After the dismantling of a jihadist attack project in Lille involving two 16-year-old minors and a third suspect imprisoned this week, Imam Hassen Chalghoumi issued a solemn warning about the dangers of radicalizing young people via social networks. In a message published on X, he evokes a “fragile” youth exposed to hate speech, victimization and Islamist propaganda capable of pushing some to take action.
The imam denounces in particular the influence of “Islamist and Brotherhood” ideologies that exploit the anger, isolation or frustration of some teenagers to feed a rejection of the Republic, the forces of law and order or even the Jews. He recalls the dramatic consequences of this spiral of radicalization by citing the attacks on the Bataclan, Charlie Hebdo, Nice and Toulouse.
For Hassen Chalghoumi, the fight against this threat must be collective. It calls on parents to monitor more of the content viewed by their children, schools to strengthen critical thinking, and religious leaders to unambiguously combat extremist speech. He also calls on politicians to act quickly “before it is too late”.
The imam finally paid tribute to the police, gendarmes, agents of the DGSI and the services of the Ministry of the Interior, praising their “vigilance” and “courage” in the face of the terrorist threat. A strong voice in a context of growing security tensions and the multiplication of radicalization cases involving ever younger profiles.
