“Middle East security analyst”: rise of global jihad “has nothing to do with Islam”

Robert Spencer  / Jihad Watch

 

How could a “radical interpretation of Islam” have “nothing to do with the religion”? How is it that these groups that uniformly explain and justify their actions on the basis of Islam have nothing to do with Islam? How is it that a group that calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant and another that calls itself the Congregation of the People of the Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad have nothing to do with Islam? Why is it that study after study has shown that jihadis are actually generally wealthier than their peers, and yet Kreig asserts that the jihadis are “disillusioned by austerity” and thus turn to Islam?

Why is it that this palpable nonsense gets printed in the mainstream media without a murmur of dissent? Why is only Kreig quoted and no one who looks at the available evidence and says that the rise of the global jihad has everything to do with Islam? Why does the ever-witless Daily Mail not ask Kreig to give anything more than the barest explanation for his counterfactual claims? Why does the mainstream media always rush to exonerate Islam of all responsibility for the ever-mounting number of atrocities done in its name and inspired by its texts and teachings, instead of confronting the ideology that jihadis say motivates and inspires them and formulating positive and effective ways to limit its power to incite to violence?

I’d love to debate Andreas Kreig about this question. But I am sure that he would refuse to do so.

“From Syria to Iraq, Kenya to Malaysia: How new era of Islamic fundamentalism is spreading fear and chaos around the world,” by Simon Tomlinson, Daily Mail, June 25, 2014 (thanks to Adam):

Andreas Kreig, a Middle East security analyst at King’s College London in Qatar, said he had noticed a rise in extremism in recent weeks and months, but said Islam wasn’t to blame.

He told MailOnline: ‘All the empirical evidence shows that it is on the rise. You’re seeing it in all the headlines, then you’re looking at Iraq, you’re looking at Syria, you’re looking at Nigeria.

‘But in all three cases this has nothing to do with Islam. I think people in the West may think it is because they feel alienated by Islam. There is alot [sic] of Islamaphobia.’

Mr Kreig said more and more communities – often disillusioned by austerity or other grievances – have turned to religious groups as an alternative to secular regimes in recent years.

He said: ‘When communities become disenfranchised – and lot of them are muslim – they use Islam to further their particular cause.

‘They adhere to a radical interpretation of Islam, but it has nothing to do with the religion.’