Tackling Violent Extremism Head on Without Scapegoating

September 27, 2013


With the latest attacks in Nairobi, Kenya, by the al-Qaeda-affiliated group Al-Shabaab, American national security circles are once again turning their attention to the Somalia-based group and the threat it poses both domestically and internationally.

Media pundits also have shifted their focus from research to rabble-rousing. Immediately after the attack, Fox News pundit, Bob Beckel passionately (and incorrectly) stated that Muslims “are not the religion of peace,” and continued with a rant on not allowing anymore Muslims to enter America “until [you] stand up and denounce what's happened in the name of your Prophet ... The time has come for Muslims in this country, and for other people around the world, to stand up ... and if you can't, you're cowards!”

We’ve seen this type of concerning rhetoric before. The scapegoating of entire communities when an incident happens is unhelpful to our national security and divisive to our nation. When Rep. Peter King (R-NY) held  hearings on the American Muslim community in 2011, he squandered an opportunity for a critical conversation on violent extremism for a political circus. The challenge is for us to stick to that issue rather than shift the blame on entire communities.

Now is the time for leadership and genuine problem solving. We need leaders who can help us more acutely understand the issues of violent extremism and terrorist recruitment amongst vulnerable individuals both online and within social circles.

This fall, the Muslim Public Affairs Council will be releasing a handbook and community toolkit for the American Muslim community and law enforcement agencies to better understand this national security threat. The toolkit will include examples and scenarios on how to deal with individuals who may have been caught up in extremist thought.

As we learn more about the Nairobi attack, it will become increasingly more important to counter extreme narratives that seek to malign entire communities. We need to focus more on building resilient families and communities who are not prone to online predators who seek to pervert the minds and hearts of the most vulnerable.

Our safety depends on us working together; law enforcement and government agencies must continue to partner with communities and the time of fear mongering and scapegoating must end. 




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