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From: The Socialist issue 832, 5 November 2014: Cold, cruel cuts: Fight the Con-Dem attacks

Search site for keywords: Portsmouth - Austerity - Unemployment - Syria - Arab - Media

Portsmouth jihadis: austerity and alienation to blame

Ben Norman, Portsmouth Socialist Party

Nineteen year old Mehdi Hassan has become the latest young Muslim from Portsmouth to be killed in Syria. Part of the self-proclaimed 'Al-Britaini Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys', Hassan is one of six Portsmouth men known to have joined the Salafist extremists of the Islamic State (IS).

Hassan is reported to have been killed in the Syrian border city of Kobane and the rest of his 'brigade' have fared little better. Four are dead, one is imprisoned and the final member is believed to remain trapped on Kobani's besieged front lines.

Propaganda

The social media campaigns of IS promise its recruits a 'five star jihad', a beguiling blend of Call of Duty and evangelical belonging. Yet the reality is infinitely more cruel. Compared to the battle hardened veterans of Syria, Iraq or Yemen, IS considers its European recruits theologically illiterate and a military liability.

While a handful, including hostage murderer 'Jihadi John', are used as propaganda tools, the majority of Europeans find themselves thrown into suicidal battles as expendable fodder against the Kurdish Peshmerga when IS wishes to protect its more seasoned fighters.

Portsmouth's jihadis may be partially explained by naivety, evangelicalism and even a idealised view of a 'homeland' they've never known. However, it is clear the root cause is a poisonous mix of austerity and alienation.

Poverty

The city's Charles Dickens ward, home to the majority of the group, is ravaged by unemployment and cuts. 57% of children are estimated to live in income-deprived families, while the average household income is £430 per week, far below the British average of £670.

The British security service's own report highlights the impact of austerity, noting the path to radicalisation begins with high youth unemployment, a reliance on axed public services and the 'managed decline' of the dockyard, responsible for over 900 job losses.

In this regard, the 'Pompey Six' are no different to the rest of their community, where disillusionment and political despondency run high. In May's local elections the sitting MP, Mike Hancock, lost his council seat to Ukip on a turnout of only 24%.

The difference is that, alienated by British austerity, the six men turned to social media, ensnaring themselves in an international trap of despondence and demagoguery which has targeted young Muslims from Portsmouth to Tunis.

While it is no doubt the bloodiest, IS is just one manifestation of the hard line Salafist ideology which is being exported by the wealthy Gulf States.

Threatened by the Arab Spring revolutions, the absolute monarchies of Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have spread Salafism as a weaponised theology of counter-revolution.

Unity

That this extremism can find purchase in a small minority of Portsmouth's Muslims is because the ground has been prepared by austerity, not as some would claim, a failure of multiculturalism.

Nor is there an issue with community segregation. In the most densely populated British city outside of London there is no room for ghettos. This community suffers its decline as one.

If the problems of alienation, despair and radicalisation are to be tackled, our movement must cut across the extremist's message, uniting the community in a common struggle against austerity and the social problems which blight our city.

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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.

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