DAVID SCHANZER
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
For years, a group of American authors, bloggers, pundits and activists have mischaracterized the conflict with al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations as part of a broader “clash of civilizations” between Muslims and Western society. This clash, they claim, is not just about preventing terrorist attacks but about stopping a global Islamic movement that threatens the very foundations of Judeo-Christian society.
The consequences of this way of thinking have come to roost in the bombing and shooting rampage in Norway. The self-confessed killer, Anders Behring Breivik, endorsed their world view. Indeed, the footprints of their thinking are all over his manifesto.
This clash-of-civilization ideology, as espoused by self-proclaimed “counterjihadists,” needs to be strongly confronted before more damage is done. These propagandists explicitly reject the idea that al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations are fringe movements motivated by a faulty interpretation of Islam. Rather, they say this violence flows directly from the holy texts of Islam.
Global Islam, they assert, is inherently aggressive, anti-Christian and committed to world domination. And they believe it’s their calling to save the world from this dire threat.
While it’s true the “counterjihadists” aren’t calling for violence as a means to further their goals, there can be little doubt, as terrorism expert Marc Sageman has said, that “their writings are the infrastructure from which Breivik emerged.” (Read Full Article)
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