Page 29 - Сигурност и отбрана - брой 2 - 2023

Security & Defense, Issue 2, 2023 Scientific journal

State (IS) terrorist organization, was behind the blasts, and the family was
among hundreds of Indonesians who had returned from Syria. These
bombings were the bloodiest in Indonesia in more than decades. The
Southeast Asian country has long suffered from Islamic extremism,
including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people – most of them
foreign tourists – in the biggest terrorist attack in the country’s history. Since
2015, twenty women and fifteen children have taken part in terrorism activity
in Indonesia (Temby, 2020).
The big question is: What motivated the entire family to commit the
terrorist act? Was their choice conscious or guided by external influence? An
interesting fact is also the different ages of the participants – 9, 12, 16, 18
years old and their parents. Another fact is the different gender – girls and
boys became suicide attackers. The question whether they were radicalized
at the same time or in different places and committed a single act or whether
the radicalization took place within the family remains unanswered. What is
known as a fact is that there are many training camps for terrorists, where
male and female terrorists are separated by gender and age. Which was the
driving force for the terrorist’s acts: the way of life or the faith? In order to
analyze the driving force, I suggest it is necessary to introduce the concept
of the invisible choice. In my understanding, this is the choice which remains
unclear to researchers and analysts, but it influences a person to decide to
commit a certain act. Were these Indonesian children aware of the act they
were committing, or were they used as a cover-up? Many questions with few
answers, but the reason is the complexity of the psyche. There are many
reasons that can push a person to terrorism. The way of life, i.e. so-called
‘lifestyle’, is one of them, because it clearly reflects the moral values and
worldview of each person.
Choice can be conscious or unconscious. When it is conscious, we take
actions with a certain goal, and vice versa – when there are no such goals,
our choice becomes unconscious. Searching for meaning and choosing
awareness means looking outside ourselves. Before making a choice, you
can ask yourself: “Is this good for me?” and “What will be the consequences
of this action of mine?” If you are satisfied with the answers to the questions–
act! Maybe these families found the right answer, or maybe it was shown to
them.
More and more young people are caught up in the propaganda of
terrorism. Islamic State continues to recruit like-minded people all over the
world. More and more young people from Germany, Britain, Southeast Asia
(the hotbed of new Islamists) and many other places are responding to
jihadists’ call. Despite the measures taken against radicalization and

extremism, terrorists always find loopholes to stultify all programmes and to
recruit like-minded. Almost all countries have special programmes for de-
radicalisation, counter-extremism, and counter-terrorism. These

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