Speaking Out

When a terrorist act is committed, such as an active shooter incident, or a bombing, the spotlight immediately turns on those communities from which it is supposed that the terrorist comes, and time and time again the complaint is made that no one from that community is speaking out against terrorism; from which it is then inferred that the members of the community secretly support such acts. At the moment we in the west are living in a world, where all thoughts are focused on Islamic Jihadist terrorism, and the Muslim communities, and Muslims we live next to. I grew up in the UK, which at that time was experiencing bombing campaigns committed by the IRA, and the same complaint was made against Irish communities and individuals i.e. they weren’t doing enough to speak out against terrorism etc. If you identify/identified yourself as an Irish American in the 1970’s and 1980’s I would ask you to consider what you did to speak out against terrorism, and whether not speaking out meant that you supported the killing of men, women and children. Don’t think that I’m trying to advocate for a partitioned Ireland or make a political point. The IRA employed terrorism, and killed people in terrorist acts – that was their goal. Did you speak out against this?

Do not get me wrong there are certainly Muslim communities that do support Jihadist Terrorist, just as there were Irish communities that supported the IRA, however it would be wrong and dangerous to target every Muslim as a threat, just because they don’t speak out, or we possibly don’t hear them speaking out. If you talk to just about any Irish person living on the UK mainland in the 1970’s and 1980’s, they will tell you that they experienced a level of isolation, suspicion, and antagonism because being Irish associated them with the IRA. Whilst this experience may not have lead them to become direct supporters of the IRA, it certainly didn’t help make them anymore sympathetic to those being targeted by the IRA – especially when aggressive policing saw the conviction of innocent fellow countrymen etc. Part of any battle against terrorism is winning “hearts and minds”, so that not only do communities that terrorists draw their support from, turn their backs on them, but so that all communities, including the moderates who make up the majority, actively want to denounce and speak out etc. There is a huge difference between addressing an audience who is aggressive, judgmental and demanding a response, to one that wants to listen and hear what is being said.

Often we don’t hear what is being said. How many Muslim friends do you have/know? How many Muslims do you work with? Are you able to hear what is being said? I lived and worked in London for a number of years, and rubbed shoulders with, worked with many Muslims, many of whom were devout. I heard them denounce the 7/7 Tube and Bus bombings, and say that these killings were un-Islamic i.e. I heard them speak out. If your only channel to hearing a community speak out is the media, then you are going to be limited to what you hear, the news agencies you listen to, and what they have time for and want to report. Do certain agencies want to give time to Islamic community leaders speak out against terrorism, and do people actually want to hear that? Some do and some don’t. News Agencies are cynical organizations, and just because they don’t put people on the air, to talk about things, doesn’t mean that those individuals aren’t out there. Broaden what you read and watch, and you may start to hear the condemnation of terrorism by community leaders and spokespeople. However, for many people it may be easier to hold to a simple view that all Muslims and Irish are terrorists rather than take the time to do this. In a War on Terrorism, it is easier to have an easily identifiable enemy, than exercise discretion as to who actually constitutes the threat.

Oftentimes, community leaders have a reticence to be seen as speaking for others. It is easy to think that there is one, single Islamic community, with one single leader and spokesman. In truth communities are factious, with many different people holding many different views, some may even agree with some of the goals that terrorist groups want to achieve, but completely condemn the methods that they use e.g. there were many in Ireland who wanted to see the North reunified with the South, but did not support terrorist acts to achieve it etc. Because of this breadth and diversity of opinions, some leaders may be reluctant to speak out for fear of isolating part of their community, especially if that part may splinter and leave the mainstream, to side with more extreme groups etc. There is a call by some in the US that all mosques have to be investigated, searched etc. This is to completely misunderstand how an organization such as ISIS operates and recruits – it actively tells those individuals it is targeting, to stay away from the mosques, saying that these moderate institutions have sold out; it doesn’t want those it is trying to recruit to hear a moderate, reasoned message etc. Do not be fooled that footage of a rabid radical Iman in Gaza, urging the youth to go out and stab every Israeli citizen it sees, is representative of what goes on in every mosque. This would be like saying that Westboro Baptist Church services are representative of all church services.

Where terrorism is concerned we have to be effective, not right. We need the communities where terrorists are recruited, to be able to openly denounce the actions of extremist groups, and be supportive of the wider community – something that wasn’t achieved in the UK, with many Irish communities. We need members within these communities to feel a responsibility to inform security agencies, about those who they believe pose a threat/danger, and this means not acting in an antagonistic and aggressive manner towards their communities, as this will only isolate them further. This is not a conventional war where direct hostilities apply, even if you as an individual feels it is appropriate. Terrorist organizations recruit based on making people feel isolated and alone. By creating the right environment and giving mainstream media attention to community leaders, we will both hear more people speak out, and convince more.