A long battle with terror

Dr. Zuhair Al-Harthi

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point-of-view

Observing current events leads to the conclusion that instability and breaking our country’s social fabric are part of a systematic project to instil sectarianism in our society. The predators want to set off explosions from within. The crimes perpetrated by Daesh show how the terrorist organization uses our youth as fuel and then proudly announces its responsibility for attacks.Targeting Saudis is a core element of Daesh’s strategy and it shows how the group pushes Saudi youth into action and behavior that harm our country by using all kinds of media, including social media.The US-based Brookings Institution has released an alarming study which indicated that the majority of pro-Daesh Twitter accounts originate from Saudi Arabia, followed by Syria and Iraq. The Independent, a British newspaper, said that 866 Twitter accounts operate from Saudi Arabia in support of Daesh. In other words, the Kingdom tops the list of countries with accounts supporting the terrorist group.At the same time, the Saudi security authorities report successive achievements demonstrating their professional ability in thwarting terrorist acts and arresting the deviants. The Interior Ministry recently announced that it busted Daesh cells and arrested 431 suspects who were taking orders from outside.Yet, the questions remain as to how our children are being lured by these radical groups and why are they committing terrorist acts which harm their parents and homeland?It would be morally courageous of us to recognize that we have a part in our youth’s falling into this quagmire without our knowledge. The governmental bodies that are concerned with youth problems have failed in not filling the leisure time of youth in order to prevent them from being lost. The family has also failed to provide a strong and supportive environment for youth. The education system, curriculum, the practice of learning by heart, the traditional discourse and failure of media tools are all factors that have led us to lose our youth.I believe that the human soul aspires to build a civilized society that respects its religion, is open to others and looks to have a prosperous future while keeping a strong contact with others in this global village. Are we getting closer to that dream?I seriously doubt it. When the mind is lured away by radical groups, then the result is unacceptable behavior that contradicts religion, humanity and common laws; it often leads to violent and bloody conflicts. It is thus not surprising that some Saudis join such groups as this is the result of a particular culture that did not solve the problem from the core but used pills and medicines to treat the symptoms but did not find and eliminate the cause.We recognize that drifting with ideologies and falling into sectarian, religious and identity conflicts is one aspect of regression in our societies and is not in tune with the language of the civilized world. I don’t underestimate how external conspiracies play a role in penetrating Arab societies and causing fragmentation, but we can’t deny that we have a non-immune internal front.We should note how radical groups target those without firm ideological bases. This is the reason why the groups target young people and adolescents and use them as bombs to implement their goals and agendas. This requires reviewing our curriculum and devoting space for promoting moderate Islam with its values of tolerance and acceptance of others’ thought, faith and culture. We need to focus on a knowledge-based education in which we give more space to objective criticism and attention to arts, theater and literature. This would give us a comprehensive intellectual, cultural and social system which is needed to form a more aware society.In most cases, imprisoning radicals and terrorists does not mean that their ideas have been eliminated. The security bodies needed years to end these cells in the field. Yet, the intellectual battle is still raging between the moderate stream and the extremist one. In the end, security is only one part of the solution and we need to strengthen efforts so that we are able to fight these deviant ideologies intellectually.Although Daesh is like any other terrorist organizations when it comes to recruitment, tactics, expansion and polarization, its use of attractive methods such as images and misleading media messages makes it different from other terrorist groups.What does Daesh want? The Interior Ministry has already indicated that Daesh has short-term targets — security forces, sectarian strife — and long-term objectives such as military, security and the economy. Their strategic distribution of elements, appointing an emir in each region, establishing shelters and bunkers and monitoring important sites to be targeted is a Daesh strategy to cause unrest and chaos and create conflicts in society in order to gain power.Finally, the first step of confronting Daesh has to include spreading the culture of enlightenment and uprooting all instigators of terrorist thought. This means that we need to reject it and prove it wrong through spreading moderate religious views.Dr. Zuhair Al-Harthi is a member of the Shoura Council.