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Tag: radicalism

  • Singapore Detains First Woman For Radicalism Under ISA After She Planned To Join Islamic State

    Singapore Detains First Woman For Radicalism Under ISA After She Planned To Join Islamic State

    The 22-year-old preschool teacher had been posting pro-ISIS material online since 2014 and was also looking for a terror supporter in Syria to marry.

    SINGAPORE: Singapore has detained its first female citizen for radicalism under the Internal Security Act (ISA), said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday (June 12).

    Syaikhah Izzah Zahrah Al Ansari, a 22-year-old contract infantcare assistant with the PCF (PAP Community Foundation) Sparkletots preschool programme, was detained in June this year.

    Her radicalisation started in 2013 through online propaganda related to the Islamic State terrorist group, said MHA.

    “She began to believe that ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) represented the true spirit of Islam. Her radicalisation deepened over time,” a press release read. “This was exacerbated by a wide network of foreign online contacts which she developed. They included ISIS militants and supporters, some of whom have either been killed in Syria or arrested for terrorism-related activities.”

    Since 2014, Izzah actively posted and shared pro-ISIS material online. Several of her social media platforms were removed by administrators because of such content, but she created new ones.

    MHA said Izzah was also intent on joining ISIS and was actively planning to make her way to Syria, with her young child, to do so.

    “She supported ISIS’s use of violence to establish and defend its self-declared ‘caliphate’, and aspired to live in it,” said the ministry. “To this end, she said that since 2015, she was looking for ‘a Salafi or an ISIS supporter’ to marry and settle down with him and her child in Syria.”

    “She said she would support her husband if he fought for ISIS in Syria as she believed she would reap ‘heavenly rewards’ if he died in battle. With her ‘elevated status’ as a ‘martyr’s widow’, she felt she could (then) easily marry another ISIS fighter in Syria.”

    Izzah also said she was prepared to undergo military training and engage in armed combat to defend ISIS if called upon by the terrorist group to do so, MHA added.

    Her sister and parents – who are both freelance Quranic teachers – came to know of her radical postings in 2015 and her intention to join ISIS in Syria. They did not alert the authorities and tried on their own to dissuade her, but were unsuccessful.

    Izzah continued down the path of radicalism, said MHA, and in April this year, “boasted” to a contact that the Singapore authorities had not detected her.

    In its press release, the MHA reiterated that importance of family members and friends to let the authorities know of anyone they suspect is being radicalised or planning terror attacks.

     

    Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Global Survey: Most Will Trade Freedom For Security

    Global Survey: Most Will Trade Freedom For Security

    Most people think that violent terrorism is a major challenge facing their societies and they support tough measures to counter the problem at the expense of some civil liberties, according to a global survey on public perceptions towards violent terrorism commissioned by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), based in Washington.

    According to the findings released earlier this week — derived from 8,000 respondents in eight countries — one in two people feel that their governments have not taken adequate steps to address violent extremism.

    The survey was conducted in August this year and involved participants from China, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

    Around 25 per cent of the respondents from Turkey and France felt that violent terrorism is the most important issue facing their countries. Overall, around two-thirds of those polled see violent extremism as a major problem in their country.

    “In everywhere except China, at least 75 per cent of those surveyed expect a terrorist attack in the next year,” said CSIS in a report of the survey findings.

    “On a more alarming note, a majority in every country believes that it is likely that violent extremist groups will acquire and use weapons of mass destruction in their lifetime.”

    The majority of respondents in Turkey, France and the US feel their own governments have not taken adequate steps to contain and prevent violent extremism.

    In late June, a gun and bomb attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport killed more than 40 people and injured more than 230. Yesterday, a Turkish official said police in the capital had fatally shot a suspected Islamic State (IS) group militant who was planning a suicide bombing.

    France has also been hit hard by violent terrorism, with 230 deaths and about 700 injuries as a result of attacks said to be carried out by IS.

    Both France and Turkey are both sources of a relatively high number of foreign militants fighting in Iraq and Syria, with an estimated 700 French citizens and 500 Turks fighting under the IS flag.

    Just last month, an Afghan-born American sowed terror across Manhattan and New Jersey, wounding 29 people before he was arrested — the latest in a spate of lone-wolf attacks to rock the US.

    Despite widespread anxiety about the terrorist threat, 73 per cent of respondents in the CSIS survey believe that violent extremism can be eradicated.

    When asked about potential measures to counter violent extremism, 90 per cent were in favour of requiring all citizens and visitors to have identification cards.

    A similar percentage also supported asking Internet companies to do an even better job of shutting down all content from violent extremist groups, while 71 per cent favoured allowing government agencies to monitor all phone records, email and social media for contacts with terrorists.

    Close to 90 per cent of the sample was also supportive of asking Muslim leaders to declare definitively that Islam does not in any way condone violent extremism or the creation of a caliphate. More than 80 per cent of those surveyed also said that immigrants who have not passed rigorous screenings and background checks for connections to extremism should be barred from entering their countries.

    On Monday, Iraqi forces, supported by a US-led international coalition, launched a major offensive on the city of Mosul, the IS’ last major stronghold in Iraq.

