The summit comes in the wake of fresh attacks across the globe.
The White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism will span
three days, with both domestic and international stakeholders coming
together to discuss ongoing efforts to confront the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria and other terrorist groups.
The final date of the summit was announced in January, not long after
the attack against a satirical newspaper and a Jewish deli in Paris
brought renewed attention to the threat of terror. White House officials
say while the efforts to stop ISIS and other groups will be discussed,
the summit will focus on the root causes of extremism like socioeconomic
and political exclusion.
White House officials said on a preview call Monday that though there
will likely be policy introduced throughout the summit—the details of
which were not yet shared—the summit will focus on fostering a
“bottom-up” approach to stopping terrorism before it starts.
“This is a moment to rededicate ourselves and reach out to
communities to prevent radicalization,” a White House official said
Monday.
Obama is expected to speak twice at the summit, though the full agenda of the week’s events has not yet been released.
The White House was careful to not single out any particular group as
the main culprit of extremism at home and abroad, but Muslim leaders
have already expressed concern
that the event will lead more Americans to express fear and hatred
toward the community, especially given the recent murder of three Muslim
Americans in Chapel Hill, N.C. Local police say the murder happened as a
result of a parking dispute, but the family of the deceased says the
murders were a hate crime.
The White House says the focus of the summit will be on confronting
the issue of extremism as a whole, rather than target one group.
“There’s no profile that says this particular community is going to be susceptible to violence,” a White House official said.
Source:
Time Magazine
No comments:
Post a Comment