Work needed to tackle extremism

Defence conference hears global battle against terrorism is still searching for the answers to combat violent extremists.

ABU DHABI // More work is needed to tackle violent extremism and terrorism, said the executive director of Hedayah, the International Centre of Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism.

While the UAE and its allies were seeking answers, there was much to be done to win the global struggle, said Maqsoud Kruse.

“To be realistic and frank, we are still in need of systematic approaches to further understand the complexity of the phenomena of violent extremism,” said Mr Kruse, who added that only then would it be possible to develop “effective, tested and proven interventions” that could emerge as “a ‘good practice’ that is both valid and reliable”.

He said there was a need to find not only security and defence-related solutions, but also preventive measures, state news agency Wam reported.

Hedayah is in its second year of expanding its global programme on the development of strategies to counter violent extremism.

The executive director said part of this strategy was recognising that different factors caused the spread of extremism in different countries.

The UAE has a multi-axiom strategy to deal with the problem, involving education to promote tolerance, religious moderation and engagement of youth, said Mr Kruse, who last week took part in the fifth Annual Seoul Defence Dialogue, hosted by the South Korean Defence Ministry.

Hedayah has built partnerships with governments, non--government organisations, academic institutions, think tanks and the private sector.

The UAE has also launched other international initiatives to counter violent extremism, with a focus on the Gulf region.

The first was the Sawab Centre, a collaboration with the United States to support the Global Coalition Against Daesh, which aimed to defeat the ISIL terrorist group.

Another was The Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, which established the Muslim Council of Elders, an independent international body bringing together scholars to promote an accurate understanding of the message of Islam and the real nature of the tolerance that lies at its heart.

One of its significant outcomes was the Marrakech Declaration, based on the revival of the objectives and aims of the Charter of Medina, which was declared by the Prophet Mohammed and provides insights about the rights of religious minorities in Muslim lands.

While the struggle against extremism is one that spans the globe, it is one that is of particular concern to the UAE, said Yousuf Al Otaiba, the UAE Ambassador to the US.

“In the Middle East, in the heart of the Arab world, we face an existential threat from -extremism.

“Our communities, our families, our livelihoods, our entire way of life are exposed and -under constant attack,” said Mr Al Otaiba in an article to mark the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

He said the UAE was “advancing moderation in both our schools and places of worship” while the education system was “built to reinforce Islam’s true values based on dialogue, tolerance, moderation, and peace”.

Mosques were “modernising the way Islam is taught, developing new training programmes for imams and updating Quranic commentaries”.

Another aspect of this was the Government’s efforts to promote a climate of religious tolerance, Mr Al Otaiba said.

He said the freedom to worship was guaranteed by the constitution and there were more than 40 Christian churches for expatriates, as well as temples for the Hindu and Sikh communities.

The UAE enacted the Anti-Discriminatory Law, issued after a decree by President Sheikh Khalifa, which criminalises any acts that stoke religious hatred or which insult religion through any form of expression.

Other issues discussed at the Seoul conference included the denuclearisation of North Korea, maritime security cooperation and cybersecurity.