Mohamed Merah: From petty criminal to neojihadist

The 2012 killing of three French soldiers and four Jewish civilians by a 23-year-old petty criminal turned neojihadist simultaneously manifested some of contemporary French society's worst fears, namely the radicalisation of its youth and home-grown terrorism. The attacks were the final step in Mohamed Merah's radicalisation, a process influenced during his family, accelerated during his time in prison and nurtured by divides within French society. This article aims to shed light on his radicalisation by examining the social and familial milieux he grew up in and the impact incarceration had on his identity and beliefs. More broadly, this article will demonstrate how in a country where the ultra-Right's hijacking of the Republican notion of secularity or laïcité is leading to an increasingly divided society, neojihadism is providing some Muslim youth with an alternative source of identity.