The evil extremists are exactly that. Extreme. The problem occurs when we use innocents as a scapegoat for our own fears and insecurities. This divisional thinking (typified by the recent Sun headline suggesting 1 in 5 Muslims support Muslim fighters in Syria) is exactly what IS and other extremists want. It encourages disunity and prejudice towards certain parts of our population which only aids these extremists by giving further fuel to the radicalisation of moderates. These attacks in Paris for example; they were not engineered just to kill westerners, the aim was to encourage a backlash against Muslim communities, to spread fear and animosity amongst our people and help the recruitment of young western men and women into IS. By supporting these views, we are perpetuating extremism. The condemnation of Syrian refugees entering Europe is another example of how easily peoples minds are led by the tabloids, Britain First and other bigoted, fear mongering, populist sources of misinformation.