    The US expects IS to use crude chemical weapons as it tries to repel the offensive, although experts say the group’s technical ability to develop such weapons is highly limited.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Bahas: Masyarakat Islam Tidak Proaktif Tentang Radikalisme

    Bahas: Masyarakat Islam Tidak Proaktif Tentang Radikalisme

    Masyarakat Islam di Singapura tidak proaktif dalam menentang radikalisme.

    Inilah mauduk peringkat akhir satu pertandingan bahas yang dianjurkan siang tadi (15 Okt).

    Pertandingan tahunan itu dianjurkan oleh cabang belia Persatuan Darul Arqam.

    Ia bertujuan untuk menyediakan satu wadah bagi perbincangan secara mendalam di kalangan belia.

    Para mahasiswa dari Universiti Nasional Singapura (NUS) membentuk pasukan pencadang.

    Mereka membentangkan hujah bahawa masyarakat Islam bersikap reaktif dan bukan proaktif dalam menangani radikalisme.

    Satu sebab utama adalah, masyarakat tidak melibatkan diri dalam perbincangan secara mendalam tentang isu tersebut.

    Oleh itu, mereka tidak mempunyai pemahaman yang baik mengenainya.

    Namun pasukan pembangkang dari Politeknik Ngee Ann menyangkal hujah-hujah tersebut.

    Menurut mereka, masyarakat Islam sudah melaksanakan pelbagai inisiatif untuk menangani radikalisme.

    Satu contoh adalah semakan ke atas Skim Pengiktirafan Asatizah, untuk memastikan masyarakat Islam menerima pendidikan Islam yang betul.

    Di akhir pertandingan, pasukan NUS muncul sebagai juara.

    “Saya rasa kami mungkin akan berbincang tentang topik ini dalam kumpulan masing-masing, di setiap institusi masing-masing tetapi tidak ada satu wadah yang kami boleh gunakan untuk berbincang di antara kumpulan-kumpulan dan institusi masing-masing,” pembahas NUS, Aaeshah Ng memberitahu BERITAMediacorp.

    Sejajar dengan itu, tetamu terhormat Setiausaha Parlimen Kementerian Dalam Negeri Amrin Amin berkata meskipun bahas sudah berakhir, para belia patut terus membincangkan tentang isu radikalisme.

    “Saya menjemput anak-anak muda kita untuk menyahut cabaran ini dan sama-sama berbual dan memikirkan apakah langkah-langkah yang boleh diambil, apakah kegiatan yang boleh dianjurkan untuk kita sama-sama menangani masalah ini,” kata Encik Amrin.

    Beliau juga menekankan bukan setakat perbahasan idea, masyarakat Islam juga katanya perlu menunjukkan apa yang mereka maksudkan melalui perbuatan dan tindakan.

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

  • Walid J.Abdullah: Iraq Invasion Precipitated ISIS’ Rise, Widespread Condemnation In Order

    Walid J.Abdullah: Iraq Invasion Precipitated ISIS’ Rise, Widespread Condemnation In Order

    The Chilcot Inquiry has concluded that Blair’s invasion of Iraq was unjustified, and completely unnecessary. Basically, the report stated the obvious. But it’s still great to have it in black-and-white.

    The Iraq War is a direct, enabling factor for the rise of ISIS, and we are bearing the brunt of that perverted group’s rise.

    Now, i hope those who have been quick to comment on and condemn terrorism will react with similar alacrity in finally condemning Blair and Bush in engineering the bogus war in Iraq, which have had irreversible consequences for Iraqis and the rest of us.

     

    Source: Walid J. Abdullah

  • Walid J. Abdullah: Religious Conservatism Does Not Equate Extremism

    Walid J. Abdullah: Religious Conservatism Does Not Equate Extremism

    Do not conflate religious conservatism with extremism.

    As is always the case, once a terrorist attack occurs (which again seems to be the exclusive domain of Muslims, as the media has shown from its reluctance to use the word ‘terrorist’ to describe the murderer of Jo Cox), experts rush to dissect what is wrong with Islam.

    Almost inevitably, there will be a group of analysts who suggest that Islam itself is the problem, and that Islam needs a ‘reformation’. They would then proceed to conflate expressions of religious conservatism with extremism.

    Which is not only mistaken, in my opinion, but extremely dangerous. Suddenly, conservative Muslims are viewed with much suspicion. How many times have we heard – whether in jest or otherwise – people making remarks such as ‘eh why your beard so long? Like terrorist/osama/al-qaeda/isis.’

    What these people do is essentially equate conservatism with extremism.

    Personally, i do shake hands with members of the opposite gender, i do wish non-Muslims on their festive occasions, and so on, but i know many Muslims who do not, but utterly despise extremism and extremists.

    And if we start saying that conservative expressions are signs of extremism, as was recently done when it was suggested that not wishing ‘Merry Christmas’ was a step toward/an indication of extremism, where do we draw the line? What about those who do not shake hands with those of the opposite gender? What about someone who dons the hijab? Or someone who only eats halal? Or someone with a beard?

    We must be more careful in using terms such as ‘moderate Muslim’, ‘extremist’, ‘radical’ inter alia, as words do have meanings, and they may shape perceptions. Otherwise, we may end up creating unnecessary frontiers in the fight against extremism.

     

    Source: Walid J. Abdullah