THE recent announcement by the Saudi authorities of the arrest of 431 suspects that belongs to Daesh (so-called IS) raises serious alarms. The fact that the vast majority of those arrested are Saudis and the remaining from Arab and African nationalities indicate there is an increased effort in brainwashing their minds toward extreme thoughts and nefarious designs. These people reportedly formed an internal cell for the terrorist organization and their aim was to target innocent people at mosques. They were also responsible for number of shootings, including the police officers in Riyadh and the two terror operations against mosques in the Eastern Province a while back. This latest development signifies that our fight against terror and terrorists is not over yet, and we have to always be ready to counter the fresh and senseless ways these groups device to gain their deviant objectives. They will always come up with new tactics to recruit new people and brainwash them to commit terror acts against their own country. It is ironic that terror groups are using the most modern advancement that is for the benefit of the society as a potent weapon against society. One of the best weapons Daesh is using in furthering their aims is social media, which is mainly being used exhaustively to recruit new people. They hide behind the anonymity that social media affords to set the honey trap and lure people. How many people were recruited through Twitter and other social media sites? How many persons have been in touch directly with a member of a terrorist organization through his mobile phone device or computer, away from government eyes? This is something we have to admit that the terror group used the knowledge of our youth's presence in social media to their advantage. They made the connection and acted. The vast majority of our youth who joined the terrorist organization abroad were contacted through online social media. Terrorists then guided them through a series of steps to ensnare them in their web. They even give them guidelines on which country to travel to and where to go from there. What is really scary is that in all the cases, where the youth fled to different areas of operation to join these outfits, their families did not discover or were ignorant about any signs that their family members are about to join a terrorist organization abroad. The government is doing their job in increasing awareness against these terrorist groups and the danger they pose to society, but their role alone is not enough. The bulk of responsibility falls on the family to educate their own youth about the danger of these terrorist groups. What is more important is that they should be aware of what is happening in their immediacy while becoming familiar with the probable signs youth may display that indicate that there's something amiss. They should know the signs they show when they are contacted by these groups or have been influenced by their deviant thoughts. In a TV interview with a marketing expert, I heard him jokingly saying that the best brand currently circulating in the world is Daesh. They have succeeded in creating a brand and attracting youngsters from all over the world, even from Europe. Their news is running daily on news channels and people read about them every day in newspapers. Daesh has the best propaganda team that promotes the terrorist organization in social media, especially YouTube. It is, in a way, true. Despite the counterattack by authorities against them in the form of deleting their videos when they upload a segment of their operation, they always manage to upload it again and in many different sites, making the operation of blocking them from public view very difficult. The best way in my opinion is to start with parents and family. Families are the best tools and the front line of defense against terror organization. There is a major weakness in families because parents fail to detect any sign that their youth is attracted to such deviant thoughts. Isn't it plausible for parents and families to be taught ways to recognize elements in the youth that indicate that they are treading a dangerous path? Why are parents not educated on how to protect their children and youth against terror recruiters? Our youth have energy and they are emotionally exposed and can be easily taken advantage of. Are our parents capable and ready to answer questions that run in the minds of our youth about the objective of these terrorist organizations, especially Daesh? In my opinion the best way is to encourage youth not to get involved in politics and try as hard as possible to keep them away from what is happening in the surrounding, but again that is just a wish and it is impossible to implement. Parents should be familiar with sudden changes in their personalities or behavior. If parents suspect and then confirm their suspicion that there is something secretive in their son's behavior, then I find it acceptable for them to dig into their son's computer to see what sites he is visiting and what people he is talking to. If the parent was capable of talking and explaining to their youth about the dangerous propaganda of these terrorist groups they should do so, otherwise they should contact an expert who can counter the brainwashing tactics of these groups or even alert authorities about the suspicion of their ward's possibility of joining these outfits. There have been cases where parents alerted authorities about their son's activities and the police did make an arrest before they left to join a group that was going to treat them as cannon fodder. The terrorist groups are getting smarter and coming out with new methods to attract our youth. We need to outsmart them by talking to our youth constantly and explain to them such groups' causes are false. It is a joint effort between the government and parents. The same way the government through the Islamic affairs ministry succeeded in excluding violent preachers from our mosque and police cracking down on terrorist cells, parents should play an important role of monitoring and rearing their youth from straying into the wrong path.
— The writer can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng
