In his truthdig
article States of Terror, Chris
Hedges raises some very interesting and poignant points concerning the continuous
“war on terror” which made me reflect on another on-going, seemingly unrelated
issue which are receiving very similar approaches and media responses.
Hedges’s
article made me think about the gang “war” in Surrey and the South Fraser area
and how similar approaches could easily end the supposed war and hysteria
surrounding it. He made me reflect upon
several points I have made in the past regarding social issues which seem to
never go away because we continue to take the same heavy-handed, fear based
approach to situations which require love and compassion.
CBC Radio
One has had a number of excellent interviews lately with journalists and UN aid
workers who have had the opportunity to interview either Jihadi and ISIS
fighters who have been arrested or people living in Syria and Iraq who have
been dealing with occupation for a number of painful years. The similarity in the stories of those who
have joined extremist movements and those who have yet to join them are
strikingly similar…duh. Take a
look. In article after article written
by or interviews with psychologists who have studied the minds and souls of “terrorists,”
the theme is the same: creating a world
of “other” creates, by necessity, covert or overt cells of “together.”
Humans
die without connection and so will create connection with like-minded/souled people
in the absence of connection elsewhere in their lives.
The result
of this isolation:
Gangs
ISIS
Fraternities
Movements
Rebellion
Revolution
“Recruiters
focus on forming a “social bond” with their target particularly online, using
Skype and instant messaging as tools to build a relationship,” says John Horgan, a Georgia State U psychology prof who specialises in
the psychology of extremism, in the Boston Herald article Inside
the Mind of a Terrorist. Another
psychologist, interviewed for the same piece, points out that in France, the
recruiter pitch resonates particularly strongly. There Muslims make up about 7 percent of the
country’s population, but 70 percent of its prison population.
“There’s no
competing message,” said Scott Atran, director of research in anthropology at the
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris.
THERE IS NO
COMPETING MESSAGE.
The
recruiters for gangs/ISIS/Jihadist movements embrace the unemployed,
disenfranchised young men (mostly) because their message is different from the one
they hear around them which repeats that they are worthless and a problem.
I wish I could remember the name of the man
interviewed on CBC R1 on Tuesday night who was saying that racial profiling and
military occupation have created terrorism (not a new message). Humanitarian approaches and a commitment to
enfranchisement of those who feel dispossessed, disconnected, and dishonoured
throws a blanket upon the flames of discontent in the areas of the world
struggling with it the most. If the
heart of ISIS and other rebel organisations are young, dispossessed, unemployed
men who feel no other choice than to use violence to win back a sense of pride
and self-respect, why are we as a global community not doing something to
eradicate the problems where they start?
Why are we
not creating a competing message?
Many
captured fighters who have been interviewed are sharing stories of
inter-generational institutional racism, profiling, and poverty under the thumb
of imperial oppressors who do not respect or understand cultural differences
and whose only interest is, like any imperialistic nation, plundering the human
and natural resources and staking political claim. They build a police state to quash
resistance, treat the local population like criminals, and brutally grasp and horde
anything they want with complete impunity.
Now tell me,
if you grew up in an occupied state – especially as a boy – watching your once
proud people beaten down or murdered for protesting the fascist regime; denied
work and livelihood because of your religion; witnessed the desecration, denigration,
and vilification of your culture and people, what options are you left with?
How would
you feel if all you saw or read on news feeds sanctified the dead of the imperial
nations but referred to yours as collateral damage or worse, did not
acknowledge them at all? (Don’t worry. I
am all too aware, as an Aboriginal woman, how much this sounds like what
happened to my ancestors. The parallel
is not lost on me.)
Why are
white lives worth more than any other?
We are not
separate. We owe each other compassion
and dignity because nothing ever says that because we are privileged, white,
educated people that we will never be migrants or fall upon desperate times. There are no guarantees of anything. Ever.
How do we
end gang violence in Surrey or war in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq? It is, actually, pretty easy:
Create a
competing message to the one of isolation, racism, and rejection.
1. Treat all people with dignity and
compassion – curious compassion…which is based in curiosity around how people
need and work with them to get it.
2. Create opportunities for all peoples’
basic needs to be met:
a. Food
b. Shelter – racist-free housing policies
world wide
c. Clean water
d. Clothing
e. Connection
f.
Self-respect
3. Create opportunities for
connection. This starts early but can be
rectified later. KIDS WON’T JOIN GANGS
IF THEY FEEL CONNECTED TO SOMEONE THEY KNOW CARES ABOUT THEM. PERIOD. If we work together to create programs to
address the emptiness in the lives of children who feel left behind/out, we
create a different message – a new out.
More money for more police only creates more violence. If we want to reduce the violence, we have to
reduce the violence.
People who join groups want a sense
of community. If we provide loving, “healthy”
communities aimed at empowering and enfranchising people, they will thrive and
flourish in the communities in which they are embraced. In addition, creating communities which welcome other cultures and seek understanding of differences rather than trying to eliminate them may very well go miles in helping new Canadians feel a part of rather than a part from.
This also means, on a geopolitical
level, doing all we can to eradicate imperialism and the death clutch of
corporate dominance on the planet.
But…Black Friday and the Christmas
shopping rush and…
Why should I give up my hard earned:
Money
Freedom
Security
for a bunch of:
lazy junkies
dirty terrorists
potential threats
idiot delinquents?
Because, people, in the blink of an
eye “we” are “them.”
And when those eyes close, how do you
want people to treat you when they flash open again?
