Understand the jihadists’ strategy, Muslim journalist writes in Vatican newpaper
July 18, 2016
In a front-page column that appeared in L’Osservatore Romano following the terrorist attack in Nice, a Muslim journalist said that a greater understanding of Islam is necessary to counter the jihadist threat.
Zouhir Louassini, who works for Italy’s state-owned 24-hour news channel, said that “terrorism will not be stopped with headlines of seven columns that insult and offend an entire religion,” for such headlines play into the jihadists’ hands.
The Mein Kampf of the jihadists, he said, is “The Management of Savagery,” a work that views moderate Muslims with the greatest contempt. Louassini said that the work outlines a strategy in which terrorist attacks foster hatred for Islam, creating conditions in which social cohesion between non-Muslims and Muslims becomes difficult, and moderate Muslims are more likely to become radicalized.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
- Strategia dell’odio (L’Osservatore Romano, p. 1)
- The manual that chillingly foreshadows the Islamic State (Washington Post)
- 2016 Nice attack (Wikipedia)
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
-
Posted by: pja -
Jul. 19, 2016 10:24 AM ET USA
The Islamic world respects strength. So instead of producing "headlines of seven columns that insult and offend an entire religion" a better policy might be to "speak softly and carry a big stick".
-
Posted by: DanS -
Jul. 18, 2016 10:42 PM ET USA
Mr Louassini makes an important point, but he tells only half the story; the jihadists want to provoke an anti-Muslim responses from the West so that the great majority of moderate Muslims accept the jihadists as allies rather than detestable extremists. But, moderate Muslims cannot remain passive in response to the catastrophic hijacking of their faith. Not only have moderate Muslims failed to reclaim their faith, they have largely failed to denounce the jihadists. Put-up or shut-up.
-
Posted by: rjbennett1294 -
Jul. 18, 2016 6:49 PM ET USA
In the United States during World War II, the Japanese-Americans, who were outrageously discriminated against, did not become "radicalized." On the contrary, they became more patriotic, sending their sons to die heroically in the war in Europe.
