“The poverty, lack of employment opportunities and corruption makes many susceptible to the message of radical Islam, which promises a new political order free from corruption,” Open Doors said.
The idea that poverty causes terrorism is just a call for Western nations to write more checks to governments of Muslim countries. It’s also demonstrably false. The New York Times reported that “not long after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001…Alan B. Krueger, the Princeton economist, tested the widespread assumption that poverty was a key factor in the making of a terrorist. Mr. Krueger’s analysis of economic figures, polls, and data on suicide bombers and hate groups found no link between economic distress and terrorism.”
CNS News noted in September 2013 that “according to a Rand Corporation report on counterterrorism, prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense in 2009, ‘Terrorists are not particularly impoverished, uneducated, or afflicted by mental disease. Demographically, their most important characteristic is normalcy (within their environment). Terrorist leaders actually tend to come from relatively privileged backgrounds.’ One of the authors of the RAND report, Darcy Noricks, also found that according to a number of academic studies, ‘Terrorists turn out to be more rather than less educated than the general population.’”
“Persecution of Christians intensifying across the Sahel,” Christian Today, July 13, 2019:
Christians across the Sahel in northern Africa have been left “shocked” by the speed with which violent extremism has spread across the region.
Homes and livelihoods are being wiped out at the hands of Islamic extremists operating in the region, a “faultline” between the largely Muslim north of the continent and the more Christian south, says Open Doors.
The charity, which supports persecuted Christians, said that poverty, unemployment, corruption and a “lack of governance” are creating a “toxic mix” that is combining with rising Islamic extremism to cause havoc for Christians.
Close to 30 violent Islamist groups are active in the area, with some of the extremists having links to international terrorist networks like the so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
Salafi and Wahhabi Islam are also gaining in prominence with the help of missionaries and NGOs funded by countries like Saudi Arabia, the organisation reports.
Members of the Islamic State pushed out of the Middle East are finding a new home in the Sahel region and are infiltrating splinter groups with their ideology.
One such group is the Islamic State West Africa Province, an offshoot of terrorist organisation Boko Haram, which has enslaved Christian women and girls.
In addition to Christians, these extremist groups are targeting Muslims who adhere to moderate Islam.
“The poverty, lack of employment opportunities and corruption makes many susceptible to the message of radical Islam, which promises a new political order free from corruption,” Open Doors said….
CRUSADER says
SAVE the PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS !
+ + +
http://savethepersecutedchristians.org
CRUSADER says
If the Dark Continent can be seen as a Skull,
then imagine a headband stretching over the cranium,
a belt of challenged countries across some of Africa’s widest area…
above the Equator, south of The Sahara Desert…
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south. Having a semi-arid climate, it stretches across the south-central latitudes of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea.
The Sahel stretches from Senegal on the Atlantic coast, through parts of Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Sudan to Eritrea on the Red Sea coast.
It is the site of interaction between Arabic, Islamic and nomadic cultures from the north, and indigenous and traditional cultures from the south.
In recent years, the Sahel has been in the global spotlight due to famines, religious terrorism, anti-state rebellions, and arms, drugs and human trafficking. These developments are the product of both local and global dynamics. They remain substantial challenges for the region.
In Mali, Islamist extremism will remain a threat, despite national and international efforts to halt it. Islamist fighters may be dispersed, but not halted. The al Qaeda-affiliated al-Mourabitoun group, operating from Mali, have launched attacks in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.
In Mauritania, a traditional route for drug and human trafficking between South America and Europe, the existence of sub-state militant activities in the greater Sahel region, and local governance challenges, make political violence a threat.
In Nigeria, despite claims that Boko Haram has technically been defeated, it is very likely that the group’s remaining members are on the run. A relaunch of “the jihad” from elsewhere in the Lake Chad Basin area is therefore highly probable.
There have been positive developments as well. These include an emerging consolidation of support for democratic transitions of power through popular protests, and elite-led regional diplomatic and military interventions against unconstitutional changes of government or attempted unlawful retention of power.
The African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have opposed unlawful takeover of power in Mali and Burkina Faso. In the Gambia, ECOWAS had prevented Yahya Jammeh’s attempt to unlawfully retain power. Peaceful protests in Mauritania also promised some democratic gains.
Regional governance and integration projects have continued, with ECOWAS and other bodies such as the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) offering the promise of collective action to tackle major regional challenges, although so far with mixed success.
https://theconversation.com/sahel-region-africa-72569
The Sahel is the location set in the novel and subsequent movies,
“The Four Feathers” :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do2O8KxyPn0
Battle says
Robert Spencer hits nail on head. Good.
alex says
In a book called “Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man”, the authors noted that nearly all of the top terrorist leaders are (or have been) well-educated men who are generally literate and polyglottal, and who usually hold at least Bachelor’s degrees, and more often Master’s and Doctoral degrees in various disciplines. As well, some of them, such as the late Osama bin Laden, have been highly affluent. The church and hotel bombers in Sri Lanka, to cite another example, were/are prosperous and well-schooled. These are not ragtag cave-dwellers (though those exist too, amongst Islamists), but rich and educated individuals.
Angemon says
Hmmmm – and here I was thinking only “islamophobes” claimed islam had a political component to it…
Terry Gain says
I grew up dirt poor in a family of 10 children. None of us are violent and none of us has ever been convicted of a crime. People who claim poverty causes crime suffer from poor intelligence. Crime is caused by a lack of values.
CRUSADER says
AMEN, Terry Gain
dlbrand says
“Remember … them which suffer adversity,” as though it were you yourself the one suffering in that body, “as being yourself also in the body.” (Hebrews 13:3.)
Battle says
dlbrand Good.
Here’s one for them. Prayer borrowed from Catholic traditional version.
Hail Mary, full of grace.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women.
Blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Mr. Cohen says
Obama’s Silence
(How President Obama Ignored Muslim persecution of Christians
a complete transcript of a video by Mr. Patrick Condell):
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/guest-post-obamas-silence.html
http://www.jns.org/opinion/the-ongoing-persecution-of-christians-in-the-pa-must-stop/
PRCS says
“violent extremism”
Basque separatists?
The three remaining Tamil Tigers?
Sendaro Luminoso?
Oh, uh–violent jihadists?
Marigold says
Thankyou Robert for that report because it is doubtful if we will hear of it on the MSM even if IS is re -establishing itself there
That poverty is the cause of terrorism is absolute rubbish.The cause of terrorism is a fanatical belief in a false ideaology inspired by Satan who ”can disguise himself to appear as an angel of light” [Cor 2 ch11 v14]
UNCLE VLADDI says
Many people believe that crime is a product of poverty and lack of “advantages.” However, the District of Columbia, which enjoys the highest average annual salaries and is second only to Alaska in personal income per capita, leads the nation in just about every category of crime including murder, robbery, aggravated assault, and vehicle theft. D.C. also has the country’s strictest gun control, highest police costs per capita, highest ration of police and correctional officers per citizen, and highest rate of incarceration.
West Virginia, which has the nation’s lowest crime rate, suffers from chronic poverty and has the highest unemployment in the U.S. It also has the fewest police per capita.
gravenimage says
Muslim persecution of Christians intensifying across the Sahel
……………………
Yes–this is getting worse all over the world.