Extremism is a Cancer That We Must All Confront

22 people have lost their lives after the terrible suicide attack in the early hours of the morning in Manchester. Last night, emergency services, the police and communities came together to try and support those who were targeted. The end result was that the nation woke up to see emergency procedures kick in within Manchester and with investigations underway.

People sit next to a police cordon near to the Manchester Arena, Britain May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Andrew Yates

There is intersectionality between extremism and hate crime. Far right anti-Muslim hate has extremist rhetoric that is associated with it, as does Islamist extremism which promotes a separationist view of people and communities. There is a strong likelihood that the suicide bomber involved in the terrorist attack in Manchester, was influenced by Islamist extremist narratives and rhetoric. This is why this rhetoric must be challenged and robustly challenged, when there are groups feeding into it and fanning the flames of views which include ‘Muslims being targeted by the State’ and ‘Islam being under attack’. Such rhetoric is toxic and is poured out by some groups.

Hate crime work involves empowering the victim. Only by empowering people, can extremist narratives be challenged. Those who play to fears and paranoia in our country are not part of the solution, but are part of the problem.

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Categories: far right extremism, hate crime, Manchester, Opinions, terrorism