Captivated by fear:an evaluation of terrorism detention policy

Radicalisering in gevangenissen staat hoog op de publieke en politieke agenda in Europa. Verschillende landen, waaronder Nederland, proberen radicalisering en rekrutering onder gedetineerden tegen te gaan door terreurverdachten af te zonderen van de reguliere gevangenen en hen onder te brengen in aparte terroristenafdelingen. Het is echter onduidelijk waarop dergelijk beleid is gestoeld. Deze studie is een evaluatie van gevangenisbeleid voor terreurverdachten, gebaseerd op uitgebreid onderzoek onder beleidsmakers, gevangenispersoneel, en gedetineerden in Nederland. De resultaten laten zien dat er weinig bewijs is dat het bij elkaar plaatsen van extremisten helpt om radicalisering onder gedetineerden te bestrijden. Dergelijk beleid lijkt eerder een onder tijdsdruk tot stand gekomen reactie op maatschappelijke vrees voor terrorisme te zijn dan het resultaat van zorgvuldige overwegingen en analyses. Het is volstrekt onduidelijk of het risico op radicalisering onder gedetineerden inderdaad bestaat. Bovendien is het aannemelijk dat terroristenafdelingen negatieve bijwerkingen veroorzaken en uiteindelijk contraproductief zijn

A fear management approach to counter-terrorism

Spreading fear is the essence of terrorism. Terrorists exploit fear by terrorising the target audience into concessions. Understanding how feelings of fear influence the way people feel, think and act is therefore an important starting point to explore how individuals and societies can learn how to cope with fear of terrorism. In this Policy Brief, Research Fellows Prof. Dr. Edwin Bakker and Dr. Tinka Veldhuis explore the dynamics of fear in response to terrorism, and emphasise the importance of integrating initiatives to manage fear of terrorism and reduce its negative consequences into overarching counter-terrorism strategies. It argues that societies can benefit greatly from promoting resilience and a fear management approach to counter-terrorism

Muslims in the Netherlands: Tensions and Violent Conflict

he release of the anti-Islam movie “Fitna” by the Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders, early 2008, aroused anxious fears of angry responses by Muslims communities. As happened in the Danish cartoon crisis, people expected the movie to trigger violent demonstrations, boycotts, the burning of flags and other aggressive responses by Muslim communities, both in the Netherlands and around the world. Months prior to the actual release of the movie, the Dutch prime minister already spoke of a crisis, predicting violent confrontations between Muslims and non- Muslims, and devastating consequences for Muslim integration in Dutch society. Contrary to the wide anticipation that Muslims would respond violently to the movie, there were few incidents. In the Netherlands, there were no noticeable incidents at all. Eloquent young Muslims stepped forward as representatives for their communities and of Islam, explicitly distancing themselves from radical or violent action by Muslims in answer to the film. Likewise, orthodox Muslims made strong pleas to react in a non-violent and dignified way to “Fitna”. Outside the Netherlands, there were only a few incidents, like the attack on a Dutch consulate in Indonesia by a group of students and the expected burning of the Dutch flag in countries like Afghanistan. Nevertheless, the Dutch fear of violence involving Muslims typifies the implicit association that people easily seem to make between Muslims and violence. Almost irrespective of the actual level of violent incidents, Muslims seem to project an image of responding violently to every political incident. How did this image come into being? In the Netherlands, what types of incidents and developments have occurred that led to potentially violent tensions and conflicts in which Muslims were involved