The document discusses how Muslim communities can help fight extremism in Australia. It notes that Islamic State is targeting and recruiting Australian youth. While security agencies and police play a key role, prevention is better than cure. Countering violent extremism programs in other countries work with former extremists and communities to rehabilitate and reintegrate those who have been radicalized. Such community-based counter-terrorism efforts are essential for Australia to develop a holistic approach and turn the tide against extremist recruitment.

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Help Muslim communities fight the extremists
Predatory jihadist recruiters are targeting Australia’s Muslim youth. Photo: AFP
by Greg Barton
Over the past fortnight it we have had to face the awful reality that, because of
developments in Iraqi and Syria, Australia faces a terrorism threat that is beyond the
scale of anything we have faced in the past. The fall of Mosul on June 10, and the
rapid advances of Islamic State in the weeks following sent shockwaves around the
world. The images coming out of Islamic State – occupied Iraq and Syria seized our
attention in ways that three years of civil war in Syria had failed to do. The deeply
disturbing beheading videos of “people just like us’ shook us to the core.
The events of the past fortnight have brought home the uncomfortable truth that
Islamic State is not just somebody else’s problem. Australian families are losing their
children to a dark menace that now threatens us all.
The Prime Minister is right to say this is not about any one religion or any one
community. And yet in a sense it is. It is the 500,000 strong Muslim community that is
being targeted by predatory recruiters and it is their faith is being hijacked by a
totalitarian movement that claims to speak in the name of God.
If any good news has come out of the developments of the past few weeks it is that
as a society we have grown a little bit wiser. We recognise that we must not dance to

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the tune of the IS propaganda machine. We know that we are being manipulated and
that responding with indiscriminate anger and bigoted bitterness will play directly
into the hands of those seeking to recruit our children and poison our society. Both
sides of government, federal state and local, have shown uncommon wisdom and
restraint in the face of provocation. Our police and security agencies have
demonstrated thoughtful leadership. Many Muslim leaders and community members
have spoken up with courage and deep insight.
What’s the next move?
So far so good. But the question now is, what do we do? Part of the answer is
responding to the threat of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The military response,
which can only work if backed up on the ground by Iraqi security forces and Syrian
fighters (and even then will only succeed if backed up by the establishment of good
governance), is one part of the equation. But even if IS and the al-Nusra Front are
pushed out of the cities they occupy along the Euphrates and Tigris, the resilient
nature of al-Qaeda and its splinters means we will continue to face challenges at
home here in Australia.
How do we defeat the forces seeking to seduce and radicalise our youth and how do
we overcome the threat of those who see it as their mission to fight for IS in our
towns and cities? And how do we do this without delivering to the terrorists the
victory that they desire of seeing us turn on each other with bitter recriminations and
mutual suspicion?
Clearly, this is in large measure a job for our security agencies and police forces.
Even more than uniformed officers and a bag checks, it is the largely unseen work of
intelligence that protects us from terrorist attacks. This is also the job of law and
order officers and professionals. We want terrorism to be dealt with – where it cannot
be stopped at an early stage – through a transparent application of law with evidence
presented in open court before judge and jury.
In the 13 years since the attacks on September 11, this approach has served us well.
But modern terrorism, particularly the kind of globalised, jihadi terrorism that we are
facing, has evolved rapidly and the challenges we are facing are complex. It is not
enough to be able to charge somebody with “preparations for an act of terror" or
under the foreign incursions act. There is good reason for the legislation currently
before Parliament. Some aspects of it, no doubt, will need to be challenged and
adjusted, as our democratic system calls for. But in general it makes sense that we

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make it possible to lay charges of supporting terrorism through recruitment and
propaganda and that where somebody has been working in a city or region
controlled by a group such as Islamic State, they should be asked to give evidence
to demonstrate that they were not colluding with that group.
But even with revised laws, better resourced intelligence agencies, and with police
forces that have learnt from experience and risen to the challenge of dealing with
modern globalised terrorism we still don’t have a complete solution.
In this field as in so many others prevention is by far better than cure. And because
prevention is not always possible, rehabilitation and reintegration for those who have
made mistakes are also an essential part of a comprehensive solution. It is better to
never have to arrest somebody or even to take away their passport, but if that is
necessary then something more needs to be done than simply confront them with a
legal intervention.
Putting brakes on radicals
In the years following the September 11 attacks much work has been put into
thinking about how best to develop a truly holistic approach to dealing with the
threat of radicalisation and violent extremism. In northern Europe, considerable
advances have been made in dealing with those who have become caught up in
violent extremist movements like al-Qaeda and its affiliates, neo-Nazi vigilantes, left-
wing extremists and militant environmental activists.
In Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany programs called EXIT have been
developed by community groups working with government and drawing upon so-
called formers – former neo-Nazis or former jihadis – to work with the mostly young
people who get caught up in these movements and eventually awaken to their
broken promises and seek a way out. In the United Kingdom a lot of work has been
put into the Prevent program – mistakes have been made but a lot has learnt.
Programs like these are referred to as countering violent extremism (CVE) programs.
Australia has put effort into this CVE space too. In the wake of the Operation
Pendennis arrests in November 2005, the Islamic Council of Victoria, for example,
has worked with government agencies on a prison and community based program to
prevent radicalisation and foster rehabilitation. There are no singular or complete
solutions but it is clear that the CVE initiatives are essential. Community groups,
religious leaders, youth associations, security agencies, and law enforcement alone
cannot fully deal with the challenges we face. But working together we can begin to

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turn the tide.