Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Actual Causes Behind Paris Attacks!

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Actual Causes Behind  Paris Attacks!

Paris attacks are sad and tragic but they also gave rise to so many questions that might lead to some answers, bitter and hard to digest but pointing to conclusions that might prevent such a tragedy in future. The uniqueness in this attack is the successful planning and operation of terrorists in a city that was already on a high alert. If a city located in the heart of Europe can come under attack, no European city can claim to be safe of the ominous threat of terrorism. Investigations are underway and it would be early to make predictions but as expected, the attacks have resulted in the outburst of hatred against all the Muslims and especially those who are living in France and other European countries. Needless to say that Muslim community and political leaders from all around the world have condemned the attacks as ‘brutal and barbarous’ and ‘having no relationship with Islam’ but once again, the opposite winds are on high air and these statements are going to add to the vulnerability of European Muslims against the hatred based on ethnicity and religion.

The biggest failure is of intelligence agencies in France who were not able to detect anything about the attacks that were carried out on such a large scale. According to French police, they had unveiled and averted many such attacks in summer this year but they could not find any clue about this and terrorists were able to hit a blow on the French capital.

Though we share the pain and loss of Parisians but this incident also gives an opportunity to look at those factors that actually gave rise to these attacks and this may not be the last of its kind. Until and unless the actual causes of this attack are addressed and corrected, the circumstances and consequences may remain, more or less, the same. According to political analysts, the biggest reason is the feeling of alienation rampant in large number of European Muslims. This feeling is not limited to France only but it extends to Britain and a number of other countries, depending upon the level of alienation in different countries. According to a French poll conducted in 2015, there are many French citizens who feel themselves to be without any identity or country and this is promoting uncertainty and pessimism about their future. Majority of French Muslims have emigrated from African countries. Majority of them are those whose parents had come from Africa and they were born in France. They can speak French like any other French citizen and have acquired all the social skills needed to live like any other French citizen but still they are labeled to be ‘Arabs’ or ‘Africans’. It is the reason why, there are many parts of Paris that are known to be areas where ‘Arabs’ or ‘Africans’ live and there is a strong sense of division in society.

This all gave rise to frustration, lack of hope and in some cases and especially the youth. The rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq gave them with the opportunity to come out of this frustrating environment and enjoy the feeling of their identity. This fact is also verified by a video released by ISIS in which a number of French Muslims are shown, burning their passports and encouraging others to do so.

However, the channel of escape for French youth was provided by the government when it encouraged its Muslim citizens to go and fight in Syria against the government forces of Bashar-al-Assad. Hundreds of French citizens came to Syria but here they also realized how they were treated in France and this bitter realization added to their hatred against French government and citizens. When France announced to be a part of coalition aerial attack on ISIS targets in 2014, it turned into enemies all the French citizens who were allowed to come to Syria and fight against government forces.

Until the latest reports, the identity of two attackers has been confirmed in which one was born in Paris while another one was having a Syrian passport. Question rises here that how a person carrying a Syrian passport was able to travel and live in France and his activities were not kept under a vigilant observation.

It simply shows that ISIS was able to exploit the feelings of those who felt detached from their societies. In the long run, the government of France and other European countries must re-asses their policies regarding social values and rights of their citizens regardless of their ethnic backgrounds or religion.

The attack came only after a few days when French Prime Minister had admitted that the weapon aimed for the anti-government rebels had fallen into the hands of terrorist groups in Syria.

The former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who was the main character in waging war in Iraq, came up with an apology and admitted his mistakes and it gives an insight for other European stakeholders of this dirty war to make corrections in their foreign policies.

As an immediate outcome of these attacks, Muslims have come under severe hatred not only in France but also in all other countries of Europe. And this is absolutely what ISIS had been planning to achieve. The more people hate Muslims and alienate them, the more they will get hopeless and then ISIS will show them a ray of hope and this will provide them with angry Muslims who might become their victims in future attacks.

As expected, this incident has given a new opportunity to a number of European governments to enhance their powers against the rights of citizens and garnish more funds for their security agencies. Britain immediately raised the funding for its security agencies to tackle the threat of ISIS inside the country. Similarly, large numbers of politicians also got an opportunity to accumulate the votes of harassed Muslims and those who might win some votes by talking against Muslims and promoting hatred based on nationalism.

This sad incident has also given rise to sharp decline in support for immigrants and the voices against them are rising high. Eight terrorists of ISIS have unfortunately closed the door that was opened by Ailan Kurdi.

In the end, we all appreciate the move of social networking sites to show solidarity with the victims of Paris attack and the goodwill of solidarity and humanity should not be kept limited. 

Muhammad Rasool Shah is the permanent writer of the Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at muhammadrasoolshah@gmail.com

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