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Weekend bombings bring caution
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Bombings over the weekend in New York and New Jersey may spark fears of more terror-related acts in the United States, but Northeast Ohio university professors urge people not to jump to conclusions.
“I think it’s natural for people to be on edge, especially those on the East Coast,” said Hedi Nasheri, a professor of criminology and justice studies in Kent State University’s sociology department.
Keith Lepak, a Youngstown State University associate professor of politics and international relations, said it’s rare an individual is the target of terrorism. He urges people to watch for unusual activity, though, such as a bag left unattended at the airport.
Over the weekend, a New York City neighborhood and a New Jersey shore town were shocked by bombings. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, an Afghan immigrant, was arrested Monday after being wounded in a gunfight with police.
Nasheri said ISIS uses a sophisticated and structured social media campaign to promote itself, glorify its acts and recruit young people including those in the United States.
The Islamic State aims to appeal to individuals about a greater purpose, spread the message that Westerners, including Americans, have historically shown aggression toward Islam, and also glorify all attacks against the Western world.
“ISIS has been very, very effective and successful using Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to influence those with a weak sense of identity,” said Nasheri, who also is a visiting professor at the University of Turku Law School in Finland.
ISIS uses an application that allows leadership to communicate with its followers. That’s how it recruits Americans. She likened it to how young impressionable people are pressured by their peers into drinking or using drugs.
“Radicalization has taken place on social media,” Nasheri said. Such young people “are still looking for a sense of belonging, to be able to feel important.”
It’s a relatively new phenomenon, she said. When al-Qaida attacked New York and Washington, D.C., those attacks were perpetrated by members of a diffused cell. ISIS, on the other hand, is a organized and structured group, Nasheri said.
“Jihadism has evolved and changed since 9/11, and an example of that is the Islamic State,” she said.
Governments’ response to ISIS’s social media strengths, though, have been reactive. Nasheri believes if law enforcement, government, private-sector companies and educators worked together, they would have sufficient resources and skills to combat ISIS recruiting efforts in a more proactive way.
Lepak called the U.S.’s efforts to address acts of terrorism from Americans “an ongoing game of hide and seek.”
The government wrestles with trying to determine what communication between radical groups and individuals to listen to and for how long.
It could mean more smaller-scale incidents like those over the weekend.
“It’s fear of the unknown,” Lepak said. “We have other things Americans are afraid of right now.”
He listed gun ownership, mental-health issues, government overreach and veterans returning to U.S. soil with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“American prefer to live with whatever delusions they choose to live with,” Lepak said. “I think part of the appeal of [Republican presidential candidate] Donald Trump right now is that he’s exploiting that fear.”