Indeed, the French initially reasoned that it would be preferable to spread the jihadis throughout the prisons, so as to prevent them from plotting with one another. (With the advent of the Syrian jihad, and the corresponding arrival of scores of new jihadist inmates, they have been forced to reevaluate this approach. In addition to a few hundred former or would-be fighters, the French prison administration estimates that 2,000 prisoners are “radicalized” Muslims, and another 8,000 or so “liable to be radicalized,” a senior prison official told me several months ago.) Nor was much thought given to the possibility of rehabilitation or “deradicalization.” The urgency was that the men be removed from society and, in any case, most of them were considered to be irrevocable ideologues. [...]
Any serious effort at prevention would necessarily entail an attempt to understand the mechanics not only of recruitment and indoctrination, but also of the appeal of jihad, of the human yearnings and impulses to which it responds. There seems to be little public or political appetite for that, however. “For these enemies who lash out at their compatriots, who tear up this contract that unites us, there can be no legitimate explanation,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls stated earlier this year, in a speech that outraged social scientists. “Because to explain is in itself to wish to excuse, a bit.” Coming from the mouth of a politician, such a refusal to interrogate the problem resembles nothing so much as a bid to absolve himself of any possible responsibility. Insofar as it absolves society as well, however, it has become a popular strain of thought across Europe, where various nativist populisms are currently resurgent. There can be no doubt that every European jihadist is personally responsible for his actions. And yet, if the past two decades are to be examined for their lessons, it is also certain that to hold them personally responsible before courts of law is not enough.
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