Mohamed Merah: From Petty Criminal to Neojihadist

Abstract

The 2012 killing of three French soldiers and four Jewish civilians by a 23-year-old petty criminal turned neojihadist simultaneously manifested some of contemporary French society's worst fears, namely the radicalisation of its youth and home-grown terrorism. The attacks were the final step in Mohamed Merah's radicalisation, a process influenced during his family, accelerated during his time in prison and nurtured by divides within French society. This article aims to shed light on his radicalisation by examining the social and familial milieux he grew up in and the impact incarceration had on his identity and beliefs. More broadly, this article will demonstrate how in a country where the ultra-Right's hijacking of the Republican notion of secularity or laïcité is leading to an increasingly divided society, neojihadism is providing some Muslim youth with an alternative source of identity.

Notes

¹Alison Pargeter, The New Frontiers of Jihad: Radical Islam in Europe (United States: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008).

²Gilles Kepel, The War for Muslim Minds (United States: Harvard University Press, 2006), p. 243.

³Neojihadism can be defined as ‘simultaneously a religious, political, paramilitary and terrorist global movement, a subculture, a counterculture, and an ideology that seeks to establish states governed by laws according to the dictates of selectively literal interpretations of the Qur'an and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (normally) through enacting violence’. See P. Lentini, ‘Antipodal Terrorists? Accounting for Differences in Australian and “Global” Neojihadists’ in Richard Devetak and Christopher Hughes (eds) The Globalisation of Political Violence: Globalisations Shadow (Australia; Routledge, 2008), p. 181.

⁴In 2000, French and German police prevented a major Al Qaeda bombing plot at the feet of Strasbourg Cathedral during the popular Strasbourg Christmas market.

⁵L. Smith-Spark, ‘Who was French Gunman Mohammed Merah?’, CNN, 23 March 2012, http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/21/world/europe/france-shooting-suspect-profile.

⁶‘Mohammed Merah and Abdelkader Merah (Shootings in Toulouse, France)’, The New York Times, 4 April 2012, http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/mohammed_merah/index.html.

⁷Abdelghani Merah, Mohamed Merah, Mon Frere Ce Terroriste (Paris: Calmon-Levy, 2012).

¹⁵Ibid., English translation by Virginie Andre.

⁸It is important to note that Abdelghani Merah broke away from his family after marrying a non-Muslim woman with Jewish ancestry. Though his writing gives valuable insight into the life of Mohamed Merah it must be acknowledged that his views would likely be impacted by this event.

⁹Merah, op. cit.

¹⁰Ibid.

¹¹J. Lichfield, ‘Scooter Terrorist Mohamed Merah “Was Not a Lone Wolf”’, The Independent, 4 September 2012, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/scooter-terrorist-mohamed-merah-was-not-a-lonewolf-8102822.html.

¹²Merah, op. cit.

¹³Ibid.

¹⁴Ibid.

¹⁶H. Alexander, ‘Toulouse Shootings: The Making of a French Jihadi Killer with a Double Life’, The Telegraph, 24 March 2012.

¹⁷O. Moore, ‘Mohammed Merah: Petty Criminal, Part-time Jihadist, Polite but a Loner’, The Globe and Mail, 6 September 2012.

¹⁸ The New York Times, op. cit.

¹⁹Merah, op. cit.

²⁰Alexander, op. cit.

²²Ibid.

²¹Merah, op. cit. In 1991, the FIS won a majority of seats in parliament in the first round of elections. The FIS would have won the absolute majority if the military had not cancelled the second round of elections in January 1992. This led to the radicalisation of the FIS, the subsequent creation of the splinter group GIA and the beginning of the Algerian civil war. See Luis Martinez, La Guerre Civile en Algérie, 1990–1998 (Paris: Karthala, 1999).

²³Ibid.

²⁴Ibid.

²⁵J. Lichfield, ‘How My Hate-filled Family Spawned Merah the Monster, the Independent, 12 November 2012, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/how-my-hatefilled-family-spawned-merah-the-monster-8307341.html.

²⁶‘French Interior Minister Slams Toulouse Gunman Merah's Sister For “Religious And Racial Incitement”’, European Jewish Press, 13 November 2012, http://www.ejpress.org/article/63125.

²⁷M. King, H. Noor and D. M. Taylor, ‘Normative Support for Terrorism: The Attitudes and Beliefs of Immediate Relatives of Jema'ah Islamiyah Members’, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 34:5 (2011), p. 412.

