In the West, Islamism rarely appears with an open claim to power. It often works through narratives, milieus, organisations and digital publics – exploiting precisely those freedoms that make democratic societies what they are. At the same time we are observing a normalisation of hatred of Jews and hatred of Israel that combines with Islamist world views and becomes capable of finding support in a variety of milieus. This leads to false terms, false demarcations – and to an underestimation of an ideology that depends on unfreedom, intimidation and enemy images.
What exactly distinguishes Islam from Islamism – and how can its political claim be recognised before it comes openly to light? Which misunderstandings, taboos and idealisations shape Western debates about Islam and about “cultural sensitivity”? Why are Jews and Israel such central enemy images of Islamist movements – and how is this antisemitism linguistically disguised, morally charged or politically legitimised? And what consequences follow from this for politics, the media, the security authorities and civil society in Germany?
We discuss these and further questions with Luai Ahmed. Ahmed was born in 1993 in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen; he is a journalist, columnist and content creator who now lives in Sweden. Having grown up with hatred of Jews and with the belief in Israel’s destruction, he freed himself from it in a process lasting many years. Today he uses his reach to combat Islamist extremism, antisemitism and ideologies of hate. He is part of the online movement “Builders of the Middle East”, in which Arab and Jewish team members produce content together in order to counter online extremism and to make a “third narrative” visible: stories of humanity, coexistence and of leaving enemy images behind.
Moderated by: Nelly Eliasberg, WerteInitiative e.V.
