Wanted brothers grew up in French orphanage
The Kouachi brothers wanted for the terrorist murder of 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo office were born in France to Algerian parents who died when they were little.
They and another brother grew up in an orphanage in Rennes.
I mention this because of the arguments which are developing that they are the product of religious brainwashing in the home, by immigrant parents who never fitted in.
They are the product of a state orphanage, and like many other young men who grew up in orphanages the world over, they have problems of identity, lots of anger and are direction-less. Obviously, they also have no support structure. Individuals like these are more likely than most to become involved in crime or in criminal groups which offer them structure, identity and purpose.
I have argued all along that problematic young men will always look for a cause and a group with a purpose and very often they will find a harmful one in crime or something else that is negative.
That is why Islamic State and other terrorist groups find recruits even among those who, like the Kouachi brothers, were not raised in Islam.
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Many non Muslims like them have left their countries to take part in both sides of the conflict in Ukraine.
Mubin Shaikh, a former Taliban recruiter said:
“There were certain things we looked for, people who didn’t know the religion as much. People who were converts, because converts would probably have problems with their parents at home, so they were more likely to stay in our company.”
”Most Western recruits are teenagers and almost all going to Syria to fight are men. “The vast majority of Westerners joining up with ISIS are extraordinarily ignorant when it comes to religion,” said Max Abrahms, a Northeastern University professor”
http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076
Erratum: many non Muslims, like them
It just shows that they are ungrateful bastards.
[Daphne – Why should any children raised in orphanages be grateful for their care? It is their right and not a special favour. The state is obliged to care for them. Your attitude is Victorian.]
I was raised by my natural parents, as is my right. Do you think that I shouldn’t be grateful and shouldn’t show my appreciation?
[Daphne – No, you shouldn’t be grateful. It was their duty and obligation to care for you, and your right to have them do so. Parents who expect their children to be grateful are on a hiding to nothing. And when grown-up children talk about gratitude, it’s generally because they can’t feel love. Don’t confuse love with gratitude and appreciation. They’re entirely different things. As for your equating parental love with the routine care of a state orphanage…]
“Brainwashing in the home” is not my reading of what has made the Kouachi brothers do what they have done. The brainwashing was done by so called preachers, in mosques and a prison.
I am in perfect agreement, Mr Saliba. The brainwashing is the work of some Muslim clerics, the Madrasa Islamic schools in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan and stems from some mosques such as the notorious Finsbury Park Mosque in North London, the favoured past haunt of the equally notorious Abu Hamza who thankfully was jailed for life yesterday (for permanent life that is) in New York.
There are some apologists who are trying to disassociate these acts of terror from the Islamic religion but this is belied by relevant facts. These acts are being perpetrated in the name of God and hence the perpetual cries of “Allah Akbar” whilst they are being committed.
I am not qualified to speak about the subject, but these very people have received all kinds of love and respect, and all the benefices society had to offer , and now they pay back in this manner. I am astounded.
[Daphne – You don’t receive love and respect in a care home where you are one of many and your parents are dead or otherwise gone, however well-intentioned the care.]
I cannot agree more.
In Malta you hear many people relating such terrorists even to the immigrants that arrive by boat. They are completely different.
The immigrants that arrive by boat are themselves fleeing from terrorists, and there is not one single proof yet that terrorists are mixed among those coming by boat. Such terrorists are trained and specialised, and too risky to have them sent to Europe on an irregular and dangerous trip.
Listening to a programme on Rai, a few days ago, experts on the subject commented that these terrorists mostly if not all, are of the second generation of immigrants. These people face resistance and reluctance by the locals, wherever they end up. They never really integrate with the society that their parents had chosen to live with for a peaceful life. They are brought up without a real identity.
If as democratic Europeans, we believe and do welcome them, then we have to continue the process and do our best to integrate them into our way of living. We should do our best to make them Maltese and not let them get stronger in their isolation from us.
It does not make sense, first to welcome them then to shun them off all their lives. Like this, we are only creating resentment to both sides and lighting a dangerous fire which nobody will be able to put off, except with bloodshed.
Thanks for bringing this up.
When a terrorist is Muslim we immediately blame Islam (some even blame all Muslims).
When the terrorist is from the extreme right, left or a separatist, we check his family background.
Poor Brievik, mummy didn’t love him enough when he was young. Yet you are the first to bring up the upbringing of these brothers. Few if any, bothered to ask.
Islam is blamed only when some atrocity is carried out by terrorists screaming Allahu Akbar and when Muslims rejoice and claim “credit” for the terrorist act.
Islam is not blamed for IRA, Basque ETA, Brigate Rosse or Bader Meinfoff terrorism.
Please let us not confuse issues.
Dear Daphne,
As a Muslim, I couldn’t have said it better myself. I agree with what you have said.
What these mad, mad people are doing has NOTHING to do with ISLAM and lots of people are finding difficulty in understanding this. It is resulting in a lot of hate towards Muslims, unfortunately.
Thanks and best regards,
Denise
People who find difficulty with agreeing with you are those who are familiar with the official Kuran teaching about jihad, about “infidels”, about the cruel and degrading punishments under Sharia Law, the humiliating discriminatory treatment of women etc.
What these “mad, mad people are doing” has got EVERYTHING to do with Islam. That is why Daphne’s good Muslim friends are those who ignore the Koran Sura XLVII 4-6 (her words not mine). By the way, so are the good Muslims known to me.
[Daphne – I don’t separate the people I know into Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, atheists and Jews, Dr Saliba. I don’t even think about it.]
Generalising.
[Daphne – Not at all. Young people who come out of orphanages (care homes) are statistically more likely to become involved in crime and to end up in prison, with the likelihood higher for young men than for young women. There’s lots to read on the internet if you wish, but you might start with this: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/careasteppingstonetocustody.pdf ]
You say they are direction-less. They are being directed by the Quran to avenge the prophet – from their own mouths.
[Daphne – This is really a ‘groan’ moment. That’s just my point.Lost young men look for purpose and direction and are extremely vulnerable to negative ’causes’ and negative groups when they are in that psychological state. That is when they become involved with crime, drugs, sects, terrorist groups & c & c. In another age they might have run off to join the foreign legion or become mercenaries or pirates. This is just a variation on that same age-old theme. You seem to be of the mindset that ‘radical Muslim’ is something genetic, and that boys raised in a French state care home would inevitably end up as Islamic terrorists because their dead parents were Algerian and so it must be in their blood. Or are you suggesting that they were brainwashed with radical Islam in a state care home in, of all places, a-religious France?]
And the problem is there are many lost young men in the world at present.
They are the product of a state orphanage, and like many other young men who grew up in orphanages the world over, they have problems of identity, lots of anger and are direction-less. Obviously, they also have no support structure. Individuals like these are more likely than most to become involved in crime or in criminal groups which offer them structure, identity and purpose.
i.e. they are very usable for any purpose/gain. That is how it translates to some.