Nafees Hamid

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Damaged cars and personal effects are left scattered around the Supernova Music Festival site, where hundreds were killed and dozens taken by Hamas militants near the border with Gaza, pictured on October 13. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images/File

As fighting continues between Israel and Hamas, many may wonder why this war — and, more broadly, the decades-long Israeli–Palestinian conflict — is so intractable. As far as the current war is concerned, third parties like the UN, US and Qatar have had only minor tactical successes such as the brief hostage and prisoner exchange that prevailed at the end of November.

As for the longer conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, which has persisted since 1948, long-term peace today seems no closer than it did 75 years ago. Why is it so difficult to resolve this conflict? Why have so many peace efforts, pursued by so many governments and leaders over the decades, only led back to war?…  Seguir leyendo »

The rise of Catalonia’s independence movement over the past decade is reshaping Spanish politics. In 2019, pro-independence parties in Catalonia are fractured, Spain’s far right more than doubled its seats in November’s national election and centrist parties are struggling to form a government coalition.

Our research on the Catalan independence movement demonstrates how the lack of resolution on Catalonia helped create this situation.

The Spanish government has taken a hard-line stance, refusing until recently to talk with independence leaders. In October, Spanish courts doled out harsh prison sentences to independence leaders involved in what Spain declared was an illegal referendum in 2017.…  Seguir leyendo »

A journalist pointing to the name “Mohamed El Hichamy,” one of the suspected terrorists in the Cambrils attack, on a table of voluntary payments for the expenses of the mosque where the radical imam Abdelbaki Es Satty preached, Ripoll, north of Barcelona, August 20, 2017. Albert Gea/Reuters.

As I walked home on a sunny August day in Barcelona, I took in the mingling of tourists, locals, and expats so typical of the cosmopolitan city that I’ve called home for the past few years. This was interrupted by the sound of terrified screams from behind me. When I turned and saw throngs of people running my way, I immediately knew my fears had come true. I’ve spent the last three and a half years conducting fieldwork on radicalization in Barcelona. From everything I’ve seen and learned, I knew a day like this was inevitable. I just didn’t expect to witness it myself.…  Seguir leyendo »

Lorenzo Meloni/Magnum Photos. A suspected member of ISIS being taken into custody, Hamam al-Alil, Iraq, March 2017

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in and around Barcelona, clichés about radicalization are again making the rounds. For some, the twelve young members of the cell behind the Barcelona attacks, all men, were “brainwashed”; for others the blame falls on the town of Ripoll for becoming a “terrorist breeding ground”; for others yet it’s Islam as a whole that must be held accountable. For those who study radicalization and terrorism, all of these explanations fall short.

The greatest difficulty for our ability to understand and respond to terrorism and radicalization is linear thinking. Arguing that radicalization is caused by poverty because most modern jihadists come from marginalized neighborhoods is the same flawed logic as arguing that radicalization is caused by Islam because jihadists are all Muslims.…  Seguir leyendo »