Terrorist attacks in Egypt, St. Petersburg and many European capitals, confirmed that terrorism is the global threat that goes beyond Nazism in its gravity and bloodiness.
It is clear that those heinous terrorist attacks have a recurring pattern in which they target crowds of innocent people in their normal places of shopping, transportation, walking and where they are enjoying and celebrating special occasions. In most of the cases, among them Egypt, ISIS declared its responsibility for the crimes in a rude careless. Through such terrorist attacks, ISIS is trying to prove that it is still standing and strong although the harmful and painful strikes it has received and its obvious retreatment in Syria, Iraq and Libya.
One of its main aims is to destabilize stability in those countries by spreading terror and panic among citizens, and turning them against their governments, which failed to protect them and lose their confidence. Copts in Egypt strongly supported the removal of Muslim Brotherhood from power. Targeting churches is to embarrass the authorities in Egypt in front of them, highlighting the government inability to protect them, which leads to a state of anger and instability. Security is the basic need for all humans, if the government failed to provide, so it will be in a very critical situation.
When the world united once, it defeated the evil, which returned back in a Muslim "Jilbab". It is not difficult to crush terrorism but we need to unite first against it. The illusion that ISIS is a Sunni power combating the "Shiite terrorism" should stop, also the support from some countries in the region to ISIS under that illusion.
The world is at a moment when it is necessary to distinguish between those who really fight terrorism and others that pretend fighting terrorism to serve their interests and achieve own goals regardless the innocent people who lost their lives. The statements and promises of the latter cannot be trusted. There is no longer any room for maneuvering, sweetness and mid attitude, either to be against terrorism or with it. The world is badly in need to build a strong alliance among countries that seriously fighting terrorism and to overcome narrow interests and differences to move forward in crashing terrorism.
On a country level, it is important to prevent terrorists operating in Syria from entering our countries as they are a moving bomb walking on earth, waiting ISIS orders to explode. Some sources point out that the two terrorists who attacked the Egyptian churches in Tanta and Alexandria had left for Syria in 2013 and returned to Egypt recently. The Russian approach in that context is the best. Those terrorist must be closed out where they are.
Deterrent punishment is also needed. Thousands of those terrorists who proved guilty are still in prisons. All involved in the terrorist activity must not feel safe from punishment. Moreover, every suspect should be treated as a potential terrorist until proving not guilty.
In parallel with that, it is urgent to take serious steps toward the social and cultural incubator. Both media and education has a vital role in this. We witness the spread of extremist teachers along our schools allowing them to instill their aggressive values to young generation who are soon will lead the state and society. In a country like Egypt where two third of its population is young, it is really a disaster. They are unfortunately raising terrorists or potential terrorists. Media is also important not only in enlightenment but in disgracing those who are supporting terrorism through spreading the related information and documents.
The world is at a crossroads, and decisive steps must be taken on both international and country levels against terrorism and its sponsoring powers to win the battle.
