How to save our children from radicalization | Nadia Remadna | TEDxAvignon

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They often take swift action among young people, women and families to fight against obfuscation and ignorance. Using simple methods befitting mankind, The Mothers' Brigade breaks down prejudices and fights against victimization and discrimination. The goal? To give us the keys to open the physical and psychological ghettos. In this conference, Nadia Remadna, president of this organization, invites us to stand up together and fight against the plague that is terrorism.

(Documentary)

Journalist: Each new attack
revives her pain.

Aziza lost her son last year.
He was 22 years old.

Aziza: My son did not pray,

he was an ordinary kid,
he liked music, girls.

J: Samy had just found
a building caretaker job in Sevran.

It was actually at his workplace
that he was radicalized -

in four months, by a co-worker.

A: He didn't want to go to his sister's
wedding because of the social mix.

He didn't want to look
his site manager in the eye anymore,

nor shake her hand.

J: Samy then announced to his family

that he was going
on a pilgrimage to Mecca,

but, in fact, went to Syria.

A year later, he died in a car accident.

A: I know that he got married,
that I have a granddaughter there.

And after he died,

I just got a death certificate from ISIS.

J: Aziza decided to get involved
by joining The Mothers' Brigade,

an organization of parents

worried by the rise of radicalization
in their neighbourhoods.

A: Our goal is prevention,

to prevent young people from leaving.

Even if we only save one,
that's already a victory.

J: Disappointed by
the powerlessness of the state,

Aziza fights against the phenomenon
that stole her son from her.

(Applause)

Hello, I'm Nadia Remadna.

I'm going to tell you
why I created this organization

called The Mothers' Brigade.

I have several observations,
but I'll just share two today.

A few years ago, I had just gotten back
from vacation, from Algeria,

and, on the plane, I met a mother
who lives not far from my town, Sevran.

We talked a bit about
terrorism in Algeria -

yes, we'd lived through
nine years of terrorism in Algeria -

and what shocked me
when we arrived at the airport,

was that this mother, at Roissy,

takes out a scarf, veils her head,
and takes out a big dress.

I ask, "What are you doing?"

She tells me, "I don't want to go
into my neighbourhood like that."

I say, "But we've just come from Algeria,

a country that's had
nine years of civil war,

we're in France now,
and you veil yourself."

I was shocked. First observation.

Second observation:

One day, my son comes running home,
rings the doorbell and says to me,

"Mum, please, could you
take down the Christmas tree?

Because all my friends are telling me

that my mum is a non-believer
and that Santa Claus doesn't exist."

My son was eight years old at the time.

I go to see the kids, to find out
what the problem was.

Was it the Christmas tree that upset them?

The fairy lights? The Christmas baubles?

What upset them?

"No, to be a good Muslim
you must tell the truth.

You are lying to your children,
you are celebrating Christmas."

Second observation.

Well, unfortunately, later, in 2005,
there were riots in the suburbs.

Yes, riots in the suburbs, in 2005.

What did they propose to us?
The state appealed to whom?

Not the educators, nor the social workers,

nor the mediators.

To whom did they appeal?
To older brothers.

I was a single mother with four children,
so I was excluded straight off.

I felt that they took away
my parental authority.

Every time there was a problem:
"Go and see the older brothers."

Me, I'm a social worker.

I told myself, "Something's
got to be done."

So, I found a job
as a school mediator at a high school

in an Education Priority Area
in the Paris commune of Sevran.

On my first day,
I'm waiting for the principal.

In the corridor, I see
a person speak to a student

asking him this question:

"How come I didn't see you
at the mosque yesterday?"

I watch without intervening

because this was my first day at work.

The principal greets me,

"Hello",
- "Hello",

and the young man that said

"How come I didn't see you
at the mosque?"

came into the office
and sat down next to me.

I thought he'd be about 14 or 15,

so I question him, saying,

"You realize that this is a state school,

that France is a secular country,

just how might you say to a student,

'I didn't see you at the mosque'?"

The principal says to me,
"Say, Mrs. Remadna,

thank goodness I have
that quality of staff in my school.

If I didn't have them,

you realize, the school
would be a battlefield."

So I decided to start
The Mothers' Brigade.

So just why this organization exactly?

Because as a social worker,
there were too many barriers.

They train us for just that,
barrier upon barrier:

don't talk, don't act,
fill out the administrative work.

I needed to dispose of all that

that prevented me
from seeing what was happening.

I am often asked as a woman and a mother:

"Is it us, the mothers,

who've educated our children badly?

