Reject Islamophobic conspiracies by Willem Els

In one sense I'm inclined to agree with many irate readers of News24 who called me to express their outrage at Amanda Khoza's report on allegations of young kids being groomed to "commit terrorist acts", that it is sensational. 

Apart from being alarmist, her article fails to reflect any objective interrogation of what clearly are untested and unverified Islamophobic claims by Willem Els of the Institute of Security Studies, whom she describes as an "international relations expert". 

If basic journalistic practice had been applied to test the veracity of the outrageous allegations which implicate Muslims, I'm certain the article would not have seen the light of day. 

On the other hand, Khoza's report paradoxically sheds light on the convoluted conspiracy theories held by Els. 

In the absence of any evidence, Els is quoted making a number of startling allegations, that if unchallenged, will give rise to undue fear of Muslims and Islam. 

He said children as young as 11 were being radicalised in South Africa. And that young children in South Africa were being trained to commit acts of terrorism. An additional term used to make his point is that children were being indoctrinated. 

If such spurious claims purport to be the findings of the ISS, it succeeds in reflecting contempt of common sense. 

And worse, by lacking substance, it is an insult to the intelligence of his audience. 

But the dangerous Islamophobic route he takes, is not hidden. 

According to Khoza's report, Els made his outrageous comments in an address he delivered at a Border Management Authority conference at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Tshwane. 

Quite bizarre and ironic that the fear mongering Els unleashed, scientific evidence was absent. 

In a specific quote cited by Khoza, Els refers to "they have programmes..." where "they are indoctrinating...", without qualifying who "they" are. 

The full quote is the following:

"We see that they have programmes where they are indoctrinating children from as young as 11 years old, and that programme has been sustained and is ongoing. That is something that we must keep an eye on because if we do not deal with it in its early stages, it might get out of hand."

While it is not clear whether Khoza interrogated who "they" are, the clue that Els refers to Muslims is provided in the next quote:

"[What]we lack is our intelligence capacity within our Islam[ic] community, where we see radical elements within the community hijack some of our mosques."

While many Muslims are aghast and horrified that such ridiculously racist views are prevalent within the corridors of the ISS, I would go further by insisting that his wild, irresponsible and unsubstantiated claims fit a deliberate pattern. 

It evokes painful memories of the destructive wars in Muslim countries spurred by the US-led "War on Terror". 

The narrative constructed by George W Bush and his neocon thugs to justify invasions and the orgy of killings centered on selective choice of emotive words. 

It is thus not surprising to see wide spread use of these words attributed to Els in Khoza's report: 

* Radical Ideology 

* Indoctrination 

* Groomed

* Terrorist Acts

* Terrorist Training 

* Mosques 

* Hijack

The following quote by Els leaves no doubt about his crusade against Muslims:

"Children are the most susceptible when they are young like that. So, if they start to embed this type of radical ideology within these children, by the time they grow up, they will be fully radicalised, and they will be ready to become a terrorist or an operative for these radical organisations."

That he has painted a grim picture of 11 year old Muslim kids being indoctrinated, radicalised and trained to be terrorists, makes it imperative for Els to produce the proof. 

Peddling Islamophobic conspiracies of the type emanating from Benjamin Netanyahu and his criminal gang of warlords perpetrating mass slaughter of innocent Palestinians in the Gaza genocide, is deplorable and deserving of censure. 

Iqbal Jassat 

Executive Member 

MEDIA REVIEW NETWORK