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The Euro-Arab Foundation hosted the first in-situ Strategic Communications Seminar of the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation

The seminar, held on November 28th and 29th at the Euro-Arab Foundation headquarters in Granada, convened leaders and experts to discuss and shape the future of strategic communication. Key discussions centered on empowering local communities with tailored tools and successful strategies from EU Member States. A diverse group of experts shared valuable insights throughout the event.

The Euro-Arab Foundation, a key member of the EU Knowledge Hub consortium, oversees the Strategic Communication (StratComms) line for the prevention of radicalization and violent extremism.

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The Euro-Arab Foundation participates in the EUROCRIM Annual Congress with an interdisciplinary panel on policies for the prevention of violent extremism

From September 11 to 14, the Annual Congress of the European Society of Criminology, EUROCRIM, in its twenty-fourth edition, is taking place at the University of Bucharest. The Executive Secretary of the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies, Antonio Sanchez, and the Director of Research and Projects of the same, Javier Ruipérez, have participated with the panel Interdisciplinary approaches to radicalization, political violence, and the relationship between terrorism and crime to advance P/CVE (Program for the Prevention and Combating of Violent Extremism).

The panel, moderated by Sánchez, is part of the INTERRAD project whose aim is to contribute to the challenge of Security, Safety and Defense by addressing cooperation in the prevention of violent radicalization of a jihadist nature in the framework of the European Union (EU) through an interdisciplinary perspective. Ruipérez presented an update on P/CVE strategic communications. Other speakers were:

  • Carlos Echeverría Jesús, Professor of Terrorism and International Relations at UNED, who spoke about the role of Daesh and Al-Qaeda as central actors in the expansion of jihadist ideology;
  • Roberto Muelas Lobato, Assistant Professor and Doctor of the University of Burgos in the Area of Social Psychology, and member of the research group Social Inclusion and Quality of Life, who spoke about the side effects of the program for the prevention of violent extremism ‘Fenix Andalucía’; and
  • Salvador Berdún Carrión, PhD in Criminology from the University of Granada and Director of the Department of Studies of ACAIP, who addressed the influence of National Security and terrorism in European Prison Regimes.
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The Euro-Arab Research Director reflects on the causes and prevention of radicalization

“Radicalization and violent extremism: opportunities for prevention.”

Javier Ruipérez Canales, Director of Research and Projects at the Euro-Arab Foundation, invites us to unravel the roots of violent extremism in his book, Radicalization and violent extremism: opportunities for prevention, published by Tirant Lo Blanch. The author offers an innovative analysis of the phenomenon of radicalization, moving away from predominantly securitarian perspectives. Through exhaustive research, Ruipérez concludes that preventing radicalization requires a comprehensive approach that addresses the underlying social causes. His work, inspired by the events of 11-M and subsequent European policies, becomes an essential reference for understanding this complex problem.

Ruipérez shows how social fractures, polarization and hate speeches push vulnerable individuals towards radicalization. In his work, the author defends the need to address radicalization as a social problem rooted in inequalities and exclusions, beyond a mere security issue.

About the author

Javier Ruipérez Canales is Director of Research and International Projects at the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies (Granada), where he is also the main researcher in the Area of Prevention of Radicalization and Violent Extremism, a field in which he has more than ten years of experience in which he has developed numerous researches, innovation and development projects.

PhD. in Social Sciences from the University of Granada, Ruipérez is director of Strategic Communication of the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation of the European Commission, in which the Euro-Arab Foundation participates, trainer in the field of radicalization and prevention for professionals in social and security fields and advisor for national and international institutions. He is the author of several academic publications and is a member of the Network of Experts on Hate Crimes and Underreporting (REDOI), of the European Community of Researchers on Radicalization of the European Commission (ERCOR), among others.

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Radicalisation in prisons analysis of the Escribano operation and prospects for prevention

The Euro-Arab Foundation has taken an in-depth look at Operation Escribano, considered a milestone in the fight against terrorism in Spanish prisons, with a publication that offers an exhaustive analysis of this complex police operation, which is the first conviction for terrorism in the Spanish prison context since 2008 and the first after the reform of the crime of terrorism in 2015. The authors of this analysis, published in a new issue in the Cuadernos de la Euroárabe collection, were: Daniel F. Pérez-García, researcher and head of projects in the area of prevention of radicalisation and violent extremism at the Euro-Arab Foundation, expert in the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation of the European Commission, where the Euro-Arab Foundation actively participates; Salvador Berdún Carrión, Director of the Studies Department of the Agrupación de Cuerpos de Ayudantes de Instituciones Penitenciarias and Doctor in Criminology; and Javier Ruipérez Canales, Director of the Research and Projects Department of the Euro-Arab Foundation, Doctor in Social Sciences and Director of Strategic Communication of the EU Knowledge Hub.

Analysis of Operation Escribano and prospects for prevention

On 12 February 2024, the 4th Section of the Criminal Division of the National Court issued Sentence number 4/2024, in which it sentenced two inmates to seven years and six months in prison. The defendants, who were already serving sentences for belonging to a terrorist organisation, were tried within the framework of what is known as Operation Escribano, which succeeded in dismantling an entire radicalising structure in Spanish prisons and stands as the largest investigation carried out in Europe into the radicalisation of the Daesh terrorist organisation in prisons. The review of judicial, legislative, academic and strategic documentation in the Euro-Arab publication has been complemented with interviews with the sources of the Guardia Civil police investigation and presents the analysis of the radical networks dismantled in this operation.

