French expert on copycat attacks; Europe in the crosshairs of terror; immigration and extremism and the ideology of jihad
Dr Marc Hecker elaborates on a point. Pic/Sameer Markande
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The frenzied pace of life at Mumbai's commercial heart of Kala Ghoda, seems to fall away at The Cercle Littéraire, on the second floor of a building behind the defunct Rhythm House. The French book library whose doors creak frighteningly loud. earns our forgiveness because of its endearing, old world charm and mean desi masala chai was hosting a lecture on 'France: Vision of Terrorism' by Dr (PhD) Marc Hecker. Paris based Hecker who has a PhD in political science from University of Sorbonne teaches a course on terrorism and asymmetric warfare.
An interview:
What is the primary aim of your India visit...
I was invited for a 'closed door' seminar in Pune which was on 'Deconstructing Terror' attended by 20 experts from around the world.
Would you say currently in Europe, France is the hardest hit when it comes to terrorism?
There are two ways to look at this, there is the threat that France is facing and there are measures that we have taken to counter this. We have had a spate of terror attacks but that is not to say that France is an unsafe country. You are safe walking on the streets.
France was one of the first countries in Europe to ban the niqab (the face veil) the ban some say triggered attacks on the country
The ban is used by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Al-Qaeda as a pretext for attacks. The French Republic though is based on secularism, which is the separation of religion from State. Civil servants are supposed to be neutral. Symbols of religion are banned in public schools.
Is there credibility to reports that French Jews do not feel safe in the country...
French Jews have been targeted by terrorists. In certain areas in France, on the outskirts of the cities, Jews have faced insults and there is a sense of fear amongst Jews. Recently, Jewish migration from France was as high as 7,000 a year, though this number has declined slightly now and so have anti-Semitic incidents.
There is a very strong belief that increased attacks are a result of immigration that Europe has opened its doors to its peril...
We need to be very careful here. We cannot generalize. Immigration may have brought some problems, but there is a humane and moral responsibility that we have. For instance, when people are being slaughtered in some country and they want to come in, what do you do? The Govt. of France is seeking to control illegal immigration. In France, several terror attacks have been by home grown terrorists, who are French.
France has problems because its people, mostly Muslim in impoverished areas, are not assimilated in the mainstream.
You cannot use social causes to justify terrorism. Currently, I am studying at least 137 cases of persons convicted of terrorism offences. At least 40 per cent of them were uneducated but certainly not all of them. A high percentage of those convicted though had a record of petty crime.
We see 'Palestine-style' attacks now in Europe. Terrorists are using knives, and 'car ramming' like they have in Israel
Terrorists look at the efficacy of a technique, if it succeeds it will be used elsewhere. It is not about Israel-Palestine, it is about the success of the terror tactic.
Finally, will we ever see the end of jihad attacks? Will it ever be defeated?
The key here is co-operation between countries. It is very difficult to defeat an ideology. You can defeat groups of terrorists. You can destroy sanctuaries. One can try and prevent radicalization but it is very difficult to control an idea, especially with all the communication in the new age. We can only develop our own counter-narratives to fight the ideology.
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