The Big Question: Should we talk to terrorists?

At the second public debate of The Big Question series we brought together perspectives from a former terrorist, the daughter of a victim of terrorism and experts. Following an engaging and challenging debate the resounding conclusion was that there is no choice but to talk with terrorists to bring their violence to an end. The real challenge is not deciding whether to talk but knowing who to talk with, how to do so and being able to listen in return.

With recent highly publicised atrocities from the Paris attacks and the release of graphic images of hostage murders by Islamic State intensifying fear and outrage, the forthcoming debate in April brings into sharp focus the controversial idea of engaging in dialogue with those who threaten or use violence to secure advances for their political and ideological ends.

UNDERSTANDING TERRORISTS

With recent highly publicised atrocities from the Paris attacks and the release of graphic images of hostage murders by Islamic State intensifying fear and outrage, the forthcoming debate in April brings into sharp focus the controversial idea of engaging in dialogue with those who threaten or use violence to secure advances for their political and ideological ends.

Yet it is often unclear who the ‘terrorists’ are. Christof Wackernagel, for example, was sentenced to prison for membership of the terrorist Red Army Faction in 1977, but never considered himself a terrorist. Rather, he thought of himself as an idealist fighting a state which itself used terror to maintain gross inequalities between rich and poor.

The charge against talking with terrorists is that it gives them legitimacy and a justification for carrying out further violence. Yet, talking and negotiating are quite different: whereas negotiation is a process of recognising and balancing demands, talking is instead a process by which those who use violence can be better understood and made more ‘human’. When Jo met the man who planted the bomb that killed her father in Brighton in 1984, she challenged him to consider the people who had suffered as a result of his actions. Violence had dehumanised him, making him unable to see and empathise with other people. She commented to us that, ‘in that moment [of talking and listening] something happened, he said “I don't know who I am anymore” … he had taken off his political hat and opened his heart. It showed me we can empathise to anyone by listening with an open heart’.

THE PANELLISTS WERE:

Christof Wackernagel, a former member of the German far-left militant group The Red Army Faction (commonly known in its early stages as the Baader-Meinhof Gang);

Jo Berry, the founder of the not-for-profit Building Bridges for Peace, whose father Sir Anthony Berry was amongst those killed in the IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel, Brighton in 1984

Ross Frenett, Director of the Against Violent Extremism network at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

The event was chaired by Kurt Barling, Professor of journalism at Middlesex University and previously a leading broadcaster for the BBC for 25 years.

You can watch the full lecture from this series here.

TALKING TO PREVENT VIOLENCE

So how can dialogue, talking and listening be most effective against terrorism? Ross Frenett of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue considers that we should engage in dialogue before the violence occurs, and before individuals and groups are given problematic labels as extremists, radicals or terrorists.

People crossing the imaginary and idealistic line which translates their motivations into violent methods can be stopped as long as there is discussion and debate throughout all of society: ‘everybody has a role to play, and only when we all step up to the plate will change happen’, concluded Ross.

Kurt Barling closed the event with a poignant chorus for all, stating that ‘when the playing field is even, the goals are clear, the rules are open and transparent and the referee is fair, we can make change happen and keep hope alive’.

For more information on Should we talk to terrorists? and the rest of The Big Question series please contact Simon McMahon on simon.mcmahon@coventry.ac.uk

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