All acts of terrorism across the world, (Beirut, Pakistan, Norway, Syria, India, Palestine, London, Australia and France, to name but nine ) should be condemned

................. and then afforded clear, rational, thoughtful reaction.
 

Too frequently though, we see hate filled reactions, seeking to match ' brown faces', rucksack carriers, corner shops, and veil wearers with the ' perpetrators', even before we establish who the perpetrators are. 

And when is the other question asked: is the perpetrator a terrorist or a freedom fighter? 

I have always subscribed to the idea that ' one person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist'. So, I recall killings including Paris 1961, when Muslim supporters of the FLN were murdered, and bodies dumped in the Seine. Another was the Shatila - Sabra  massacres of 1982 with claims of as many as 3,500 killed. 

These should not be dismissed as historical happenings, backward looking, or a refusal to move forward.  

Such killings are the shocking on-going reality of the lives and deaths of many people across the world, and these as well as invasions, regime change, then and now, become recruiting sergeants.

But have we tried to establish what turns the individual into a killer?
Each perpetrator starts out as a single entity: an individual. and ends up either as a 'lone wolf' or part of an organisation, however 'loose' that organisation might be. There is inevitably an ideology based on a warped, vicious view of ( their ) religion which is aligned to 'political action' and exemplified in the visceral hatred of ' the other'.
Additional elements can also be involved: power or the lack of it; no strong sense of self-worth or identity; a sense of alienation; grievances, real or imagined, and the ever presence of the historical past.

All of this potent ‘mix’ is then addressed through attachment to the 'organisation' and those commonly held, misconstrued 'beliefs'. 

The individual is turned from inaction into an active killer. 

And as this current atrocity (Paris, November 2015)  produces the inevitable reactions. ‘Blame the authorities for a lack of surveillance, for inaction, for lax security, blame the religion’ 

And worse, actively seeking those we can lash out at, blame, and the closer, the better. 

Possibly a neighbour, or the local carry out, or the place of worship. 

After all, ‘they’ are not ‘us’. 

As Scotland welcomes refugees from Syria, please, no knee jerk reactions, no scape goating, no 'them and us'. 

No pulling up the draw bridge, no turning our backs on refugees currently fleeing the very same killers as those claiming responsibility in Paris.

Equally important, let's take time to consider foreign policies, and whether we want to continue with drones and bombs, and send foot soldiers once again. 

Will the UK stop selling arms to the Saudis, currently active in the Yemen? I doubt it. 

Could we see further drone and manned bombing in a new arena, Syria? The way jingoism is being ramped up, probably. 

What did we learn from incursions in countries including Iraq and Libya? It would appear, not enough.

And does that mean governments, our government, will refuse to engage and dialogue? Did we not learn from Northern Ireland about the need for dialogue?

But what is as vital as any foreign policy is the need to develop shared beliefs and values, in individual countries, starting here. For without building a stronger, sharing society, we will not address poverty, alienation, exclusion. 

We will see further marginalisation and stigmatising of 'others' and the threat of individuals turning to extremism.

Really? Oh yes, because if we take a moment to remember:

Anders Breivik, born in Norway.  London  7/7, three of the four bombers British born.  France & Charlie Hebdo attacks, the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly were French born.  And this time, it has already been noted that some of the killers were French or Belgian born.

The complexity of current violence, here and in the Middle East, no matter the instigator, requires equally complex and rational responses.

And in the main, it appears we must rely on politicians.

Let’s hope they have more than bombs and drones as a ‘strategy’.  

Hasn’t worked in the past, won’t work now.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org Paris massacre 1961 

NB I really find it distressing to provide links to previous atrocities and the perpetrators, so will stop with the one above. Sadly, there are so many, so easy to find.