²⁸Lichfield, op. cit.

²⁹‘Mohamed Merah: Itineraire d'un Terroriste’, M6 Television Production, 2012.

³⁰M6, op. cit.

³¹Merah, op. cit.

³²Lichfield, op. cit.

³³In 2008, militants belonging to Pakistani terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba staged an attack across the Indian city of Mumbai killing 164 people and injuring over 300.

³⁴Merah, op. cit.

³⁵Ibid.

³⁶Ibid.

³⁷Ibid. On active fascination with death and jihadism, please see Farhad Khosrokhavar, Suicide Bombers: Allah's New Martyrs (London: Pluto Press, 2005).

³⁸S. Atran, ‘Who Becomes a Terrorist Today?’, Perspectives on Terrorism, 2:5 (2008), p. 6.

³⁹M. Abrahms, ‘What Terrorists Really Want: Terrorist Motives and Counterterrorism Strategy’, International Security, 32:4 (2008), p. 98.

⁴⁰S. Helfstein, ‘Edges of Radicalization: Ideas, Individuals and Networks in Violent Extremism’, Combating Terrorism Centre, 14 February 2012, http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/edges-of-radicalization-ideas-individuals-and-networks-in-violent-extremism.

⁴¹P. Cruickshank and T. Lister, ‘How Did Mohammed Merah Become a Jihadist?’, CNN, 26 March 2012, http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/26/world/europe/france-shooting-suspect.

⁴²J. Klausen, ‘France's Jihadist Shooter was No Lone Wolf’, The Wall Street Journal, 23 March 2012, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304636404577299550343286104.html.

⁴³ The New York Times, op. cit.

⁴⁴Klausen, op. cit.

⁴⁵P.C. Siegel, ‘French Counterterrorism Policy in the Wake of Mohammed Merah's Attack’, CTC Sentinel, 23 April 2012, http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/french-counterterrorism-policy-in-the-wake-of-mohammed-merahs-attack.

⁴⁶Merah, op. cit.

⁴⁷European Police Office, ‘Europol 2011: EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report’, 2011, https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/te-sat2011.pdf, p. 18.

⁴⁸The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, Prisons and Terrorism: Radicalisation and De-radicalisation in 15 Countries (London: Kings College, 2010), p. 18.

⁴⁹Ibid., p. 30.

⁵⁰Philip Jenkins, God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 155.

⁵¹Merah, op. cit.

⁵²Ibid.

⁵³Ibid.

⁵⁸Interview with Gilles Kepel in special television report ‘Mohamed Merah: Itineraire d'un Terroriste’, M6, 2012.

⁵⁴Farhad Khosrokhavar, Quand Al Qaeda Parle: Témoignages Derrière Les Barreaux (Paris: Grasset et Fasquelle, 2006), pp. 52–53.

⁵⁵Cited in C. Smith, ‘Europe's Muslims May Be Headed Where the Marxists Went Before’, The New York Times, 26 December 2004.

⁵⁶For an understanding of Kelkal's pathway within the French Algerian context, see Martin Evans and John Phillips, Algeria: Anger of the Dispossessed (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007).

⁵⁷James Beckford, Daniele Joly and Farhad Khosrokhavar, Les Musulmans en Prison en Grande Bretagne et en France, Atelier de Recherche Sociologique (Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses Universitaires de Louvain, 2005), p. 273.

⁵⁹James Beckford et al., op. cit., p. 175.

⁶⁰Ibid., p. 175.

⁶¹O. Roy, ‘Islamic Terrorist Radicalisation in Europe’, in Samir Amghar, Amir Boubekeur and Michael Emerson (eds) European Islam: Challenges for Public Policy and Society (Brussels: CEPS, 2007), p. 55.

⁶²Peter Neumann, Joining Al-Qaeda: Jihadist Recruitment in Europe, Adelphi Papers (London: Routledge, 2008), pp. 26–27.

⁶³Merah, op. cit.

⁶⁴M6, op. cit.

⁶⁵Merah, op. cit.

⁶⁶Ibid.

⁶⁷M6, op. cit.

⁶⁸Neumann, op. cit. p. 26.

⁶⁹Cruickshank and Lister, op. cit.

⁷⁰Klausen, op. cit.

⁷¹Cruickshank and Lister, op. cit.

⁷²Ibid.

⁷³J. Zenn, ‘Militants Threaten to Return to Central Asia after NATO's Withdrawal from Afghanistan’, Eurasia Daily Monitor, 10:6, 14 January 2013.

