Terrorism is not, as Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London said after the recent Westminster attack, “part and parcel of life in a big city.” Nor is it “part and parcel” of life in Europe. Or, at least, it shouldn’t be those things. Mr. Khan is attempting to normalize attacks such as yesterday’s Paris shootings, with good intentions in mind. It is his and many others’ belief that if terrorism is at least understood, or even accepted as a fact of life, then the constant fear the population experiences- the political objective behind terrorism- will disappear. However, this is still normalizing extremism. This is still normalizing terrible acts of violence, usually involving mass murder- by truck, by bomb, or by rifle. It does nothing to prevent the mentally insane from committing atrocities in the name of a faith.
Neither, however, should we flock to the right-wing’s solution, whose logical consequences usually result in the deportation of all migrants and refugees from the Middle East, especially Syria and Iraq. Rather than putting refugees in one step short of concentration camps, as Hungary has done and Poland plans to do, these refugees must be provided with the basic commodities they require as human beings- clean water, nutritious and plentiful food, adequate medical and dental care, heated housing, winter and summer clothes, and education for the children. While we must be hesitant to avoid the phenomenon of “giving a mouse a cookie…”, we also cannot deprave them of their basic needs and force them into radicalization or revolt for their quality of life.
Europe does need to recognize that many terrorists are refugees. In this case, it needs to improve its coordination between its nations, particularly with regards to crime, keep more organized records to make sure no one can so easily fall through the cracks, and improve the vetting process for each refugee as they enter the Eurozone. If it can do these things, it will be a large step forward towards no longer making terrorism “part and parcel” of life in Europe.