What's
the
problem?
We must avoid the trap set by extremists of
limiting human beings to one identity.
We all have multiple identities which
enrich us as individuals.
The number of foreign terrorist
fighters sharply increased after the civil war in Syria started
and
over 27,000 are believed to have joined ISIS since 2011.1 Jihadist
groups competing for attention and prominence in the Middle East,
such as the Al-Nusra Front, were responsible for violent attacks on
Syrian security forces and civilians.2 Anti-Muslim attacks rose by
326 per cent in the UK in 2015,3 a trend mirrored across Europe.
Violent extremists’ ability to communicate effectively, especially
through social media, became clear. ISIS used encrypted messaging
services to perpetrate the Paris attacks4 and 90,000-200,000
pro-ISIS messages were posted daily in 2015.5 Local conflicts, such
as in the Philippines, have continued to have a violent extremist
dimension, and lone actor terrorist attacks, like that by Anders Breivik
in Norway in 2011, have inflicted thousands of casualties in the last decade.6
References
27.000
number of
terrorist fighters
joining isis
2011-17
1
200.000
pro ISIS messages
posteD daily in 20153
36%
anti muslim
attacks in
uk2