The main objective of the analysis is to extract good practices in order to optimise prevention strategies within the prison environment. The recommendations include respect for the guarantee of human rights in judicial processes, in prison treatment and in the assessment of the risk of radicalisation, and the promotion of programmes for the rehabilitation of violent extremism and social and functional reintegration in democratic societies.

The publication (in Spanish) can be downloaded from the Euro-Arab Foundation’s website: https://fundea.org/cuaderno-euroarabe-radicalizacion-en-prisiones/


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The Euro-Arab Foundation will be part of the EU’s new knowledge hub to prevent radicalisation

Presentación Centro de Conocimiento de la UE para Prevenir la Radicalización

The European Commission has just consolidated one of the most complex projects in the field of prevention of radicalisation, the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation, which was presented this morning at an event in Brussels. The contract, awarded to a consortium of eleven European entities, including the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies (based in Granada), has a duration of four years and is funded to the tune of 60 million euros. The aim of this centre, which takes over from the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN), is to create a platform that produces, compiles and disseminates knowledge and effective practices in the field of radicalisation prevention, both for EU member states and for third countries that are involved. 

Main actors and partners of the EU Knowledge Hub

The executive secretary of the Euro-Arab Foundation, Antonio Sánchez Ortega, expressed “great satisfaction” at seeing how “the process we started working on more than ten years ago is now enshrined with a much more holistic vision, capable of anticipating the perpetration of violent actions and making use of new online tools”.

The initiative will be led by the Danish NTU International, and the consortium includes the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies (Spain), Innovative Prison Systems-IPS (Portugal), the Polish Platform for Homeland Security, the Centre for Security Studies (Greece), the Hellenic Ministry of Citizen Protection, the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, the European Research and Project Office-GmbH (Greece), the Deep Blue Research Centre (Italy), the European Centre for Studies and Initiatives (Italy) and the Romanian National Intelligence Academy Mihai Viteazul.

Activities and services of the EU Knowledge Hub

“This project is based on full respect for diversity and fundamental rights,” says the Euro-Arab Executive Secretary. “From our experience with international cooperation and the ties that unite us with the Arab world, we will work to address the internal security priorities of these third countries in complete synergy and collaboration with European needs, without forgetting the importance of communication and the dissemination of knowledge,” adds Sánchez.

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We participate in the RAN YOUNG meeting where youth take the floor to confront polarisation and hate speeches

The third meeting of the RAN Practitioners Young Platform, the platform of young people, experts on radicalisation and prevention of the European Commission’s Radicalisation Awareness Network, took place in Zagreb (Croatia) on 2nd and 3rd May. Among the participants was Euro-Arab Foundation researcher Daniel Pérez García who together with the other young people explored the local impact of global challenges, such as war and international conflicts, on European youth and created proposals to mitigate the different repercussions on themselves and their communities.

Daniel Pérez García, researcher at the Euro-Arab Foundation, participates in RAN Young Practitioners

The recommendations revolved around four themes: mental health, polarisation, hate speech and hate crime. The Euro-Arab researcher was part of the hate crime group, which addressed how hate speech and hate crimes can precede atrocities, including genocide, or the use of social media and digital platforms as facilitators of the spread of hate.

The meeting concluded that hate speech, along with misinformation, leads to stigmatisation, discrimination and violence on a large scale, and emphasised the need not to underestimate the influence of global conflicts on individuals that can even lead to collective trauma.

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The Euro-Arab Foundation organizes the Seminar ‘Trends and Scenarios of Global Terrorism’

INFORME OIET CUADRADO ok - 1

The Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies, based in Granada, will host on Monday, April 29, the Seminar “Trends and Scenarios of Global Terrorism”. The event will be opened by Antonio Sanchez, executive secretary of the Euro-Arab Foundation, and Carlos Igualada, director of the International Observatory for Terrorism Studies (OIET), which has edited the Yearbook.

Javier Ruipérez Canales, director of the Department of Research and Projects of the Euro-Arab Foundation and main researcher of the Area of Prevention of Radicalization and Violent Extremism, will start the seminar with a lecture on the opportunities presented by prevention policies.

Next, Carlos Igualada will present the Jihadist Terrorism Yearbook 2023, the most recent study on the trends, actors and current challenges of global jihadism published by the OIET. Igualada has been one of the coordinators of the report and will present the main data on jihadism at a global level, as well as the current situation of jihadism in Spain based on the fight against terrorism.

The third presentation will be given by Ana Aguilera, senior researcher at the OIET and coordinator of the Yearbook, who will talk about jihadist trends in West Africa in 2023. The seminar will be closed by Daniel Perez, a researcher at the Euro-Arab Foundation specialized in the prevention of radicalization and violent extremism. Perez will address the rehabilitation of women returnees from Syria and Iraq in the European Union. These topics are included in two chapters of this Yearbook, which also includes analyses on jihadist activity in Southeast Asia, on jihadist propaganda in Europe, as well as mechanisms and resources to attend to the victims of jihadist terrorism. 

The presentation of the Jihadist Terrorism Yearbook 2023 will begin on Monday, April 29 at 5 p.m. in the Assembly Hall of the Euro-Arab Foundation at 27 San Jeronimo Street in Granada. Admission will be free until full capacity is reached.