Im sourcing this off a book I recently read, 'From the Ruins of Empire' by Pankaj Mishra.

Its a frightening idea that a group of people in Europe may be marginalized or hated because of the actions of the few. Islam can be seen as a tool for violence and destruction, with a good reason: many insurgencies and terrorist groups are fighting in the name of Islam in recent times.

We need to remember that Islam was once the driving force of many Eastern Empires, such as the Ottomans. Islam incubated science, the arts and many other things we value today. Islamic nations did conduct war like all states, but at the core principle of these nations, people of all nations and religions were treated respectfully and equally, and often had a strong sense of a moral duty.

With the 1800s and the dominance of Christian, Western states, Islamic nations such as Egypt, the Ottoman Empire or Iran were humiliated and exploited, bringing a rather tragic death of once flourishing, proud and powerful Islamic states.

People such as al-Afghani, a social activist and a key figure for a hope of a new powerful Islamic state believed the Western ideals could be complemented with the values Islam brought could forge a state with a unified people, an alternative pathway to a violent revolution.

However, the Western powers trampled on any hopes such as these. In the 1920s, there was the emergence of organizations such as the Islamic Brotherhood, which aimed to reintroduce an Islamic state, which worked so well in the past. These groups had the intentions of a nation state which valued equality, justice and independence like many of us share today. Again, West-Backed despots such as the Shah of Iran violently ended such beginnings.

What could these people do with no peaceful solutions? Many opted to unify and bring about an uprising against these despotic governments through a Islamic Revolution, which often involved bloodshed.

My post is that many of these people are frustrated, and this frustration has deep roots and cannot be solved by some new security law or other iron fisted methods. Something has to be done, but a reconciliation between the West and the East has to happen, or history may repeat itself once again.

TLDR These Islamic attacks have deep roots of frustration and an injustice, not just that Islam is a violent religion. Governments need to find a method of reconciliation and make sure that Islamic people in the nations aren't isolated or marginalized.