Page 95 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 5-6: Radicalization, Violent Extremism and Conflicting Diversity, eds. Mitja Sardoč and Tomaž Deželan
P. 95
prezelj et al. ■ islamist radicalisation towards extreme violence and terrorism
verses that speaks about salvation, the defense of Islam, and striving to-
wards a worldwide Islamist society. This political-religious goal is based
on the radicalisation of masses that want to subdue other countries with
the ultimate goal of creating the Islamic caliphate. To accomplish this goal,
they deliberately misuse Quranic texts and Sharia law and propagate their
vision of “true” Quranic understanding through their propaganda system.
Their propaganda is based on the belief that the Muslim community as a
whole is under (constant) attack from non-believers, and the only way to
solve this, is to wage war (e. g. terrorism) against Western countries (see
Kocjančič and Prezelj, 2015: pp. 311–313).
Role of Islamist Propaganda in the Radicalisation Process
Radicalisation process contains elements of propaganda, but in some-
what specific circumstances. Winning the hearts and minds of new sup-
porters and even the general population can also be a result of typical prop-
agandistic approaches. Daugherty and Janowitz (in Malešič et al., 1997:
p. 32) described propaganda as “a planned dissemination of news, infor-
mation, special arguments, and appeals designed to influence the beliefs,
thoughts, and actions of a specific group.” Propaganda is actually a mul-
ti-layered and complex phenomena, and in this paper we can examine
only one of its models. According to Malešič (see Malešič et al., 1997: pp.
39–47), the study model of propaganda consists of elements that are di-
rectly connected to propaganda message (such as ideology expressed as na-
tionalism, religion or (re)interpretation of history, routine lies, collective
and selective memory loss, classic or hard propaganda, and anti-propagan-
da), indirectly connected with a propaganda message (such as the use of
language, source criticism, iconography, compatibility of visual and tex-
tual information, (de)construction of the national memory, and specify-
ing who is “the Other”), while there is also an environmental aspect of
the message. The latter consists of the context of propaganda, the pub-
lic for propaganda, the propagandist, and the structure of the propagan-
da organisation.
Lakomy (2017: pp. 39–40) perceives Islamist propaganda as sophis-
ticated, well-thought-out threats to stability, and the safety of states. It is
a part of psychological warfare aimed towards the Western world, which
simultaneously also has to gain support from Islamist groups from this
Western world.
The foundations for modern Islamist propaganda were laid by al-Qa-
eda and ISIS. Islamic propaganda is labelled as modern, where moderni-
ty refers to the fact of being predominantly disseminated through the so-
cial networks on the Web 2.0. Suitable, recruitable demographic groups
93
verses that speaks about salvation, the defense of Islam, and striving to-
wards a worldwide Islamist society. This political-religious goal is based
on the radicalisation of masses that want to subdue other countries with
the ultimate goal of creating the Islamic caliphate. To accomplish this goal,
they deliberately misuse Quranic texts and Sharia law and propagate their
vision of “true” Quranic understanding through their propaganda system.
Their propaganda is based on the belief that the Muslim community as a
whole is under (constant) attack from non-believers, and the only way to
solve this, is to wage war (e. g. terrorism) against Western countries (see
Kocjančič and Prezelj, 2015: pp. 311–313).
Role of Islamist Propaganda in the Radicalisation Process
Radicalisation process contains elements of propaganda, but in some-
what specific circumstances. Winning the hearts and minds of new sup-
porters and even the general population can also be a result of typical prop-
agandistic approaches. Daugherty and Janowitz (in Malešič et al., 1997:
p. 32) described propaganda as “a planned dissemination of news, infor-
mation, special arguments, and appeals designed to influence the beliefs,
thoughts, and actions of a specific group.” Propaganda is actually a mul-
ti-layered and complex phenomena, and in this paper we can examine
only one of its models. According to Malešič (see Malešič et al., 1997: pp.
39–47), the study model of propaganda consists of elements that are di-
rectly connected to propaganda message (such as ideology expressed as na-
tionalism, religion or (re)interpretation of history, routine lies, collective
and selective memory loss, classic or hard propaganda, and anti-propagan-
da), indirectly connected with a propaganda message (such as the use of
language, source criticism, iconography, compatibility of visual and tex-
tual information, (de)construction of the national memory, and specify-
ing who is “the Other”), while there is also an environmental aspect of
the message. The latter consists of the context of propaganda, the pub-
lic for propaganda, the propagandist, and the structure of the propagan-
da organisation.
Lakomy (2017: pp. 39–40) perceives Islamist propaganda as sophis-
ticated, well-thought-out threats to stability, and the safety of states. It is
a part of psychological warfare aimed towards the Western world, which
simultaneously also has to gain support from Islamist groups from this
Western world.
The foundations for modern Islamist propaganda were laid by al-Qa-
eda and ISIS. Islamic propaganda is labelled as modern, where moderni-
ty refers to the fact of being predominantly disseminated through the so-
cial networks on the Web 2.0. Suitable, recruitable demographic groups
93
