It is apparent that we are not doing enough to come up with ideas for fighting and eliminating terrorism once and for all. We have been petrified by recent events, learning that there are individuals awaiting the opportunity to ambush citizens and threaten the country’s security. Interior Minister Prince Naif noted in a speech that was carried in the media that too little was being done to combat terrorism in its earliest stages.
There is a serious insufficiency in dealing with terrorism, both mentally and educationally. Extreme actions usually result from extreme views and ideologies that soon develop into plans and ideas against an idea or a group of people. If we compare our awareness campaigns against terrorism with those in America, we find that fighting terrorism has become a national duty for them. It includes political, social and religious aspects that became the focus and obsession of the media and the educational sector.
The attention given to fighting terrorism in the US makes one feel that 9/11 happened recently instead of six years ago. The level of public awareness has been intensified by teaching people to recognize signs that indicate bizarre behavior that might lead to a threat to security. The awareness campaigns not only educate the ordinary citizens but they also inform people of the appropriate way to deal with suspicious individuals.
In Saudi Arabia, we rarely come across a program, a poster or an awareness campaign designed to educate citizens about the necessity of carefully dealing with terrorism. The problem is that we have people unfortunately belittling the threat of terrorism.
There is a majority that believes it is not their duty to chase criminals, report or detect them because it is the responsibility of the security forces.
The idea of observing and reporting unusual incidents or individuals is an important thing we must all learn. Why don’t we have regular visits by police officers, teachers, psychiatrists, educated columnists and moderate religious preachers to schools, universities and mosques? Why don’t we have awareness campaigns designed to target men and women equally? I wonder why no one has come up with a weekly TV or radio program that addresses the importance of helping the country uncover terrorists. And to explain what the difference is between terrorism, extremism and fieldwork? How should we deal with these things? How can we contribute to helping the government?
There’s also the Internet with its forums and links that support terrorism. Dealing with this kind of terrorism requires different approaches. Some Internet users apparently lead rather murky double lives. Take for example an extremist who later repented and shared his story with others. He used to be an imam, leading prayers in the mosque, and then he would return home and post his hatreds, prejudices and extremist ideologies online. Obviously, we have to consider the influence of the Internet on the public.
I have noticed that the advisory committee focuses its attention on prisoners and prosecuted terrorists. Why can’t it work to advise people with extreme views or ideologies so that the problem could be solved early, in its initial stages? This would require committees and groups interested in altering terrorist thinking to reflect deeply on coming up with better communication with such people. We can’t simply say that we have eradicated terrorism because no more terrorist attacks have recently occurred. Laziness and the superficial treatment of things feed into the terrorists’ mentality so they manage to do their work easily. May God protect our beloved country from harm and help all people to reach the path of goodness. Amen.
— Dr. Maha Al-Hujailan is a medical researcher at King Khaled University Hospital in Riyadh.
