Some intelligent words about dealing with ISIS

From Boaz Ganor, the director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. 

The American and Western approach is not to relate to the religious element behind ISIS, to refer only to violent extremism. That’s a grave mistake, in my view. One of the greatest enemies of the war on terror is political correctness. In this war, we need to agree on who is the enemy, on the instrumental causes, on what goals they are trying to achieve. 

That doesn’t mean that Islam is the problem. We are talking about a small group within Islam — the Salafi jihadists — who are seeking to hijack the religion. But to deal with ISIS, you cannot disconnect from the religious aspect. It cannot be done with winks and hints. So the Muslims themselves have to come out against the jihadis. We, the Western world, are here to help. But it is the Muslims’ problem first and foremost.”