ANALYSIS - Europe's Harsh Rhetoric On Radical Islam Might Give Rise To Lone Wolf Attacks

(@FahadShabbir)

ANALYSIS - Europe's Harsh Rhetoric on Radical Islam Might Give Rise to Lone Wolf Attacks

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th November, 2020) The EU leaders' harsh rhetoric on recent terrorist attacks in Europe, such as that of French President Emmanuel Macron, will only trigger more violence and increase solo attacks across the region, experts told Sputnik.

MACRON'S CALLS FOR REFORMS IN islam COME AT A PRICE

The French leader has vowed to step up efforts to combat radical Islam after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by a Muslim man of Chechen origin on the outskirts of Paris in mid-October. Paty reportedly showed caricatures depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammad in class. The Muslim countries, in turn, harshly criticized Macron for his plan "to reform Islam," which he had said was "in crisis" worldwide. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took it even further by telling his French counterpart to check his mental health and urged Muslims to boycott French products.

Within a short time after the teacher's murder, France was once again shaken by a series of attacks across the country and at its diplomatic premises abroad. The first one took place in the French city of Nice and resulted in three fatalities. The attacker was arrested. Another knife-stabbing attempt occurred shortly after in Avignon, and the assailant was shot dead by security forces. It was followed by yet another incident in Lyon, as well as near the French consulate in Saudi Arabia.

"What we are witnessing is the beginning of a process of lone-wolf attacks. As Europe hardens its position against such radicalism, it can only exacerbate the situation pushing the fanatics to many such surprise attacks against civilians and interests of the state," Amalendu Misra, a senior lecturer in the department of politics, philosophy and religion at Lancaster University, told Sputnik.

According to Misra, the Western values and notions of freedom of expression clash with the ideology of radical Muslims.

"The current debates and activism surrounding free speech in the West, especially in France, has made many of these radicals nervous and desperate. The violent reactions we are witnessing on our streets and splashed across newspapers and television screens are a manifestation of that bottled up anger of the radical extremist Muslims," the expert noted, adding that the "radicalization of Muslim youth in Europe has been a long and continuous affair."

A similar view was expressed by Ioannis-Sotirios Ioannou, a co-founder of the Geopolitical Cyprus analytical website, who said that the European Union needed to deploy more targeted measures against the terrorist networks, or there would be more such incidents.

"The phenomena of Islamic terrorism will appear again. What Europe needs to do is to engage more on the 'focal points' in order to counter them. The general context of Islamic terrorism remains the salafi-jihadism ideological narrative. This is, mostly, behind any type of militant radicalization. In the battle against this, Islam and the Muslim communities of Europe must be seen as strategic partners," Ioannou told Sputnik.

According to the Nicosia-based expert, the newest attacks are a follow up to the tragic events of 2015 when 12 people were killed by Islamist terrorists after French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.

"The 2015-2016 terrorist attacks in Europe proved that each time there is an attack, a lot of imitators will appear or, among the youth, a lot of kids will be inspired either for taking similar action or to travel to Syria, or elsewhere, in order to be recruited among the ranks of the global jihadist movement," Ioannou noted.

Meanwhile, Professor Rohan Gunaratna, an international terrorism expert and the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told Sputnik that the European leaders should be more careful in their public utterances.

"Always treat speech with responsibility because no one wants to be ridiculed or insulted. I believe that governments should act firmly against radicalization, should act with a zero-tolerance against terrorism, and governments should also educate their leaders so that they do not do anything to trigger anger," Gunaratna said.

On Monday night, the Austrian capital of Vienna was rocked by six shooting attacks, which left at least five people killed and more than 20 others injured. One of the attackers was shot by the police. According to the Austrian authorities, the attacker was a supporter of the Islamic State terrorist organization (banned in Russia).

"The most recent terrorist events in Austria are a manifestation of that chain reaction. They have clearly come in the wake of the tough stance maintained by the French Republic. It is too early to say what were the true motivations of the perpetrators in the Austrian terrorist attacks. While they may have all the hallmarks of copycat terrorism we cannot discount the fact that the perpetrators involved are committed to a specific fanaticism and insidious ideology," Misra told Sputnik.

Ioannou, on his part, believes that the Austrian security services failed to thwart the attacks in Vienna.

"And this is definitely a strategic mistake since terrorism is always a step ahead in terms of planning and execution. What European security/law enforcement agencies need is more sophistication in order to counter a terrorist plot before its shape/plan is going to be triggered," the founder of Geopolitical Cyprus said, adding that the European countries needed better intelligence.

The expert from Singapore warned that the terror attacks could take place again during the holiday season in December.

"The terrorist attacks in France and Vienna are likely to spill over to other countries in Europe and beyond Europe. These attacks may go into December, the Christmas season and the New Year's Eve period. So governments must appeal for calm and work together," Gunaratna said.

HOW TO STOP ISLAM RADICALIZATION IN EUROPE?

Some believe that one of the solutions to the given crisis in the EU is harsher migration policies for asylum seekers.

"It is vital for European governments to do three things. One � is to permit only those who have a qualification or accreditation by their government to preach. Secondly, anyone who does not have a qualification but preaches should be charged. There must be a law envisioning charges for those who preach or teach religion without proper qualification. Thirdly, there must be an attempt in all the European countries to integrate the Muslims," Gunaratna said.

According to the international terrorism expert, the migrants must embrace the cultures they choose to live in.

"They can be Muslims, but they cannot be of other cultures. Migrants must be exceptionally well integrated in all countries, otherwise, they can become a threat," Gunaratna noted.