[ April 18, 2024 ]
This ridiculous program is based on the false assumption that Muslims turn to terrorism because they haven’t been treated well by the kuffar. If we would just be nice to them, all will be well. This is just another program that is doomed to fail, and to allow more jihadis to victimize more people in Europe. Shameful.
“Hug a Jihadi,” by Evan Williams and Joel Tozer, SBS, August 8, 2017 (thanks to Kenny):
Can you stop terrorism with empathy?
Story continues below advertisementUnder a program run by police in Denmark’s second largest city, Aarhus, a unique approach is being tested – offering assistance to radicalised youths and adults, rather than treating them as criminals.
The police running the program believe helping young extremists is the best way to keep the peace. Treating them harshly and with suspicion only isolates them further – making them more of a danger to society.
The program has been referred by some in the media as the ‘hug a terrorist’ model of deradicalisation. So far, it’s been remarkably effective.
In this week’s Dateline, reporter Evan Williams meets Jamal*, who several years ago says he was so angry with society he almost became a terrorist.
Jamal’s extremist views started developing after a high school debate on Islam. Jamal vehemently defended his religion against his classmates. But the teacher interpreted something he said as a threat and the school referred Jamal to the police.
The ordeal resulted in Jamal getting suspended from school, and his home raided by police. He told Dateline that he was made to feel like a criminal, when he hadn’t broken the law. As a result he surrounded himself with other young Muslims who shared his feelings of isolation. They watched radical sermons online and talked of jihad. Before long, they were planning to leave Denmark for Pakistan.
“In my mind I was like, ‘they treated me as a terrorist. If they want a terrorist, they will get a terrorist’,” he says.
But a phone call from one police officer changed everything for Jamal.
The officer apologised, telling Jamal his case was handled poorly, and asked if he would meet with a Muslim mentor. At first Jamal was suspicious of the offer, but agreed to meet the mentor.
After several meetings and long conversations about the unique difficulties of being Muslim in Denmark, Jamal began reconsider his views. All it took was someone to reach out and offer empathy and understanding. In Jamal’s case, a punitive, disciplinary response from authorities to suspicions he was becoming radicalised, only further radicalised him. What turned him away from extremism was the offer of an open hand.
The genesis of the program known as the ‘Aarhus Model’ was a stream of calls to police from parents whose children had fled to Syria. Superintendent Allan Aarslev and his team considered how they would respond.
“We had a number of options,” he told Dateline. “We could prosecute them all if we can find evidence, however those we couldn’t prosecute, what should we do about them?”
Their answer was to reach out to men like Jamal and give them another chance.
In Denmark, many Muslims whose parents were born overseas feel they are outcast from the rest of the population. Police in Aarhus recognised this may be the main source of discontent driving young Muslims to extremism.
Faisal Mohamed works with young Muslims in Aarhus – many who live in Gellerup, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city – and says the feeling of isolation they experience can be dangerous.
“A lot of immigrants face difficulties maybe with the language, or the lack of networks, the lack of connections with the broader society,” he says.
“Growing up as a young person you feel alone actually, and trapped between two worlds.”
These are the feelings that caused Jamal and his peers to develop extremist views.
Three of the young men Jamal was radicalised with ended up in Syria – two were killed while the other is still there. Jamal believes if it wasn’t for the Aarhus Model program he would be there as well.
According to Jamal’s mentor, patience is the key to de-radicalisation; “It takes a long time to be radicalised, but it also takes a long time to be deradicalised. It’s because they don’t feel like, ‘I’m a part of this society’.”
But this approach focused on nurturing reformed extremists has drawn criticism. Danish politician Naser Khader, a Muslim born in Syria, says it sends the wrong message. He believes the ‘hug a terrorist’ models tells young Muslims; “Go out and do something criminal, be jihadis, you will get a lot of privilege from the society. That’s wrong in my opinion.”…
The Truth Must be Told
Your contribution supports independent journalism
Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.
Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.
Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.
Please contribute here.
or
Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.
Quick note: We cannot do this without your support. Fact. Our work is made possible by you and only you. We receive no grants, government handouts, or major funding.Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here.
Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s essential NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America's survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.
Follow Pamela Geller on Gettr. I am there. click here.
Follow Pamela Geller on Trump's social media platform, Truth Social. It's open and free.
Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.
Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spammy or unhelpful, click the - symbol under the comment to let us know. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
If you would like to join the conversation, but don't have an account, you can sign up for one right here.
If you are having problems leaving a comment, it's likely because you are using an ad blocker, something that break ads, of course, but also breaks the comments section of our site. If you are using an ad blocker, and would like to share your thoughts, please disable your ad blocker. We look forward to seeing your comments below.
28 Comments
6 years ago
Its like all rights and freedom are to be given to Muslims and
non-muslims do not have any rights as dhimmis ! And Left/liberal
pro-jihadi loons allow it !
Infidels do not even have right to protest against crimes committed
by Muslims . If they dare try it they get harassed, jailed or killed http://bit.ly/2r6F3cp
6 years ago
I’d urge people here to visit the Islamist Supremacist Site…InterFaithXXX. Site developed by a Pakistani.
Just go through that blood-boiling site, it is targeted against White Europeans & Indian Women. Yet…the Lefist, SJW FemiNazis would suck up to these filthy people.
