists' recruitment propaganda? The poor? The immigrants?
A: Most Australian extremists who joined terrorist organisations in Syria, Iraq and Libya are settled Australians who migrated easily decades ago. Some of them are very wealthy, had well-established businesses and lived lavish lives. To date, there was no single newly arrived Muslim who joined a terrorist organisation in Syria, Iraq, Libya or in Australia. This does not mean that we do not have racism in Australia. On the contrary, we are facing a lot of racism and Islamophobia. The immigration system also became more discriminatory and many migration ministers vowed to stop Muslim migration. All this was capitalised on and used as excuses by extremists in order to establish and promote their hate campaigns and to recruit extremists. Of course fighting against racism and Islamophobia will undoubtedly reduce the feelings of marginalisation among Muslims. This in turn will help our fight against extremism by neutralising the many arguments of extremists about Muslims being systematically targeted and the need to retaliate with extreme violence.
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