(Jerusalem Post) Boaz Ganor - Even if Islamic State is defeated, its ideology will live on in whatever organization takes its place, unless the dangerous tenets of Islamist jihadism are dissolved. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict (as well as the causes of poverty, occupation, oppression and lack of education) was not the root cause of the Paris attacks, nor of other terrorist attacks by Islamist jihadist organizations. Israel is not the root cause of processes of radicalization in the Muslim world. The root cause is the radical religious ideological worldview based on a dangerous interpretation of Islam. The annihilation of Israel would accelerate the establishment of an Islamic caliphate throughout the Middle East, add fuel to the fire of radical Islam, and reinforce the global jihadist struggle. Israel is the long arm of the Western world, stemming the tide of radical Islam and acting as a buffer between it and Europe. The moderate Muslim majority must rise against the loud and dangerous minority that is hijacking Islam, because if they do not, these moderate Muslims are the ones who will pay the price, both in Muslim countries and in the West. The writer is dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and executive director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism.
2015-12-11 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive