In fiction lies the real solution

Jordanian comic book artist suleiman Bakhit develops a counter-narrative to combating IS

KARACHI: As the US-led coalition continues to fight against the forces of the Islamic State (IS), Jordanian entrepreneur Suleiman Bakhit decided to start his own fight against the group, through a comic book, reported the Al-Arabiya News.

According to Suleiman Bakhit, it is impossible to defeat the ideologies of groups like Al-Qaeda and IS just ‘with weapons alone’. This lead him to developing a ‘counter-narrative’ in the form of heroes, who would go against romanticised ideals of extremism that are being used to lure young recruits.

Bakhit believes that while it may be necessary to contain extremist activities by using military force, it is not always the solution to the problem.

“If you really want to defeat extremism, you need to defeat their mythology and narrative by developing a counter-narrative and a counter-mythology,” the entrepreneur told Al Arabiya News.

It was only after Bakhit conducted focus groups with youngsters across the country, asking them who their heroes were, that he realised that there was “a huge appetite for positive heroism.”

Recalling his interaction with the youth, he told how many of them responded to his question saying, “We don’t really have heroes.”

Bakhit compares the yearning to join groups like IS to a ‘glamorous call for adventure’. During the course of his research, Bakhit also observed that the extremist narrative of luring youngsters heavily relies on the concept of a heroic journey.

He added that those who end up joining IS are people “who perceived themselves as not worthy or not feeling they want more in life. They come across these narratives, add religion on top of it, which makes it much more sacred and holy.”



While pointing out a solution to the problem, he noted that just telling people that this is not Islam would not be enough. “That’s the problem with the existing counter-narrative, which is ‘don’t be a terrorist, those guys are bad, they’re not protecting Islam, they’re destroying Islam’, and it’s true,” remarked Suleiman Bakhit.

Highlighting the importance of developing alternative heroes, he referred to his comic book heroes such as Element Zero, a character who is similar to Jack Bauer from the action television series, 24. Element Zero is a Jordanian Special Forces officer who fights against extremists in the graphic strips.

The comics will also include female heroes, such as Princess Heart and Shahrazad.

A graduate of University of Minnesota, he revealed how he was attacked by a group of angry men after the events of 9/11, but instead of fleeing the country, he chose to stay back and attempted to “fight that kind of ignorance and turn that attack into a force of good.”

He went to different schools where he spoke to young children about the Middle East and its culture. He later dropped out of college in between his Master’s degree and returned to Jordan to start his own comic book company.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st,  2015.

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