Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi
Extremism in the Arab world has perpetrated misery and suffering due to wars that are destroying everything in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and other places. There are no local or regional initiatives which could provide a civilised alternative to restore normalcy. National unity and national and religious ideologies have collapsed in most Arab countries. The Arab Spring revolutions have been aborted and the outcome of the uprisings has collapsed.
Observers these days can easily note the changes in social media and satellite TV channels – how they are exploited for spreading hatred, extremism and for mobilising terrorists from the Gulf to the farthest states in America, instead of playing a positive role in bringing people together and keep them connected across the borders.
There are a number of reasons that trigger the aggressive behaviour of extremists. Five of them have been mentioned in an empirical study on the Islamic State (IS) by the psychologist Ian Robertson.
The first reason is ‘brutality leading to further brutality’, where the victim becomes an executioner; ‘indulging in the group’, where the ego disappears due to mass hypnotism; and ‘dealing with the others as if they were not human beings’ (could be animals or inanimate objects). The other two reasons include ‘revenge’ and the role of ‘leaders’ and their ability to command blind obedience from their followers.
Extremism becomes a major challenge to society when it changes from an isolated activity to a systematic group exercise, surrounded by militancy and extreme opinions about social, political and religious issues seen through narrow ideological points of view. Extremists try to impose their perceptions on society. When they feel isolated and are in a minority, they clash with the society, its sects and institutions. The ultimate aim of such extremists is destruction of society and its institutions, and the replacement of original states with their factional or virtual ‘state’, which they promote through the new media.
These terrorist groups try to enforce their ideology by using violence and by terrorising innocent people. They use bombings and resort to mass killings using religion, sectarianism and racism as an excuse. They convince their followers to sacrifice themselves for the ‘sacred’ goal to achieve salvation in the afterlife.
The Peninsula
