''Mon frère, ce terroriste'' ("My brother, the terrorist") is a book written by

Mohamed Sifaoui Mohamed Sifaoui (in Arabic محمد سيفاوي) (born 4 July 1967) is an Algerian-French journalist and writer who claimed that he managed to infiltrate al-Qaeda. He wrote a book about the experience, ''Mes "frères" assassins. Comment j'ai inf ...

and Abdelghani Merah, the elder brother of

Mohammed Merah Mohammed Merah (10 October 1988 – 22 March 2012) was a French jihadist who admitted to killing seven people, including three children, in several shootings in southwestern France in March 2012. He was killed following a police siege and st ...

, who murdered seven people, including three Jewish children at a school in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. Abdelghani said he wrote the book to counteract the veneration of his brother by some young French Muslims, and in it, he denounces his family for fostering an "atmosphere of racism and hatred" that led to Mohammed's radicalisation and eventual attacks.

His family

Abdelghani condemns his family for creating a culture of hatred, and states that his brother's main motivation for the attacks was the

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

espoused by his family. He recalls that his mother told them throughout their childhood that Arabs were born to hate Jews. According to Merah, "my brother lived in a family that predestined him at best to delinquency and at worst to terrorism." His family supported the activities of the

Islamic Salvation Front The Islamic Salvation Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية للإنقاذ, al-Jabhah al-Islāmiyah lil-Inqādh; french: Front Islamique du Salut, FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representi ...

and the

Armed Islamic Group The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from french: Groupe Islamique Armé; ar, الجماعة الإسلامية المسلّحة, al-Jamāʿa l-ʾIslāmiyya l-Musallaḥa) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian gove ...

, both banned terrorist organisations. He states that both of his nephews are being taught hatred of infidels, and are shown videos of jihad.

Reactions to Mohammed's attack

Abdelghani said that he wrote the book to resist the hero-worship of his brother among some young French Muslims. He recalls the jubilation at his brother's wake and recounts that people were congratulating his mother saying, "Be proud. Your son brought France to its knees". Abdelgani later filmed his sister saying, "Mohamed had the courage to act. I am proud, proud, proud...Jews, and all those who massacre Muslims, I detest them." Abdelgani has now severed all contact with his family and says he thinks regularly of the victims of the massacre and each day looks at their photos which he downloaded on his phone.

References

{{authority control 2012 non-fiction books 2012 in France Books about antisemitism Antisemitism in France Islamic terrorism in France Islam and antisemitism Calmann-Lévy books

His family

Reactions to Mohammed's attack

See also

References