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| After Attacks, Denmark Hesitates to Blame Islam | After Attacks, Denmark Hesitates to Blame Islam |
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| COPENHAGEN — Arrested for stabbing a 19-year-old passenger on a commuter train in November 2013, Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein blamed the effects of hashish for his brutal, random and nearly fatal attack, telling a court last December that he had been gripped by wild fear and thought his victim wanted to hurt him. | COPENHAGEN — Arrested for stabbing a 19-year-old passenger on a commuter train in November 2013, Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein blamed the effects of hashish for his brutal, random and nearly fatal attack, telling a court last December that he had been gripped by wild fear and thought his victim wanted to hurt him. |
| Last weekend, just two weeks after his release from prison for the knife attack, Mr. Hussein went on another violent rampage, killing two strangers and wounding five police officers. But this time he was gripped not by drugs, but by a fanatical strand of Islam whose mission, according to a message he posted on Facebook shortly before the attacks, “is to destroy you.” | Last weekend, just two weeks after his release from prison for the knife attack, Mr. Hussein went on another violent rampage, killing two strangers and wounding five police officers. But this time he was gripped not by drugs, but by a fanatical strand of Islam whose mission, according to a message he posted on Facebook shortly before the attacks, “is to destroy you.” |
| Mr. Hussein’s journey from drug-addled street thug to self-proclaimed jihadist declaring loyalty to the Islamic State has stirred soul-searching in liberal-minded Denmark over whether Islam, in fact, was really a prime motivator for his violence, or merely served as a justifying cover for violent criminality. | Mr. Hussein’s journey from drug-addled street thug to self-proclaimed jihadist declaring loyalty to the Islamic State has stirred soul-searching in liberal-minded Denmark over whether Islam, in fact, was really a prime motivator for his violence, or merely served as a justifying cover for violent criminality. |
| “This is a very difficult question to answer,” said Manu Sareen, the minister for integration and social affairs, who shortly before the attacks began a program to combat radicalization through outreach to parents, schools and other efforts. | “This is a very difficult question to answer,” said Manu Sareen, the minister for integration and social affairs, who shortly before the attacks began a program to combat radicalization through outreach to parents, schools and other efforts. |
| That same question squarely confronts other European countries and the United States. As President Obama holds a conference on ways to combat the lure of jihad in Western nations, he has come under criticism for his cautious language distancing violent extremism from Islam. | That same question squarely confronts other European countries and the United States. As President Obama holds a conference on ways to combat the lure of jihad in Western nations, he has come under criticism for his cautious language distancing violent extremism from Islam. |
| The link between the two is now a wellspring of debate in Europe, as societies grapple with the same messy knot of motives and influences after recent attacks in Denmark and France and a thwarted plot in Belgium. All involved angry, alienated young Muslims. | The link between the two is now a wellspring of debate in Europe, as societies grapple with the same messy knot of motives and influences after recent attacks in Denmark and France and a thwarted plot in Belgium. All involved angry, alienated young Muslims. |
| Often the attackers invoke Islam. But just as often, well before they had found religion, the professed jihadists built up long track records as violent criminals. Though many have become radicalized in prisons, they often seem determined to find an outlet for their violence. | Often the attackers invoke Islam. But just as often, well before they had found religion, the professed jihadists built up long track records as violent criminals. Though many have become radicalized in prisons, they often seem determined to find an outlet for their violence. |
| Amedy Coulibaly, one of a trio of gunmen responsible for the killing rampage that terrorized Paris in January, similarly fit the bill, chalking up at least six arrests before his embrace of anti-Semitism and Islamic extremism led him to storm a kosher supermarket and kill four people. | Amedy Coulibaly, one of a trio of gunmen responsible for the killing rampage that terrorized Paris in January, similarly fit the bill, chalking up at least six arrests before his embrace of anti-Semitism and Islamic extremism led him to storm a kosher supermarket and kill four people. |
| “This is classic trajectory into jihadist terrorism in Europe,” said Thomas Hegghammer, an expert on jihadist movements at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment. “There is not a single pathway, but this one is very worrying. They are misfits who find a solution to their problems in radical Islam.” | “This is classic trajectory into jihadist terrorism in Europe,” said Thomas Hegghammer, an expert on jihadist movements at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment. “There is not a single pathway, but this one is very worrying. They are misfits who find a solution to their problems in radical Islam.” |
| In embracing violence in the name of Islam, Mr. Hussein, a former member of a Copenhagen criminal gang called the Brothas, “substituted one subculture for another,” Mr. Hegghammer said, adding, “The easier it is for someone to plug into this radical Islamic subculture, the more radicalized misfits you are going to have. At the moment, it is very easy.” | In embracing violence in the name of Islam, Mr. Hussein, a former member of a Copenhagen criminal gang called the Brothas, “substituted one subculture for another,” Mr. Hegghammer said, adding, “The easier it is for someone to plug into this radical Islamic subculture, the more radicalized misfits you are going to have. At the moment, it is very easy.” |
