Jeffrey Stevenson Murer reflects on openSecurity's collection of articles, which have explored the creation of the other as 'enemy', externally and in ourselves.
Nicolas Lebourg continues (see part one) to explore how the Toulouse events contributed to shaping Marine Le Pen’s electoral strategy. While it is dubious that Islamophobia played the most decisive part in her latest presidential score, she placed it on the top of the political agenda for the seco
The use of anti-Semitism as the main narrative for “Toulouse” led to an internationalising step in the depiction of these events, as commentators increasingly linked the attacks to the Israel/Palestine conflict. Comments then focused on the alleged responsibility of “Israel” or “Muslims” in Merah’
In ganging up on housing estates, in racist attacks or inter-state brinkmanship, how does the enemy become the Other? This peculiar purification process requires a narrative and a chance to 'perform a boundary'. For local and national communities, leaders and politicians alike, it is one way to re
There were some good reasons to suspect the French extreme right of theToulouse killings. In this first article, Nicolas Lebourg shows how, once the identity of the killer was known, Marine Le Pen could switch her discourse to Islamophobia, a terrain on which she feels most comfortable.
Why do some Muslims join radical groups? Theories abound but their analytic capacity remains low as they tend to focus on only a single aspect of this complex issue. Something they miss is why new recruits consider joining these groups a positive thing: they find good friends there.
In 'sensitive urban zones' where a third of residents live below the poverty line and unemployment among young people is over 40%, it is difficult to see how people like Mohammed Merah can become part of France’s social fabric.
If Israel wants to keep Palestine off the map, so to speak, and exaggerate existential threats: what is the end game? There are days, viewed from Gaza, when one must feel an even graver concern for an already bleak future. And then news comes in from France...
