Stories from statistics

The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor.

Statistics can, and have, been used through history in many different ways. They can be manipulated to tell a story from a particular angle or to depict only a portion of the truth. But it is also true that when figures are laid out on a blank sheet of paper, we see perspectives of events that have not been brought forward; instead, they have been effectively hidden away behind screens, put up either intentionally or simply out of habit by the media. Today, the media, with its growing expanse and power, represents the mirror that most people use to look at the world.

This mirror today shows us images of a terrified western Europe – a Europe reeling from the 148 terrorism-related deaths that occurred in 2015 in France, and those that have followed this year in Belgium. Deep emotion has followed these deaths, with the Eiffel Tower dramatically lit up in colours of the relevant flag, and the now familiar ‘Je suis’ slogans appearing in public places, as well as across the mainstream and social media.

Of course the deaths are tragic; of course every one of them needs to be mourned and the killers condemned. But as we analyse these events we should also ask some questions, not only about Isis and the factors that led up to its creation following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the western forces, but also about why so much fear exists and the visible strains that it has created within societies.

Perhaps the reasons seem obvious; there is something chilling about suicide bombings and shootings that target ordinary people. But to understand all that is happening, it is also important to look beyond the presentation of reality by the politicians, the media and other elements; it is also important to take a look at the facts and figures that indicate that they are a solid part of the past. Few of us today seem to acknowledge that Europe from the 1970s to the 1990s saw a far larger number of terrorist attacks, which caused more deaths, than it faces today.

In 1974, for instance, in countries across western Europe, there were more than 400 deaths; only a quarter of that number of people were killed in France this year. Of course, this number too is unacceptable. The deaths in 1974, mirrored in 1976 and 1980, were caused mainly by bombings and other terrorist violence coming from the Irish Republic Army, the Basque Separatist Organisation, ETA and also Italian extremist groups. Yet the fear, and the levels of it, were not the same. There seemed to be, for instance, little vilification of the Irish people as a whole even though they struck with lethal violence, mainly in Britain, but also in other places across Europe. The same holds true for the Basque group, an outfit with well-developed abilities to kill at will.

Why, then, is there so deep a sense of apprehension over the Isis-led violence? Already, it has led to growing racism across Europe – and of course in the US – with Muslims being attacked both physically and verbally. The suggestion that they be evicted as a whole from a nation does not come from Donald Trump alone. In some cases, even if it has not been voiced from a public or political platform, it has been put across just a little more subtly through the mainstream media or other forums.

To make matters even more complex, western Europe has suffered only a minuscule percentage of the terrorism-related deaths seen across the world between 2001 and 2014. During this period of just over a decade, there were over 100,000 deaths due to terrorism outside Europe, most of them in Iraq, where 42,000 died, followed by Afghanistan and Pakistan, each of which had a death toll of close to 15,000. Compared to this, there were only 420 deaths in western Europe and not all of them were caused by Islamic groups. Right-wing, anti-Muslim groups also had a hand in orchestrating acts of violence.

Because of this, we seem to be looking at two created realities, one of which is that terrorism that comes from Islamist groups is somehow worse and more dangerous than that coming from other quarters. The second created reality is the depiction that European, or ‘white’, lives are somehow more important than those of non-Europeans. The people who died in Iraq were not lamented by the lighting up of major public buildings or even on social media.

This trend has continued with the killing of over 100 people in Ankara last year, in two separate bombings, and over 50 more this year in the same location in Turkey. These attacks did not move the world to change its Facebook profile picture or paste huge posters across walls in subways and other places.

This sequence of events is very significant. It gives us an important insight into the manner in which bigoted ideas still govern the world and have an impact on policy making. The vilification of Muslims in so many societies across Europe will only add to the vicious cycle of isolation and discrimination that has caused people from Western countries to be recruited by Isis. Such tactics only create a larger support base for the terror groups.

The fact that the Irish, or the Catholics as a whole, or other groups involved in terrorism that stemmed from European sources and targeted other Europeans did not lead to so generalised a sense of outrage against these groups may have been an important factor in permitting the Irish Republican Army and the ETA to be eventually defeated or drawn into the mainstream, ending the need for them to resort violence. Yes, this is more difficult with Isis, given its nature: it is built on hatred and the strength it has gained from the genocide in Iraq, after the US-led invasion just over a decade ago. But even so, it is important for European leaders to review precisely what is happening.

Today, most countries in Europe have significant populations of Muslims and others from non-European backgrounds. This is a legacy of colonisation that began centuries ago, and also a result of the human quest for more equal opportunity and access to higher qualities of living. The manner in which the terrorist attacks that have struck Europe are being handled will only add to global problems.

Certainly, they need to be stopped, and certainly, Isis needs to be eradicated as a truly evil force; their actions cannot be defended by anyone or any ideology. However, the bombings and shootings have also highlighted the distorted angle that is still given to world events, which stems from the basic biases that appear to exist even in those societies that insist they are among the most ‘civilised’ in the world.

It is important that we develop a better understanding of this and also try and assess how the actions of the West have influenced the reactions that followed, creating a situation that is now difficult to handle. But the addition of distorted thinking to this situation will only create more complications and more tangles, making it even more difficult to sort out and look at logically and rationally.

Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com