International Conference: Current Security Challenges for the Western Balkan Region Addressed by Means of Joint Responsibility and Cooperation VIOLENT REJECTIONISTS Individuals that espoused some of the most cells progressively began to change their focus. militant interpretations of Islam began to Global conicts such as Afghanistan, Palestine, establish a presence in Europe in the mid­and Iraq continued to attract the attention of 1980s. Their numbers were reinforced at the European jihadists, many of whom traveled to end of the decade and during the rst years of regions where al Qaeda was battling American the 1990s, as small groups of so-called“Afghan forces. Nevertheless, while still perceiving Arabs”(veterans of the Afghan Jihad against the themselves to be part of the global jihadist Soviets) and other committed Jihadists who had movement, the networks operating on the escaped prosecution in the Middle East and ground in Europe started to pay more attention North Africa settled in Europe. Exploiting the to their immediate environment. freedoms of the West, these violent Islamists continued to support their groups' activities in Viewing all Western countries as hostile to their countries of origin through propaganda, Islam, both those that joined American efforts in fundraising, and Afghanistan and Iraq and those that did not, they recruitment. began to focus their wrath on all of them, often placing an equal emphasis on global political In the beginning most of these groups limited affairs and domestic issues involving tensions 20 their interaction to the supercial rhetorical endorsement of their respective struggles but between local Muslim communities and the native population. Therefore, in the eyes of remained divided by nationality, each focused jihadists operating in Europe, countries such as on ghting regimes in their countries of origin. Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy bore equal Yet by the second half of the 1990s, several of guilt for discriminating against their Muslim them began to gravitate toward the orbit of al populations and for having sent troops to Iraq. Qaeda, embracing its message of global jihad. A key role in this cross-pollination of ideas and And even countries that had distanced methods among jihadist groups was played by themselves from American efforts in the Middle some of Europe's most radical mosques, such East were now considered enemies, because as London's Finsbury Park, Milan's Islamic their media criticized Islam and, more generally, Cultural Institute, Vienna's Sahaba, or because their societies were not Islamic. Hamburg's al-Quds, which became popular meeting points for radicals from all countries. 4 Moreover, European jihadist networks have experienced a generational change over the last After the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan the few years. Most of today's militants, particularly core al Qaeda organization struggled to control in northern European countries, are second­its cells and afliates worldwide. While a certain generation Muslim immigrants in Europe(with a level of coordination still existed, European small but signicant number of converts). networks began to operate more autonomously, This development brought changes to the still loyal to al Qaeda's ideology but virtually worldviews and agendas of the new networks. independent in their day-to-day operations. As Even though they feel a strong sense of they became more independent, these European alienation from the European society into which 4 Lorenzo Vidino, Al Qaeda in Europe: The New Battleground of International Jihad(Buffalo, NY: Prometheus, 2005). Part I.