A new book by the Dutch social psychology professor, Roel Meertens, claims that anybody can be a terrorist, but that sect members have a greater chance of becoming one.
Terrorists are normal people, without any mental problems. However, they feel they are discriminated against (and how can we forget the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?). They're uncertain about their social identity - are they Moroccan Muslims? Muslim Dutch? Moroccan Dutch? Some find the answers in a sect. Once they isolate themselves, they are lost to society and become radicalized.
How does he explain the fact that there are Christian and Muslim sects, but only the Muslim "sects" produce terrorists? "Only the radicalized Muslim kids have at this point strong enough role models, such as Bin Laden”.
He suggests offering kids more possibilities, like setting up sports clubs.
Mohammed Bouyeri wanted to build a community center for Moroccan kids, but was turned down. After that, he turned radical. According to Meertens, had that community center been built, Theo van Gogh might be alive today.
But the true question remains.. if anybody can be a terrorist, and all it takes is a little discrimination and being upset, why are almost all terrorists today Muslim?
Source: Nederlands Dagblad (Dutch)
No comments:
Post a Comment