Taken from: The Local - Presented by Emirates Center for Strategic Studies
Dr. Jamal Sanad al-Suwaidi in an interview with The Local.
‘If you come here you must be loyal to Swedish values.’
Published: 21 Mar 2016 08:31 GMT+01:00
Can
Sweden’s humanitarian agenda really be balanced with secularity and
security? The Local speaks to Abu Dhabi-based scholar and author Dr.
Jamal Sanad al-Suwaidi about the conundrum.
Sweden
is one of the most secular countries in the world. It’s also the EU
nation which, per capita, takes in the most refugees from the Middle
East.
And as “attacks” of various kinds like those in Paris and
Cologne make the world ever warier, Sweden is facing a challenge: How
much can the country actually take?
“I think European countries
have been too soft, and they are paying the price for it,” says Abu
Dhabi-based scholar Dr. Jamal Sanad al-Suwaidi.
Al-Suwaidi is
Director General of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and
Research (ECSSR), as well as the author of numerous articles and books.
His latest work, The Mirage, focuses on the phenomenon of radical
political Islam, its causes, and how it should be addressed.
In
the book, he argues that using intellect and not just military power is
critical to overcoming extremism. The very title of the book is a
metaphor for the deceptive remedies radical religious groups claim can
solve contemporary social problems.
He describes the current
political climate in the Middle East as similar to Europe in the Middle
Ages - a time when religion ruled and those who spoke out against the
church were persecuted.
But the Western world has been naive in handling the phenomenon, he says. And the problem is deeply rooted.
“They
have let it go on for too long,” he remarks. “When the Soviet-Afghan
war began, the Western world supported the rebels. And it came back to
haunt them. It’s time to wake up.”
Back when the Soviet Union
invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the United States supported rebel fighters,
the Afghan mujahedeen – factions of which later become the Taliban. And
when the Muslim Brotherhood struggled to gain power in Egypt in 2011,
much of the Western world supported what al-Suwaidi describes in The
Mirage as their “superficial democracy”.
He concludes it’s a mistake to support any religious political faction over another – because they’re all connected.
“Dividing this phenomenon just makes them stronger,” he tells
The Local.
“I
don’t think there really is a separation between the Muslim Brotherhood
and Isis. If you look back, Isis didn’t emerge until after 2013, when
the Muslim Brothers in Egypt were demised. And they both operate by
‘kill now, discuss later’. There is no difference. They might have
different tactics, but it’s the same ideology.”
While al-Suwaidi,
who received his PhD in political science from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison in 1990, uses his pen as a sword to combat extremism
with The Mirage, that doesn’t mean he is against using force when
necessary.
Speaking specifically about Isis, the author argues the
entire world must unite against the terrorist group, utilizing not only
bombs but ground forces to wipe them out and stop the killing of
innocents.
As the European nation which takes in the most refugees per capita, how can Sweden be sure that terrorists are not among them?
“Sweden has one of the largest Muslim communities in Europe, and must play a major role in combating extremism,” he says.
For
instance, proposes al-Suwaidi, Sweden could promote the creation and
implementation of an international database that could be used to
document suspected terrorists, as well as those at risk of
radicalization, and thus make it easier to prevent them from entering
Europe in the first place.
But what about the battle at home?
Sweden's
intelligence service Säpo has identified 292 people as having left
Sweden since 2013 to join Isis. What is the lure, and how can the flow
be stopped?
“It’s very difficult,” al-Suwaidi admits. But part of the solution is a three-fold intellectual counterattack, he explains.
“We
must fight not only this war, but also fight intellectually. We must
change the nature of education, change the tactics in media, and change
the nature of what is happening in mosques.”
Mosques in particular, he continues, should be carefully monitored controlled.
“The
mosques in Sweden and Europe are not always expressions of religious
freedom,” he says. “They can be places to learn terrorism.”
Freedom
of religion must still be respected, and mosques should be retained as
places of prayer – “but they cannot become schools” where radical
ideologies are taught and spread.
“There is a difference between religious freedom and recruiting killers.”
While
some would view state intervention in a mosque as an invasion of
privacy, al-Suwaidi argues that at this point, security is far more
important.
“The relationship between security and privacy is
abused by terrorists,” he says. “Ask the people in Paris – do they
prefer privacy over security? At the end of the day, the killing just
needs to stop.”
Nations should not be too accommodating when
accepting citizens of another country, the scholar says. Privacy,
religious freedom, and culture are all important in their way, but also
relative – and those who move to a new country should be ready to
assimilate.
“Loyalty to a group other than your country is a
massive problem,” he remarks. “The whole of a nation state depends on
everyone believing in it. If they are loyal to someone else – well,
that’s a problem.”
Swedes tend to be meek about imposing their own
culture and values, he adds, but even tolerance can go too far. In his
eyes, placing demands on immigrants can help combat extremism by helping
them get more rooted in their new country.
“I think if Sweden
keeps trying to overcome the concept of nation state, they will pay for
it in the future,” he muses. “Those who come to Sweden must be loyal to
Swedish values. If they’re not willing to become part of the Swedish
community, they shouldn’t come.”
The same applies to refugees
seeking new homes in Germany, the UK, or any other nation, and
al-Suwaidi argues that citizenship should be based upon values and
identity – not how long you have been in the country.
“You cannot
have someone from Iraq come live in Sweden and be loyal to Iraq, for
example,” he says. “Who are they loyal to? Sunni? Shiite? Kurdish? The
Arab world? Isis? You have to be Swedish.”
In practice, that means learning the Swedish language and respecting Swedish laws and values.
It’s
not a matter of disrespecting other cultures, al-Suwaidi explains;
rather, he sees increased cultural assimilation as a tool to help
overcome extremism.
“If you’re proud of your heritage, okay,
great,” he says. “But at the end of the day, you must be Swedish, with
Swedish values. Otherwise you should leave.”
Al-Suwaidi, who is a Muslim himself, adds that the struggle against radicalism is not limited to Islam.
“Extremism
happens everywhere,” he says. “When Trump said no Muslims should be
able to enter the US, that’s extremism. When Hindus kill Muslims for
killing a cow, that’s extremism. No one has the right, in Islam or any
religion, to kill people. I don’t know how they justify this.”
The
trick is to stifle extremism – in any form – in its infancy, never
allowing it to reach the proportions where it forces thousands from
their homes.
“It’s a lifelong battle,” al-Suwaidi acknowledges.
“You cannot get rid of extremism entirely. But we can teach tolerance,
and make it an international value.”
This article was produced by The Local and sponsored by the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research.
