Ilyas Zarhoni is the founder of CEAPIRE. He started his career as a teacher of Islamic religion in secondary education. During his studies, Ilyas delved into various traditional Islamic sciences and extremist ideologies such as Salafi-jihadism and the extreme right. Ilyas also specialized in the world of propaganda channels, recruiters, recruitment techniques and conspiracy theories. He was also active in different mosques and socio-cultural youth organizations, where he managed to build a large network. He was soon confronted with several young people who were swayed with the ideology and propaganda of IS and Al Qaeda. This lead to the founding of CEAPIRE. Today Ilyas takes on the role of general supervisor.
The inaugural Eradicate Hate Summit was a truly impressive gathering of leaders dedicated to finding lasting and effective solutions to violent extremism. I was particularly moved by the prominence given to survivors and family members of victims of hate and violence throughout the event. Their stories and those of so many others must be at the center of what we do and why we do it.
