Zawaya

A global strategy

By: Iqbal Al Gharbi

Mauritania has launched a loan programme to help integrate former Salafi prisoners into the workplace following their repentance.

This strategy might be effective, because a mere security-based approach is not enough to deal with the complex phenomenon of Salafism. The very nature of terrorist violence requires the unwavering mobilization of all spheres of society.

From this point of view, it is worth reiterating that Al-Qaeda was founded in the late 80s to support the Afghan war fighters, who joined terrorist activism because they were languishing for action. These “freedom fighters” who had been manipulated by the United States, were left to their fate at the end of the Cold War without any psychological or sociological support!

Mobilization against Salafism is not the sole responsibility of security services or a particular institution, as it also concerns both the state and society.

This mobilization can only result from reviving trust-based relations between citizens and the state, and initiating a national debate.

Furthermore, a global policy may include:

- Supporting the repentant by reintegrating those who left their jobs.

- Offering psychological counseling within the host institutions.

- Raising public awareness regarding the issue on TV and in the press.

- Implementing a similar process to the one applied in South Africa in the framework of the campaign “Justice and Truth”, in order to discuss the human rights abuses endured by the Salafists.

- Acting in the religious field, by intervening in mosques, and changing the curricular content of religious subjects in schools.

However, it should also be borne in mind that the Jihadi Salafism is caused by social injustice, misery, and utter disregard for human dignity, which are the same reasons that make young people risk their lives by embarking on the smugglers’ boats to reach the other shore of the Mediterranean, set themselves on fire, and protest bare-chested against the police who is opening fire with live ammunition.

Terrorist organizations often choose their victims among these desperate youngsters who are striving for freedom and justice, in order to transform them into real killing machines.