“It was a terrible attack in Paris last week. A normal, fun, Friday night in town with friends going to a football match, to dine, drink, or hear music was torn apart and ripped to pieces. The feeling of safety which is key to our well-being took a serious blow,” says Morten Kjaerum, the director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, in responding to the attacks in Paris last week.
“And only days before the Paris attacks, twin bombings in Beirut, Lebanon killed 44 people.
“Whether it be a horrific terrorist attack in Beirut, Ankara, or Paris, our thoughts are with the families and friends who lost a person dear to them and to the wounded and traumatised.
“’What we knew before the explosions, and what we’ve known for a long time, is the anger, frustration, and political or religious motives which in a destructive melange lead young men and women to turn seriously violent. One key factor – for sure not the only – is the sense of not belonging, not feeling included.
“The Raoul Wallenberg Institute has recently made Inclusive Societies one of its focus areas. In the wake of these most recent attacks, the staff at the Institute has gathered a broad selection of articles and pieces of interest on inclusion and inclusive societies, radicalisation, and racism, among other issues.
“The list of resources aims to advance these serious and increasingly important discussions about how to create more inclusive societies that can eventually eliminate the dynamics that lead to violent behaviour.”
Resources on Inclusive Societies, Tolerance, and Non-discrimination, among others
- With groups like Isis and Al-Qaida now waging war across the world, RWI’s visiting professor Lyal S. Sunga asks whether it’s time for a new UN convention on terrorism.
- Does Discrimination Foster Violence?: The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights produced a comprehensive study on the radicalisation of young people with mixed backgrounds in Spain, France, and the UK.
- The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe launched a campaign in 2015 that aims to show that “only working together we can achieve peace and security for all.” Co-operation Matters Campaign.
- Another good resource from OSCE is the “Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Information System.” It is a collection point for information related to tolerance and non-discrimination.
- Thought-provoking blog post by Elie Fares about how people react differently to terrorist attacks depending on where they happen.
- Inclusive Cities Observatory: A resource for local social inclusion policies.
- 8 ways to defend against terror nonviolently
- Exclusion, Terrorism, and the Refugee Convention by Monette Zard. The author argues that fifty years of refugee law and a long tradition of providing asylum to people in need should not lose out to the fight against terrorism.
- At Home in Europe: Promoting Inclusion. The Open Society Foundation’s project to advance the social inclusion of vulnerable groups in Europe. Three main reports: Muslims in Europe, Somalis in Europe, and Europe’s White Working Class Communities.