The Government: Fighting Terrorism or Breeding Extremism?

4:29pm Wednesday 15th July 2009

By Elizabeth Norman

The word terrorist in our society carries with it a number of connotations. In the UK today it seems to stir up images of young extremist Muslim men who hate the English. Men who are nothing but cold, brutal people who do not care about the lives they destroy. In other words they are stone cold, heartless killers. And it’s not always Muslims people picture when they think terrorist, it seems we have a tendency to jump right in and imagine any poor person of ethnic origin who may or may not be wearing a turban. But is this general stereotype going to help us really win the ‘War On Terror’ (I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact you can fight a war using the exact tool you’re suppose to be fighting against – terror!). If the image of some poor A Level chemistry student whose name just happens to be Ali is going to fill the public with terror every time we see them than how are we ever going to stop small minorities feeling as though they are persecuted against - something which is surely more likely to push them towards extreme measures than a simple family trip to see their relatives abroad?

Maybe we should remember it wasn’t that long ago the word terrorist in this country would conjure up the imagine of some poor Irish man named Paddy, it is funny how quickly we can forget some of the mass hysteria and biased views we carry. Anyone else remember when Nelson Mandela was not a heroic figure to be idealised, but the leader of a terrorist group? (And trust me that is no way a slight against Mandela, I have a special respect for the man).

My point here is that stereotyping huge groups of people is not the way forward. Placing the banner terrorist on a whole group of people is just ridiculous. Come to think of it, just placing the banner Muslim on people is too – after all they are people in their own right. Their individuality comes from more than just their religion, do we just class Christians as one whole collective group without any other label to set them apart from the crowd?

And thinking of terrorists as people lacking rationality and being nothing more than fanatic killing machines, does not help either. I’m not claiming that terrorist act on rational grounds at all (strapping a bomb to yourself is hardly my idea of sane behaviour), but we have to start looking behind the actions taken and work out what could push someone to such drastic measures. Going back to the likes of Mandela, suddenly his actions and the actions of the ANC are acceptable because the people were so desperate, therefore we can understand what drove them to act in such a way. Well that might well be the case, after all if someone takes our rights away we’re often forced to extreme measures. But aren’t the government doing exactly the same to us? Is there not at least some evidence here as to why we have become a nation on the verge of terror, why we are breeding religious extremists and on the other side of the spectrum the likes of the BNP?

I’ve always thought the best way to breed understanding and to stop any kind of rational hatred (from both sides) was actually to be open and to talk about things – it defiantly seems the grown up thing to do. So why did the Labour government try and suppress this so much? And they have, they’ve tried to stop our voices being heard. Freedom of Speech is the best tool we have as a democracy, the best way to be heard and to understand each other. We might not like it when people’s views differ to ours – I know people always disagree with me – but at least we could talk about things and reach an understanding with each other. But now we have to apply for special approval to demonstrate outside of parliament as a matter of national security. I’m no terrorist but as far as I can tell they seem to be pretty intelligent individuals, so I’m pretty sure they’d play by the rules. Being allowed special privilege to do something does not mean you’re not going to be a danger to yourself and others (this is my argument for those flights which still allow first class passengers’ metal knifes and forks – just because you have money does not mean you’re not a danger to anyone).

But it is not just freedom to demonstrate that seems to be suffering, talking about terrorists as if they are human beings just like you and me is such a social taboo (after all the last thing the government and media want us to do is work out these people might actually have a reason for going to such extreme measure, rather than just being a crazy killer).

So why can’t we explore what breeds terrorism? Surely trying to combat the factors that point towards extremism should be the top priority when it comes to ‘protecting the public’. And as far as I can see having the liberty to free speech is a factor in our protection – when our voices get heard most of us do not feel the need to act under extreme measures to draw attention to the issues we feel strongly about.

I also think remembering all people have human rights is a huge key in breeding understanding and making peace. Yet another thing our government forgets again and again. Locking people up without charge, torturing people until they get confessions, threatening people’s lives and the lives of their families is an appealing way to try and combat terrorism. Especially when it is often happening to innocent people. And this isn’t a new phenomenon in the ‘War on Terror’ and Guantanamo Bay era – we made similar mistakes with people while we were trying to fight the IRA. It seems that The Declaration of Human Rights applies to every country apart from when it benefits us. Then we can just forget Article 30, which clear states that no person or country should act in a way to destroy these rights.

Between the government and the media it seems to have created a world fuelled of anger, mistrust and misunderstanding. A world in which the likes of the BNP can gain power easily by playing on the most horrid social stereotyping and lying. Where not being grown up and talking openly about what breeds hatred just leads to it, a world where our government can claim it is fighting a war for our freedom and peace of mind, by taking those things away that actually liberate us and give us our freedom. A world in which George Bush and Tony Blair can stand up and say they are fighting a ‘War on Terror’, and by which they mean they are using methods of terror and torture to get people to admit to crimes they often haven’t even done!

The point to this blog isn’t to say that we shouldn’t be afraid of terrorism, or that we shouldn’t try and combat it. Rather I just wanted to point out that the system our government are using does not seem to be working, in fact it seems perfectly obvious to me that if you want to recruit more people to your extremist agenda then all you need to do is point out the huge abuses made by our government in the name of ‘liberty’ and ‘democracy’. Bang there you go Labour have now helped to fashion more terrorists. Being free to discuss what breeds terrorism, being free to openly criticise the government policies and being able to live a world where you can calmly point out human rights apply to terrorist too (without being seen as an unpatriotic git) seems like such a good aid in fighting terrorists.

I say it is about time Britain gave back what it should be most proud of, it’s liberties and human rights. Maybe then we can beat our national stereotype of who and what a terrorist is and perhaps then we’ll have moved that little bit further in the fight on extremism.