Defusing The Lure Of Militant Islam In France, Despite Death Threats

Dounia Bouzar, shown here in 2015, helps parents in France who want to prevent their kids from joining militant groups like ISIS — whose recruiters, she says, "set out to break every emotional, social and historical tie in the kids' lives." CHARLES PLATIAU / REUTERS

By ELEANOR BEARDSLEY • 14 HOURS AGO
Originally published on December 19, 2016 6:07 pm

These days, Dounia Bouzar doesn't go anywhere without her three bodyguards. The French Muslim anthropologist has received death threats for unveiling the tactics of Islamist recruiters. I meet her in a cafe along Paris' Boulevard St. Germain, where Bouzar is enjoying an ice cream sundae in the back while her security contingent, provided by the French government, sits at a table out front, eyes on the entrance.

Bouzar's book, Defusing Radical Islam, was published in 2014, a year before the rest of the country woke up to the threat of homegrown radicalization. That moment came in January 2015, when radical Islamist gunmen attacked the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket, killing 17 people.

"When it was published, hundreds of parents of radicalized kids came looking for me," says Bouzar. "Because they recognized themselves and their children in my book."

After the book came out, Bouzar began working with 300 parents to develop ways to deal with the problem. One of the fathers was a policeman and showed the others how to bug their kids' phones and computers. Bouzar says they were then able to witness how the recruiters worked.

http://www.kunc.org/post/defusing-lure-militant-islam-france-despite-death-threats

4:25 audio at link.

http://www.cpdsi.fr/