[thread] This thread is important to me. I engaged Neumann today with the most basic of questions, requesting how he can justify his assertion that “France’s implosion is caused by terrorism”. His response was so extraordinary and unjustifiable, it warrants more discussion/1 https://twitter.com/Tarek_Younis_/status/1320021721911611393

I was going to explain the flaws, drawing on several works, eg @alainbertho and his analysis of increasing unrest, @aurelmondon and @aaronzwinter analysis how French disillusionment with politics, and of course many writings on French racism through its colonial legacy/3

Of course, for people who follow me, I’ve also spent the last 5-ish years researching and reflecting on how counterterrorism is psychologised and instrumentalised, and have published on this matter/4

Im an academic. I may be wrong/ignorant (I often am), I still learn from my mistakes if afforded a degree of respect. Instead, Neumann's response: “Nothing justifies killing innocent people. I hope we can at least agree on that. Or do we not?” As if this isn’t taken for granted/5

The discussion had NOTHING to with the morality of terrorism—it was about the causes of France’s supposed implosion. Do all conversations between white counter-terrorism researchers begin, “hey we agree killing innocents is unjustifiable, right? Now let's begin."/6

It’s astounding that a counter-terrorism prof can air this trite, Islamophobic garbage, fully and without shame on social media, as if this is a totally normal way to converse. It really signals how hegemonic Islamophobia is, so deeply rooted in the “field” of counterterrorism/7

Previously another very senior Far-Right individual at CARR called me a “social leper” for explaining the lack of accountability in Prevent. Again, open and public. But that’s cool, he’ll go back to researching the Far-Right/8

All of this to say, this isn’t the first and wont be last. But know this: I will never engage with anyone who engages me with this Islamophobic frame. Especially not with such academic, when he was engaged with such a banal, intellectual query /9

I absolutely refuse to condemn terrorism out of the blue, esp not as some sacred doorway into intellectual discussions. If people cant understand the Islamophobia in this interaction with Neumann, that is a worrying reality indeed /end

To be clear, *I refuse to condemn terrorism out of the blue when asked to during a conversation--that is Islamophobic. I will of course engage on the subject of political violence on shared terms and mutual respect, not as a means of deflection (esp for the academically insecure)