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Another form of terrorismReader comment on item: Winning the Propaganda War [versus Radical Islam] Submitted by Kenneth S. Besig (Israel), Dec 27, 2005 at 12:52 In many ways Islamic conspiracy and victimization propaganda is just another form of Islamic terrorism.Most Islamic youth are badly educated and by and large impoverished, with very few real chances for advancement or even worthwhile employment. Frankly, if a child born in the Islamic world is not born to a family already wealthy or politically connected, he has almost no chance of improving himself or his employment or income prospects. Thus by listening to and believing the most incredible anti Moslem conspiracy theories, or patently false stories of Moslem victimization, he can at least rationalize his own personal failure and wallow in self pity and hopelessness. Indeed, self pity and hopelessness is just about all he can do for himself in the Islamic world. This lack of hope is also what I believe is what has made Islamic terrorism so appealing to Islamic youth. Lacking marketable skills, any sort of serious education, and usually any real chance to operate a business or advance in politics, fed a constant diet of self pity and victimization, just about all that is left for them is to join terrorist gangs. At least terrorism doesn't require any skill or education, just a desire and willingness to kill others, or even oneself. And as a result of internicine killings or Israeli assassinations, promotion can be very rapid. As a real life example, one need only look at the Gaza Strip and the literally dozens of terrorist gangs, militias, including the Palestinian Authority which thrive there. These groups can pay salaries on time, something even the legitimate PA cannot do. The terrorists can also pay pensions to the families of slain terrorists and the families of suicide bombers. Their members also enjoy a certain hero status among their neighbors, even though all they really do is bring more death,pain, suffering, and economic loss to their communities. And as if to add insult to injury, certainly a large part of the funds they use to finance their activities are supplied by the the Gulf Arab states, the European Union, and even the American government. Thus I would suggest that Islamic conspiracy and victimization propaganda are certainly an essential part of the international Islamic terrorist movement. I would even go so far as to conclude that the Islamist news/propaganda services could be considered a form of terrorism themselves since all they really do is destroy the spirit and hope of those Moslems who are swayed by them and encourage Moslems to murder non Moslems. Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". << Previous Comment Next Comment >> Reader comments (87) on this item
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