What's happened?"

I set up this organization,

and in setting up The Mothers' Brigade,
sure enough, I was wearing two hats:

I was a social worker,

and president of the organization
The Mothers' Brigade.

This, indeed, allowed me
to do a good grassroots job.

Given that we were stripped
of our parental authority,

it was up to us to reclaim
that parental authority

and bring France back
into the hearts of the neighbourhoods.

That's The Mothers' Brigade,
that was my goal.

That all the mothers, all the parents,

take back what was taken away from them.

Parental authority - it was given
to the older brothers.

Now, we have two big projects:

"The School of Mothers and the Republic"
and "Bridges of Understanding".

The first has four parts.

There's philosophy.

Why philosophy?

Because it allows criticism.

Because that's it, the problem too -
it's hard to say things.

Myself, I dare to say things.
It's not easy, but I do it.

And "Bridges of Understanding".

Because for me, it's easier
to build bridges than walls.

Because, looking at things,
I realized two things:

there was prejudice on both sides.

They always say to us:

"Them, they're the troublemakers,
they're racists."

And from the other side,
"Them, they're the thugs."

So, there were prejudices,

and that's why with
The Mothers' Brigade

we had nerve,
we were on the other side.

We got on the rapid transport train
to seek out the people of Paris.

We put it to them: "To Parisians,

radicalization is only a problem
for suburbanites."

That's not right, it affects everyone,
it concerns us all,

no matter our position in society,
our religion or lack of it.

We're all affected by the phenomenon

which, unfortunately,
exists within our local districts today.

Today, I can tell you
that in these districts,

we are - I often say:
what I say, I say for myself -

I say that our districts are Islamized.

And that's why we mothers,
us women, we fight ...

not for freedom, but to remain free.

Because in 2016, in France,

you know, we're supposed to be free.

And we're moving backwards.

The goal of The Mothers' Brigade
is to reclaim our districts,

reoccupy the public domain,

and above all, recover
what is most dear to us -

our children.

And that's why we're trying to put
these two projects into place,

because to tell the truth,
it's not easy,

we need the means, etc.

We have some volunteers, but too few,

especially where I come from,
Seine-Saint-Denis,

it's very, very difficult.

And today, I believe in it.

Why do I believe in it?
Because I say that a mum -

where is there a mum among you,
or a parent, a dad even -

who hasn't sent their son a text saying,
"Where are you, where are you?"

The reply, that's,
"Don't worry, don't worry!"

(Laughter)

My son once said, "Mum, in one month,

you've texted me
'Where are you?' 150 times."

And he replied
with "Don't worry" 150 times.

Imagine you have four kids,
that's a lot of "Where are you?".

(Laughter)

And with just that in mind,
we say to ourselves,

we can agree or disagree on many things,

but what brings us all together
in The Mothers' Brigade?

At The Mothers' Brigade, we've all sorts.

We have atheists, Muslims, Jews, everyone.

You know what brings us together?

I'll tell you: love of our children.

And for that alone exists
the obligation to fight together.

What you saw in the news report
where they showed Aziza ...

Unfortunately, we have more and more
mums coming to see us

because they are afraid.

And you know, I often say,

when your child
is having problems at school,

you go to see a teacher to help you.

When you're a victim of theft or whatever,
you go to the police station.

But when you have a child of 14 or 15
becoming radicalized,

you go to see whom?

That's the problem,
that's the aim of this organization,

to provide a place for raising awareness.

If we do nothing today,
in a few years, we'll regret it.

I spoke with two
or three people yesterday.

They said to me, "At Avignon,
it's not like that yet."

Where we live, ten years ago,
it was like that,

so if you do nothing, it will become
just like it is where we live now.

Now is the time to get up,
to get up together.

I don't know if there's
any politicians among you,

but I'd like to say that we shouldn't
fear giving a name to things,

because, today, there is a problem,

and we must fight together
and not against one another.

This organization is close to my heart.

Why? Because of my duty
as a French citizen,

I feel I need to fulfil it.

Often the young ask me,
"What is it that you do for us?"

And it's true that what we do,
we must do for our children.

I've lived through terrorism in Algeria,

and I can tell you, I fear for France,

I fear for my children,
I fear for everyone.

Well, you can join The Mothers' Brigade,

you can come fight with us,

you can come see
the reality of the situation,

and then dare to say,

"No, we shouldn't stigmatize,
it's not true, it's just a minority."

I can tell you that this is a reality.

I am confident that together
we can save our children and save France.

Thank you.

(Applause)