Religion and Politics

“Why Do All the Jihadis Come to Birmingham?”

The New York Times’s Katrin Bennhold and Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura report that Birmingham, England, has been home to a disproportionate number of Islamist militants, including Khalid Masood, who killed four people last week in an attack in London. Bennhold and Freytas-Tamura write, “Members of Birmingham’s Muslim communities acknowledged the linkage between their city and Islamist extremism, which many attribute to poverty and drug abuse that make youths vulnerable to jihadist recruiters who operate like gangs.” But many Muslims also resent the reputation of their city as “Terror Central,” and worry that it contributes to anti-Islam bigotry.

Read at The New York Times

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