| Announcing new measures on Thursday to fight terrorism, including extra funding for intelligence services, Danish officials did not mention religion while vowing to defend what Mette Frederiksen, the justice minister, described as “one of the most generous societies there are.” | Announcing new measures on Thursday to fight terrorism, including extra funding for intelligence services, Danish officials did not mention religion while vowing to defend what Mette Frederiksen, the justice minister, described as “one of the most generous societies there are.” |
| Danish Islamic organizations, including the mosque that rallied hostility toward Denmark across the Muslim world over the 2005 publication of newspaper cartoons here lampooning the Prophet Muhammad, condemned Mr. Hussein’s weekend attacks on a Copenhagen cafe and on a synagogue. But they have also all insisted that Islam played no role in the violence, blaming a mutant misreading of the faith. | |
| Junaid Mann, a former Copenhagen gang member who attended the same boxing club as Mr. Hussein, said he did not know the gunman well but had crossed paths with him at the gym. “He was a criminal who went nuts,” he said, adding, “I don’t think this attack had anything to do with Islam.” | Junaid Mann, a former Copenhagen gang member who attended the same boxing club as Mr. Hussein, said he did not know the gunman well but had crossed paths with him at the gym. “He was a criminal who went nuts,” he said, adding, “I don’t think this attack had anything to do with Islam.” |
| Mr. Mann, who is now studying law and works part time as a counselor to troubled Muslim youths, said Denmark and other European countries needed to defend, not stigmatize, Islam, as only this can combat “street Islam,” a toxic jumble of half-digested lines from the Quran and political passions plucked from the Internet. | Mr. Mann, who is now studying law and works part time as a counselor to troubled Muslim youths, said Denmark and other European countries needed to defend, not stigmatize, Islam, as only this can combat “street Islam,” a toxic jumble of half-digested lines from the Quran and political passions plucked from the Internet. |
| Olivier Roy, a leading French expert on Islam, has taken a similar line, telling Information, a Danish newspaper, that Denmark should counter wild strains of Islam imported from the Middle East by building up a “national version of Islam” through state funding for mosques and preachers, just as it funds Denmark’s state church. | Olivier Roy, a leading French expert on Islam, has taken a similar line, telling Information, a Danish newspaper, that Denmark should counter wild strains of Islam imported from the Middle East by building up a “national version of Islam” through state funding for mosques and preachers, just as it funds Denmark’s state church. |
| But Mr. Sareen, the integration minister, said such an approach would do nothing to “prevent scenes like we saw at the weekend” because young people were just as likely to get radicalized in jail or sitting at home watching videos on YouTube. “The state could finance dozens of mosques, but you would still see people getting radicalized,” he said. | But Mr. Sareen, the integration minister, said such an approach would do nothing to “prevent scenes like we saw at the weekend” because young people were just as likely to get radicalized in jail or sitting at home watching videos on YouTube. “The state could finance dozens of mosques, but you would still see people getting radicalized,” he said. |
| The trigger for extremist violence, added Mr. Sareen, a self-declared atheist and former social worker, is rarely the result of a single cause. “You have a part that is social, part that is psychiatric, part that is brainwashing and part that comes from messages in the mosque or from radical preachers.” | The trigger for extremist violence, added Mr. Sareen, a self-declared atheist and former social worker, is rarely the result of a single cause. “You have a part that is social, part that is psychiatric, part that is brainwashing and part that comes from messages in the mosque or from radical preachers.” |
| Mehdi Mozaffari, an Iranian-born Danish political science professor, complained that mainstream Muslims and Western governments often play down the powerful pull of Islamist ideology, which mixes piety and politics. | |
| “It is very evident that this ideology is playing a major role,” he said. “Without it we are facing just hooligans. But these people have an ideology that is very strong. It justifies their behavior and identifies their enemy.” | “It is very evident that this ideology is playing a major role,” he said. “Without it we are facing just hooligans. But these people have an ideology that is very strong. It justifies their behavior and identifies their enemy.” |
| Testimony at Mr. Hussein’s trial last December by the defendant and others made no reference to religion, indicating that he underwent a rapid jihadist conversion in jail. He received a two-year sentence but was released less than three months after the verdict because he had already spent more than a year in pretrial detention. | Testimony at Mr. Hussein’s trial last December by the defendant and others made no reference to religion, indicating that he underwent a rapid jihadist conversion in jail. He received a two-year sentence but was released less than three months after the verdict because he had already spent more than a year in pretrial detention. |
