Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

The West is delusional about de-radicalising jihadists

The error of Emma Kelty, the one that cost the British adventurer her brave life on the banks of the Amazon, was a failing all too common in Europeans: she had too much good faith. Raised in comfort and educated in compassion, Kelty had little concept of the savagery that lurks in some souls. Displaying a mix of naivety and conceit, she ignored warnings from villagers and went on her way, even posting a joke on social media mocking the locals’ concern for her welfare. Two days later she was murdered by a gang of ‘water rats’, young men with no regard for human life. What happened to Kelty is little different from what has been happening to Europe in recent years. The same naivety and conceit afflicts our leaders who struggle to understand that there are, living among us, a great many people who want to cause us harm.

In an interview with a French newspaper at the weekend the German feminist and journalist, Alice Schwarzer, explained that Angela Merkel’s greatest mistake was that ‘even before the migrant crisis she had not understood the difference between Islam and Islamism, between the religion and the political ideology’. Schwarzer blamed Merkel’s failure to grasp the crucial difference on the fact she’s the daughter of a pastor, who preached tolerance and kindness. The same criticism can be levelled at Theresa May, whose father was a vicar, and no doubt delivered sermons on similar themes. The PM, like the German Chancellor, seems to believe that in the end the Islamists will come round to our way of thinking and embrace our set of values.

They should read a book by a French reporter called David Thomson to better understand why their hope may be dangerously misplaced. Called Les Revenants [The Undead], the title is a nod to the French jihadists who fought for the Islamic State before returning home.

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