6 years ago
In Syria they have an even more promising program. It’s called ‘shoot a jihadi’.
6 years ago
“….All it took was someone to reach out and offer empathy and understanding.” Oh, is that all. He was just looking for someone to ‘understand’ him, because SOCIETY made him to do it, vomit, vomit. Sure. When a muslim in Denmark says this program won’t work, perhaps the authorities should take note that what they are doing is stupid. Perhaps the real reason the Danish police started this program in the first place, is because they really didn’t want to be bothered with going after terrorists, make a lot of paper work, talk to witnesses, conduct investigations. VERY hard work. Takes up a lot time. Why not just talk to a would-be terrorist and have still have plenty of time for afternoon coffee. Simple.
6 years ago
I’ll give them a hug. 7.62 hug.
D
6 years ago
Danish autorities do lots of crazy things. And Nassr Khadr has grown over many years to become a voice of reason. Unfortunately, there is no real initiative to curb crime and other effects of mass immigration (not only by Moslems…) Deference to EU norms and the Schengen agreement seems too dangerous to discuss, let alone renounce. Like HM the Queen says New Year’s Eve: “God Save Denmark”. And while He is at it, could He, please, save the whole Western World.
6 years ago
Reading this story brought to mind a quote I once heard from a notorious criminal, “Being crazy used to really mean something. Today it don’t mean nothing. Everyone is crazy.”
6 years ago
The swedish stupid disease in now in demmark.
6 years ago
Reply to
Mahou Shoujo
It’s allah over the Low Countries, they folded to the nazis like a cheap suit so I’m not surprised.
D
6 years ago
Reply to
Mahou Shoujo
Thanks to HIGH PAID $ bankster Leftist operatives…. and stolen elections.
D
6 years ago
Reply to
Mahou Shoujo
I noticed that something really odd had happened to the younger generations in Denmark, compared to the generations that went through WW2, under German occupation. Now I am beginning to understand what happened.
6 years ago
stockholm syndrome
6 years ago
Not sure what to do LOL or OMG!
6 years ago
Hug a jihadi, it will make it easier for them to stab you in the back
D
6 years ago
Followed by “BLAME WHITE PEOPLE DAY” at your local Liberal College.
6 years ago
You go HUG stinky you stupid ass!
6 years ago
The way to stop terrorism is to stop bringing in adherents to a terror encouraging religion.
6 years ago
Imagine getting a free pass to grope Danish chicks. War in Syria one day…..hot Danes the next.
6 years ago
I truly do not believe I’ve just read this. How STUPID can people get? Why not just give up and bend over for them, you idiotic people?
6 years ago
Reply to
David
If you’re an atheist it’s practically a self evident truth that all religions are the same and Christianity is just as bad as islum — but they’re all in for a bloody, fascist, totalitarian, theocratic shock when the find out the bedrock of their atheist belief system is nothing but patent bullshite.
6 years ago
Awwww,…. how sweet !
6 years ago
I wish people would stop using the term “radicalized” They’re not radicalized, they’re following the koran and the teachings of mohammed.. This is islam, pure and simple.. If you’re muslim, be prepared to kill in the name of allah…
6 years ago
Have any of the moslems EVER ASSIMILATED? iSLAM does not assimilate. Islam is based on criminal nazi -islamic political ideology and therefore WILL NEVER ASSIMILATE. Hug them and smear pig-shit up their yellow terrorist backs- they could care less about the host country except to destroy it and use the spoils.
6 years ago
Note the context: the SBS referred to here is the Special Broadcasting Service set up by the Australian Government. It was originally an extension of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission, itself modeled on the Britain’s BBC).
SBS and the ABC are very alike in the following way: 99% of news items you would find on the Geller Report, Jihad Watch, and Breitbart are never ever seen in their news services but “Hug a Jihadi” types of programs are just the thing along with an endless series of programs hammering Trump’s reputation into the ground by a parade of talking heads paid for by the taxpayer.
So who was this program aimed at?
SBS was set up as the Australian Government’s television channel to promote harmony in the new Multicultural Utopia but they found that the people actually watching SBS (with all those trendy foreign movies) were the educated white people: that’s who Hug-A-Jihadi is aimed at.
An indication that neither the muslims nor the various other oil-and-water-don’t-mix groups watch SBS is the bizarre morphing of its programming policy: apart from sanitised news services and judicious pro-muslim propaganda it now also has commercial advertising (need a new Mercedes Benz?), a continuous onslaught of programs about LGBTQ, full frontal, and anything you didn’t want to know about sexual practices -I flicked onto the channel and there was an English woman telling us that she regularly posts out her fecal smeared underwear to a large number of her paying customers for them to sniff or whatever. Bizarro.
Yes, you can see all sorts of sh*t on SBS (the Aussie’s public Sex Broadcasting Service) including the sequel to Hug-A-Jihadi:
Hug-A-Bugger.
6 years ago
A better answer would be to not allow them into your country to begin with. Why would anyone hug the person that’s waiting for the opportunity to kill you? Liberalism truly is a mental disorder and it’s going to get us all killed.
6 years ago
What a waste of Danish tax money. Instead of hugging those thugs, they should be driving them back to the hell holes they came from. Being nice to jihadis is like a rabbit trying to convince a fox to become a vegetarian. Ain’t gonna work!