| A court psychiatrist, Katarina Adamikova, reported “no signs of severe mental illness except for a suspected hash abuse.” Mr. Hussein, according to court documents, said that he had been stabbed in the leg before the train attack and “felt a lot of anxiety and felt in danger of being assaulted.” | A court psychiatrist, Katarina Adamikova, reported “no signs of severe mental illness except for a suspected hash abuse.” Mr. Hussein, according to court documents, said that he had been stabbed in the leg before the train attack and “felt a lot of anxiety and felt in danger of being assaulted.” |
| Such feelings of persecution provide fertile ground for a radical Islamist ideology that, according to Erhan Kilic, a Turkish-born lawyer in the northern city of Aarhus who counsels returning jihadists, promotes and exploits a narrative of victimhood. “They always look at their problems through the glasses of victims,” he said. | Such feelings of persecution provide fertile ground for a radical Islamist ideology that, according to Erhan Kilic, a Turkish-born lawyer in the northern city of Aarhus who counsels returning jihadists, promotes and exploits a narrative of victimhood. “They always look at their problems through the glasses of victims,” he said. |
| Muslims, he added, do have legitimate complaints like other groups, but young radicals often know next to nothing about their faith and twist it to serve their own personal hang-ups and failings. His message to returnees from Syria, he added, is simple: “A Muslim cannot be a terrorist, and a terrorist cannot be a Muslim.” | Muslims, he added, do have legitimate complaints like other groups, but young radicals often know next to nothing about their faith and twist it to serve their own personal hang-ups and failings. His message to returnees from Syria, he added, is simple: “A Muslim cannot be a terrorist, and a terrorist cannot be a Muslim.” |
| That so many young Muslims feel angry at and alienated from a country that offers their families some of the world’s most generous welfare benefits has left many Danes flummoxed and angry. This in turn has helped fuel the rise of the Danish People’s Party, an anti-immigration group that regularly denounces Muslim misbehavior and, according to opinion polls, now stands neck-and-neck in popularity with the biggest mainstream parties. | That so many young Muslims feel angry at and alienated from a country that offers their families some of the world’s most generous welfare benefits has left many Danes flummoxed and angry. This in turn has helped fuel the rise of the Danish People’s Party, an anti-immigration group that regularly denounces Muslim misbehavior and, according to opinion polls, now stands neck-and-neck in popularity with the biggest mainstream parties. |
| “It is very, very obvious that these attacks were connected to religion,” Soren Espersen, deputy chairman of the Danish People’s Party, said in an interview. “There is no doubt this was religious terrorism,” he said, adding that Mr. Hussein had himself declared to be “acting in the name of Islam.” | “It is very, very obvious that these attacks were connected to religion,” Soren Espersen, deputy chairman of the Danish People’s Party, said in an interview. “There is no doubt this was religious terrorism,” he said, adding that Mr. Hussein had himself declared to be “acting in the name of Islam.” |
| A survey published Wednesday by the newspaper Metroxpress found that half of Danes surveyed want to restrict immigration and a quarter want to ensure that Muslims never account for more than 5 percent of the population. The government is barred by law from classifying residents by religion, but a study by Aarhus University in 2013 found that about 4.2 percent of Denmark was Muslim. | A survey published Wednesday by the newspaper Metroxpress found that half of Danes surveyed want to restrict immigration and a quarter want to ensure that Muslims never account for more than 5 percent of the population. The government is barred by law from classifying residents by religion, but a study by Aarhus University in 2013 found that about 4.2 percent of Denmark was Muslim. |
| “To be a Muslim does not coincide with the definition of being Danish, whatever that entails,” said Sandy Madar, the founder of Streetmanager, a private association that seeks to help young criminals and youths at risk of becoming criminals. “And the Muslims, therefore, feel that as long they hold on to their religion, they can never be accepted as a true Dane.” | “To be a Muslim does not coincide with the definition of being Danish, whatever that entails,” said Sandy Madar, the founder of Streetmanager, a private association that seeks to help young criminals and youths at risk of becoming criminals. “And the Muslims, therefore, feel that as long they hold on to their religion, they can never be accepted as a true Dane.” |
| As in many other European countries, Muslims in Denmark may coexist with their non-Muslim neighbors, but they often cling to the values and conspiracy-driven mind-set of their home countries. | As in many other European countries, Muslims in Denmark may coexist with their non-Muslim neighbors, but they often cling to the values and conspiracy-driven mind-set of their home countries. |
| Helime al-Amed, a Palestinian from Syria and mother of five children in Mjolnerparken, the housing project where Mr. Hussein grew up, praised Denmark as a generous and friendly country, but she still believes that last weekend’s attacks were “orchestrated by people who are against us, who want to provoke anger at Muslims.” | Helime al-Amed, a Palestinian from Syria and mother of five children in Mjolnerparken, the housing project where Mr. Hussein grew up, praised Denmark as a generous and friendly country, but she still believes that last weekend’s attacks were “orchestrated by people who are against us, who want to provoke anger at Muslims.” |
| Mr. Hussein, she added, had been deliberately killed by police officers in a shootout Sunday morning to prevent him from talking. “When he died, the truth died with him,” she said. | Mr. Hussein, she added, had been deliberately killed by police officers in a shootout Sunday morning to prevent him from talking. “When he died, the truth died with him,” she said. |