24/03/2022
Between religious terrorism and anti-religious repression: China’s ethnic and counter-terrorist policies in Uighur Xinjiang - Par Jordi Bernal
"While not being very keen on religion, the government’s efforts to accommodate it into the patriotic camp, have created for instance Buddhist or Catholic Chinese Associations. But a fundamental problem lies ahead: many of these religions pledge allegiance to non-state and usually foreign authorities, e.g., Catholics to the Holy See, Tibetan Buddhists to the Dalai Lama or Uighur Muslims to a separate Turkic nation (Lap-Yan Kung, 2006). And this is a challenge to Chinese sovereignty, so patriotism as a civil religion is promoted.
In Xinjiang, during the Cultural Revolution there was both toleration and campaigning against Islam in a pragmatic and flexible way. Then, from the 1980s on, economic growth allowed reconstruction of worship places, public call for prayer was permitted and there was flexibility in a framing of Islam as an ethnic minority tradition (Hann & Pelkmans, 2009) (...)"
30/11/2021
Competition and cooperation for rebellion: Moro nationalist, islamist and jihadist insurgencies and terrorism in southern Philippines - By Jordi Bernal Fabra
"President Marcos in the 1960s was the visible head of a regime known for its state brutality, which allowed the massive displacements of Muslims committed by Christian armed militias. Repression and marginalization left Moro communities with little opportunities to develop, and many recurred to the informal economy: competition over drugs, weapons, and land black market. Many of these groups intermingled with militias with nationalist ideals and conformed groups that will be analyzed here, such as the most relevant Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the islamist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), plus other ones as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), the Maute group, and minor tribal militias."
09/11/2021
The internationalisation of Hezbollah in Latin America through its involvement in drug trafficking - By Anais Fauré
"The 1980s marked the beginning of suspicions of the presence of a Hezbollah network in Latin America, and more precisely in the Triple Frontier zone between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Hezbollah is accused of preparing and planning its terrorist acts (as it was accused during the 1992 and 1994 attacks in Buenos Aires as the armed wing of Iran), but also of contributing in large part to the perpetuation of the network of illicit trafficking of all kinds that has been established for many years in this area.
Indeed, if it is known that drug trafficking is today a structuring element of the political-economic frameworks of Latin American countries, some areas have largely favoured the implantation of extra-regional groups, starting with the Triple Frontier area.
Indeed, known as a territory marked by the proliferation of actors linked to organised crime, this area, devoid of state control, has been the preferred territory for the establishment of Hezbollah and is now considered a safe haven for the latter's illicit activities."