"The Way Back from Islamism"

"By Matthew Levitt"

July 17, 2008
CounterterrorismBlog.org
http://counterterrorismblog.org/upload/2008/09/CTB%20July%202008%20Post%20Archives.doc
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2008/07/the_way_back_from_islamism.php

"On July 11, 2008, Maajid Nawaz addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Nawaz was a longtime member of the British leadership committee of Hizb al-Tahrir (HT), an international Islamist movement. In 2002, while studying in Egypt, he was arrested for his membership in the group and was imprisoned in Egypt's Mazra Tora prison until 2006. He returned to Britain upon his release and publicly announced his withdrawal from HT in 2007. Mr. Nawaz now directs the Quilliam Foundation, which describes itself as "a counter extremism think tank” which was “created by former activists of radical Islamist organisations.""

"Having met with Maajid and his colleages from Quilliam, and having had the opportunity to ask them the "tough questions" Jeffrey Imm refers to elsewhere on this blog, I am convinced of their sincerity. Asking who our allies are in the battle of ideas is a critical question, and I submit that if Mr. Nawaz and his colleagues at Quilliam are not moderate enough for Mr. Imm he is not likely to find anyone who is."

"Another important question that needs to be asked, and one that has often been given short-shrift (including on this blog) is how to leverage the ideological fissures that develop between and among our adversaries -- even when the more moderate wing is still not as moderate as we would like them to be. In the UK, for example, a distinction is often made between "jihadi salafists" and "political salafists," with the government willing to work with some groups that fall into the latter category but none in the former. (For the record, Quilliam has come out against working with groups that fall into either category). Not only do the political salafists have credibility when it comes to deradicalizing others, but as the Dutch argue it may be better to keep them in the larger tent than drive them further underground. In addition, having recently spent time in the UK (as well as France and Holland), talking to counterterrorism officials and local community leaders, it is striking how concerned they are about the threat of an imminent attack. Against that background, it becomes more understandable why they're trying to find allies wherever they can. The British realize they may have significant differences with "political salafists" who think "resistance" in Palestine or Iraq is legitimate, but are thinking about ways that they can at least leverage them and their positions in an effort to de-radicalize the most severe extremists (taqfiris) randomly targeting civilians today. "

"These are issues which bear further exploring. It is impossible to fully grasp the reality of the threat on the ground in Europe, as well as the governments' responses, without spending time in the communities, as my colleague Mike Jacobson and I recently did in East London, for example. While Mr. Imm is right that not every extremist or terrorist renouncing their former way of life is fully deradicalized, to dismiss all of them is not only short sighted, but risks missing valuable opportunities for the US and its allies. "

"A rapporteur's summary of Mr. Nawaz’s address to The Washington Institute is available here. You can listen to an audio recording of his full speech here."