AKALA: DON'T BLAME RELIGION FOR INDIVIDUAL CRIMES

International media is quick to condemn an entire religion for the crimes of an individual, especially when the perpetrator is a Black, Brown or Muslim. That's according to Akala, a British rapper and activist, in a 2016 episode of UK-based Not For the Radio.

He argues Europeans' crimes are whitewashed, citing the example of Norwegian Anders Breivik, who shot and k*lled 77 people at a Norwegian summer youth camp in 2011. Akala (@akalamusic) said the media did not describe Breivik as a white nationalist Christian t*rrorist, but as a 'lone wolf.'

Yet, when Seifeddine Rezgui k*lled 38 mostly European tourists at a Tunisian resort in 2015, Tunisian authorities cracked down on mosques for supposedly radicalising the youth, blaming Islamists for breeding terrorists in the North African country. However, the core issue for Tunisian youth is economic and political disenfranchisement due to decades of mismanagement. A sad reality that sparked the Arab Spring uprisings was when 26-year-old Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi set himself ablaze in 2010 to protest government corruption.

Do you agree with Akala's assessment? Let us know.

Video credit: @notfortheradio

Sources:
https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/coup-in-tunisia-is-democracy-lost/

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/06/29/418490363/after-slaughter-of-tourists-tunisia-cracks-down-on-islamists

https://www.smh.com.au/world/tunisia-terror-attack-the-radical-mosques-that-bred-gunman-seifeddine-rezgui-20150629-gi073c.html

https://www.dw.com/en/tunisia-to-close-80-mosques-following-terror-attack/a-18544478

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/what-makes-lone-wolfe-terrorists-245316

https://mena.fes.de/blog/e/the-tunisian-youth-in-a-whirlwind-of-uncertainty.html

https://www.arab-reform.net/publication/tunisia-youth-take-a-stand-for-against-the-presidents-decisions-and-watch-in-limbo/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305008679_'Lone_Wolf_Terrorism'_The_Case_of_Anders_Breivik

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/08/one-of-us-review-compelling-anders-breivik

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68310127

https://www.crisisgroup.org/global/exploiting-disorder-al-qaeda-and-islamic-state

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/06/tunisia-sousse-isis-democracy/397169/