⁷⁴Cruickshank and Lister, op. cit.

⁷⁵Ibid.

⁷⁶Lichfield, op. cit.

⁷⁷Ibid.

⁷⁸Alexander, op. cit.

⁷⁹Lichfield, op. cit.

⁸⁰D. Gardham, ‘British Links to Toulouse Terrorist’, The Telegraph, 23 March 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9163544/British-links-to-Toulouse-terrorist.html.

⁸¹ The New York Times, op. cit.

⁸² The New York Times, op. cit.

⁸³ Raï is a type of contemporary Algerian music mixing traditional Arab vocals and popular western music.

⁸⁴Moore, op. cit.

⁸⁵Merah, op. cit.

⁸⁶Smith-Spark, op. cit.

⁸⁷Alexander, op. cit.

⁸⁸For a discussion on the Abu Musab al-Suri's works and ideology, see B. Lia, Architect of Global Jihad: The Life of Al-Qaida Strategist Abu Musʻab al-Suri (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008).

⁸⁹M6, op. cit.

⁹⁰Ibid.

⁹¹P. Wilkinson, ‘Media and Terrorism: A Reassessment’, Terrorism and Political Violence, 9:2 (2007), p. 53.

⁹² The New York Times, op. cit.

⁹³Gilles Kepel, Terreur et Martyre (Paris: Flammarion, 2008), pp. 189–190.

⁹⁴Klausen, op. cit.

⁹⁵International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, ‘Forsane Alizza: Background Brief’, http://www.ict.org.il/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=99fFLwpcQLQ%3D&tabid=320.

⁹⁶P. Neumann et al., ‘ICSR Insight: Toulouse Gunman's Link to UK Extremists’, Insights, 21 March 2012.

⁹⁷Gardham, op. cit.

⁹⁸P. Neumann et al., op. cit.

⁹⁹Merah, op. cit.

¹⁰⁰See Natalie Doyle, this issue.

¹⁰¹Merah, op. cit.

¹⁰⁸F. Khosrokhavar, ‘Ce Que La Loi Sur La Burqa Nous Voile’, Le Monde, 1 August 2009, http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2009/07/31/ce-que-la-loi-sur-la-burqa-nous-voile-par-farhadkhosrokhavar_1224664_3232.html.

¹⁰²Jean Baubérot, La Laïcité Falsifiée (La Découverte: Paris, 2012).

¹⁰³O. Roy, Laïcité Face a l'Islam (Paris: Stock, 2005); translation – Georges Holoch, Secularism Confronts Islam (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), p. 13.

¹⁰⁴Ibid.

¹⁰⁵Baubérot, op. cit.

¹⁰⁶Ibid.

¹⁰⁷V. Zuber, ‘La Commission Stasi et Les Paradoxes de la Laïcité Française’ in Jean Baubérot (ed.) La Laïcité a l'Epreuve: Religions et Libertés Dans Le Monde (Paris: Universalis, 2004).

¹¹²The term ‘banlieue’ refers to the housing complexes built by government on the outskirts of the major cities, in the surburbs.

¹¹³James Beckford et al., op. cit. p. 116.

¹⁰⁹Gilles Kepel, Quatre Vingt Treize (Paris: Gallimard, 2012). See also Gilles Kepel, Les Banlieues de l'Islam (Paris: Seuil, 1991).

¹¹⁰Ibid.

¹¹¹Ibid.

¹¹⁴Farhad Khosrokhavar, L'Islam Des Jeunes (Paris: Flammarion, 1997).

¹¹⁵Roy, ‘Secularism Confronts Islam’, op. cit., p. 99.

¹¹⁶Olivier Roy, L'Islam Mondialisé (Paris: Seuil, 2004).

¹¹⁷See N. Doyle, ‘Lessons From France: Popularist Anxiety And Veiled Fears of Islam’, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 22:4 (2011), pp. 475–489.

¹¹⁸One example of this risk was demonstrated during a BBC interview in April 2013. Medecins Sans Frontieres' co-founder Jacques Beres recounts how he met and treated in Syria two young French Muslim brothers who had been injured during the conflict. One of the two brothers told him he had been inspired by Mohamed Merah: ‘He told me that the real hero is Mohammed Merah, that he was an example to follow’. Cited in D. Crawford, ‘From Belgian School to Syrian Battleground’, BBC, 24 April 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22277462 (accessed 7 May 2013).