Categories
Perspectives

Why it is important to go beyond the ‘headlines’ when talking about terrorism

Far right terrorism may indeed be ‘on the rise’ – or is it? In any event this form of political violence is a mere shadow of its Islamist cousin

Categories
Quick Hits Video

How should security services handle threat information

As the trial of Brenton Tarrant comes to a close questions were asked. What did the authorities know? Could they have prevented it?

Categories
Perspectives

April 7, 2017 | Truck attack in Stockholm

On this day in 2017 a man drove a stolen beer truck into a crowd of people in a popular shopping district in Stockholm, killing four people.

Categories
Perspectives

March 23, 2014 | Attack on a Kenyan church

On this day in 2014, two gunmen stormed a church near the Kenyan city of Mombasa, opening fire on worshipers and killing four people.

Categories
Perspectives

March 10, 2012 | Attack in Toulouse, France

Beginning on this day in 2012, Mohamed Merah shot and killed a paratrooper in Toulouse. Five days later he killed three unarmed French soldiers before turning his hatred to a Jewish school on March 19.

Categories
Perspectives

Germany shisha lounge shootings: What can we learn from terrorist ‘manifestos’?

Motive can be difficult to discern in acts that seem ‘terrorist’ in nature: can we trust what the terrorists themselves tell us?

Categories
Perspectives

February 3, 2018 | Shooting of immigrants in Italy

The UN High Commission for Refugees estimates there are currently over 70 MILLION people who have been forced to flee their homes: anti-immigrant/refugee backlash is growing as well. WHERE ARE YOU? By that I don’t mean where you live now or where you were born (at least not necessarily). No, what I am getting at […]

Categories
Perspectives

If at first you don’t find a reason to hate keep looking

When you have a bee in your bonnet you tend to seek out whatever information you can muster to support your position or satisfy your need to be right. Whether we are talking about the political party you back or the sports team you cheer for you are constantly on the hunt for evidence that […]

Categories
Perspectives

A small victory in the war against violent hate or a slippery slope to censorship?

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on September 9, 2019. We all believe that hate is on the rise. Whether it is statements made (and later denied) by presidents who shall remain nameless or an apparent increase in marches and public displays of anger by groups of (largely) white men who seem to be […]

Categories
Perspectives

This day in terrorism: September 14, 2016

NB due to technical issues this blog is two days late: my apologies If you follow the news even a bit you know that places of worship are prime targets for terrorists and hatemongers. There are probably several reasons for this: they are generally unprotected; they are full of people at times; and they are […]