What motivates westerners to become jihadists? What comes first, radicalism or religious text?
Olivier Roy, a French analyst of "globalised Islam", begins Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State with empirical research on about 100 people involved in jihadist terrorism in France and Belgium. Converts account for a staggering 25 per cent of this sample. The rest tend to be lapsed Muslims, who return to strict religious practice, if at all, only months before they commit violence.
They are as likely to come from prosperous as poor families. They show a frequent history of delinquency and, very often, of domestic violence. Crucially for Roy’s argument, they tend to be immersed in global youth culture: action movies, computer games, hip-hop and streetwear. “Combat sports clubs are more important than mosques in Jihadi socialisation.”
Terrorists don’t come from what the French right-wing calls “Salafised spaces”. Roy points out the irony of the ISIL-linked Abdeslam brothers running “a bar in a neighbourhood described as Salafised”, and usefully emphasises the distinction between Salafism and ISIL-style radicalism. The latter, unlike the former, permits punishment by fire and suicide attacks, for instance, and rejects parental and clerical authority.
“Jihadis do not descend into violence after poring over the sacred texts,” Roy writes. A self-serving, inconsistent and decontextualised manipulation of scripture is central to ISIL propaganda, but largely irrelevant, he argues, to the European radicals. These are not believers programmed for terror by religion, but “rebels who choose radicalism and then fit it into an Islamic paradigm”.
In their case, scripture is eclipsed by what Roy calls “the Jihadi imaginary”, which pictures an avenging hero in love with death. The terrorists narcissistically display themselves through horror selfies and videoed final testimonies. They often call on their parents to repent, and promise, once martyred, to intercede for their souls. The hero, in glorious self-sacrifice, gives birth to his parents. “To reach adult status, he has to die.”
The terrorist rebellion is nihilistic, aimed at the entire world. No terrorist surveyed has a history of activism for Palestine or other causes. The injustice the radicals confront is non-specific and ahistorical – so the secular capitalist West, for example, is constantly cast through the unchanging metaphor of “Crusader”. If they travel for jihad, the jihadists show no inclination to integrate into the local culture. Real countries are converted into “gaming space”. They could be anywhere. Their ritual executions have a similar “aesthetics of violence” to that of decapitation videos shot by Mexican narcos.
Roy reminds us of the continuity of leftist and Islamist radicalism, that today’s mobile jihad echoes Ché Guevara’s revolutionary nomadism, that ISIL’s generational iconoclasm repeats the urges of China’s Cultural Revolution and Cambodia’s Year Zero, and that Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal eventually became a bin Laden fan.
There’s continuity, too, between terrorism and insanity. For some, jihadism becomes “a way to situate their madness within a realm of meaning shared by others”. Both Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who last July drove a lorry into crowds in Nice (86 people were killed, a third of Muslim origin), and Omar Mateen, who last June killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, may fit into this category, but the West mistakes their atrocities for intelligent strategy. It is ISIL’s “extraordinary talent for theatricalising terror” that so terrifies and blinds the West.
Sixty per cent of the people in Roy’s sample group are second-generation immigrants. He notes that far fewer third-generation immigrants are lured by radicalism, and correctly reads this as a sign of successful Muslim integration in France. But the second-generation suffers a crisis of “deculturation”. This, he contends, is caused not only by migration, but also by secularisation, especially French laicité, its “most ideological and most explicit form”. If religion is banished from the public space, it will thrive in the dark.
Here, though he doesn’t name him, Roy is continuing his public dispute with the Arabist Gilles Kepel, who proposes the strict enforcement of laicité via hijab bans and the like. Roy is a witty polemicist and his barbs are aimed at Orientalists and terror experts in general.
The discussion of ISIL in Iraq and Syria is the book’s weakest element. The treatment is simplistic, uninformed and somewhat sectarian. Roy appears to assume that ISIL represents Sunni Arabs in Syria and ignores (except for “tribal revolts”) the Arab forces fighting both ISIL and Assad. But Roy is not an Arabist. He knows much more about the political and religious communities of France. In this area, his analysis is provocative and sometimes even brilliant. It also sounds like common sense.
Robin Yassin-Kassab is a regular contributor to The Review and the co-author of Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War, which has been nominated for this year’s Folio Prize.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
Oppenheimer
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
Company%20profile
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
%3Cp%3EThe%20Punishment%20of%20Luxury%3Cbr%3EOMD%3Cbr%3E100%25%20Records%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Messi at the Copa America
2007 – lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final
2011 – lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals
2015 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
AWARDS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBest%20Male%20black%20belt%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELucas%20Protasio%20(BRA)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBest%20female%20black%20belt%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJulia%20Alves%20(BRA)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBest%20Masters%20black%20belt%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Igor%20Silva%20(BRA)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBest%20Asian%20Jiu-Jitsu%20Federation%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Kazakhstan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBest%20Academy%20in%20UAE%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECommando%20Group%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBest%20International%20Academy%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Commando%20Group%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAfrican%20Player%20of%20the%20Year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKatiuscia%20Yasmira%20Dias%20(GNB)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOceanian%20Player%20of%20the%20Year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAnton%20Minenko%20(AUS)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EEuropean%20Player%20of%20the%20Year%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rose%20El%20Sharouni%20(NED)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENorth%20and%20Central%20American%20Player%20of%20the%20Year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlexa%20Yanes%20(USA)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAsian%20Player%20of%20the%20Year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EZayed%20Al%20Katheeri%20(UAE)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERookie%20of%20the%20Year%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rui%20Neto%20(BRA)Rui%20Neto%20(BRA)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
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The Saga Continues
Wu-Tang Clan
(36 Chambers / Entertainment One)
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
POSSIBLE ENGLAND EURO 2020 SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Dean Henderson.
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier, Joe Gomez, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Ben Chilwell, Fabian Delph.
Midfielders: Declan Rice, Harry Winks, Jordan Henderson, Ross Barkley, Mason Mount, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Forwards: Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi.
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
