The Ecology of Violent Extremism: Perspectives on Peacebuilding and Human Security by Lisa Schirch

Author:Lisa Schirch [Schirch, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, Security (National & International), Religion, History, Public Policy, Military Policy
ISBN: 9781786608475
Google: J-XaDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 40249911
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2018-08-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Islamization, Securitization, and Peacebuilding Approaches to Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism

Mohammed Abu-Nimer

Preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) campaigns are largely rooted in a response to Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Daesh, and many other smaller regional groups that claim Islam as their basis and manipulate Islamic identity and its components to justify exclusion, violence, and destruction against others (both Muslims and non-Muslims). Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the victims are Muslims in Muslim countries, the threat of these groups, particularly to European and American societies and interests, is seen as the primary motivation behind policy and priority change.

Muslim and Arab communities widely believe and discuss this assumption. In consequence, when international agencies refer to P/CVE, this is interpreted as a code for countering exclusively or primarily the discourse of groups affiliated with Islam and not Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, or violent secular ideologies.1

This perception is confirmed by the sheer number, scale, and focus of P/CVE programs implemented by these international, regional, national, and local agencies in Muslim countries. While such programs exist, it is rare to identify or give wide media coverage and recognition to a program that addresses violent extremism (VE) motivated by the Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories, white supremacist groups in the United States, Sri Lankan, and Myanmar Buddhism, or Indian Hinduism in Gujarat or Kashmir.

Obviously, the threat and the scale of the terrorist groups motivated by their “Islamic ideologies” are being reported and portrayed as far more intense and widespread. Yet the fact that other forms of VE are not being addressed seriously by policy makers and donors reduces the legitimacy, credibility, and trust in the intentions of the message and messenger.

The Islamization of P/CVE is also evident when policy makers and media fail to distinguish between genuine Islamic teachings/values and the negative/destructive interpretations espoused by the VE groups. Many mainstream media and politicians, especially in European, American, and even in some Muslim contexts, have consistently and systematically utilized certain VE framings that generalize and stereotype Islam and Muslims (Ali et al. 2011; CAIR 2016). The most discussed question in such media outlets is, “Does Islam support VE and terrorism?” At the same time, the attacks on Muslims and Islam are often neglected or marginalized in Western media. Such an approach has directly fed into the growing Islamophobia in the Western Hemisphere.

In general, public de-Islamization of P/CVE approaches is an essential step toward a more effective and credible response to the threat posed by groups that promote violent extremism in the name of Islam. The de-Islamization approach can include various elements:

To an outsider, jihad is often interpreted as “religious war”, whereas jihad means “struggling or striving”. In the Quran, jihad has many meanings, not at all associated with war but rather with an individual striving in the path of God, in other words the personal struggle to live according to principles of faith (see Quranic verses 49:15, 9:20, 9:88).

First, avoid linking Islam as a religion or Muslims as people and communities with

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