Amsterdam: Study of Salafi-Jihadis

The publication "Salafi-Jiahdis in Amsterdam' was presented today at the new year's reception of Forum, Institute for multicultural development. Researchers followed twelve radicalizing Moroccan Muslim youth because 'in order to prevent extreme action is it important to know what such youth think and why they think what they think."

Mohammed B., the murder of Theo van Gogh, was a Salafi-Jihadi. The Hofstad group relied on this thinking: any means is permissible, even violence, in striving for Islamization. Society has every reason to worry about youth who go towards radicalization and who are seen as 'irrational lunatics'.

The latter is not correct, say the researchers, led by political scientist Jean Tillie of the University of Amsterdam. "Our study shows that those youth don't act out of irrational, inexplicable religious urges, but out of needs which have to do with personal and social circumstances."

In the past Tillie calculated that 2% of Amsterdam Muslims - about 1,400 youth - are susceptible for radicalization.