IMAN - In One Year's Time

A great example of Muslims in America

What Draws Youth To Political Violence?

Expanded and somewhat more revised version of my post on Loonwatch
*Side note I also clarified some thing like the definitions I was using and expanded on other things I wanted to highlight but could not due to space

The following article is an expanded version of a feature article titled “What draws youth to political violence? that Razainc. wrote for York University’s newspaper, Excalibur. Razainc. will expand upon it here at LoonWatch in more depth over the coming weeks.

Guest post by Razainc.
Terrorism involves spectacular and often unexpected killings in order to destabilize the social order and promote a greater cause, and as professor Scott Atran describes it, publicity is the oxygen of terrorism.(1)
But what drives youth who turn to political violence?
Is it religion? The Qur’an? Do they hate “Western” freedoms? Do they just want to die?
Noam Chomsky, when asked by Excalibur about the role Islam plays in political violence says,

“It [Islam] plays a role, but there are [other] reasons. Tribal cultures, the extreme Islamophobia in the West, and the many direct attacks on the Muslim world. It’s [political violence] by no means unique to Islam.”

The evidence from experts like Scott Atran (a French and American anthropologist), Robert Pape (an American political scientist), Graham E. Fuller (Former CIA Station chief), and Marc Sageman (former CIA Operations Officer) backs him up.
How terror cells form has a lot to do with how humans form bonds and groups. It’s important to discard the notion that because of the horrible things they did they are different from us. Terrorists are human. This may come as an uncomfortable realization but is an accurate and necessary one.

“A sense of moral outrage at apparent crimes against Muslims both globally and locally is a common theme among the terrorist. The outrage is interpreted in a specific way, namely that this moral violation is part of a larger war against Islam. The ideology appeals to certain people it resonates with their own personal experience of discrimination, making them feel they are also victims of this wider war. A few individuals are then mobilized through networks both face to face and now commonly online to become terrorists” Sageman wrote in Leaderless Jihad.

Sageman emphasizes the need to look at terrorists humanely. He points to the example of the sexual frustration theory, which suggests suicide bombers want to die to have sex in paradise, a common theory that’s floated around but has no evidence.
Religious commitment alone is not enough to determine whether you will join a violent group but rather the dynamics with friends or family, “given religious commitment then action-oriented group participation is the best predictor of who will actually make costly sacrifices for their beliefs” says Atran in an interview with Excalibur.

“What inspires the most lethal terrorists in the world today is not so much the Qur’an or religious teachings as a thrilling cause and call to action that promises glory and esteem in the eyes of friends. Jihad is an egalitarian, equal-opportunity employer: fraternal, fast-breaking, glorious and cool … Western volunteers for ISIS are mostly youth in transitional stages in their lives. For the most part, they have no traditional religious education and are ‘born again’ to religion. They are self-seekers who have found their way to jihad in myriad ways,” says Atran.

Professor Atran in an interview about ISIS told me that the “first wave of foreign fighters was tightly linked to a humanitarian concern.” But now, Atran continued

Continue reading ....

Imams Jamil Al-Amin, Ayyub Abdul-Alim and Ayyub Abdul-Alim

Imam Jamil Al Amin, Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, and Ayyub Abdul-Alim are just some examples as to why #Ferguson , #EricGarner , #TamirRice  #MikeBrown police brutality & the two-tier US justice system is our issue a Muslim issue and we can't ignore it

What draws youth to political violence?

Excalibur gets answers from Noam Chomsky and other professionals regarding sociological and religious theories behind extremism

---

Mohamud Mohamed, a York student with a seemingly promising future, left to join ISIS.

Although we can’t know for certain the circumstances Mohamed found himself in, we can try to create a profile as to what makes young men turn to political violence.

Terrorism involves spectacular and often unexpected killings in order to destabilize the social order and promote a greater cause.(1)

But what would drive these youths, why do they turn to political violence?

Is it religion? The Qur’an? Do they hate Western freedom? Do they just want to die?

Noam Chomsky, when asked by Excalibur about the role Islam plays in political violence says, “It [Islam] plays a role, but there are [other] reasons. Tribal cultures, the extreme Islamophobia in the West, and the many direct attacks on the Muslim world. It’s [political violence] by no means unique to Islam.”

The evidence from experts like Scott Atran (a French and American anthropologist), Robert Pape (an American political scientist), and Marc Sageman (former CIA Operations Officer) backs him up.continue reading...

1-Here I am using professor Atran's definition from his book Talking To The Enemy. Although other definitions exist.  [11/22/2014]

My latest article on the Rosetta mission

Rosetta mission proves to be a grand success

York professor Paul Delaney comments on the Rosetta mission, giving insight into the importance of this scientific marvel

---

The Rosetta mission of the European Space Agency has made it, landing successfully on Comet 67P.

The Rosetta spacecraft deployed the Philae lander on Comet 67P on November 12. Philae is the small orbital spacecraft carried by Rosetta. 

This marks the first successful landing on a comet by a man-made craft. The ESA first launched Rosetta in 2004.

“It chased the comet down and Rosetta itself has gone into orbit around the nucleus of this comet,” says Paul Delaney, senior lecturer of physics and astronomy professor at York. 

“Rosetta is designed to monitor this nucleolus as it literally wakes up from its deep cold sleep.” 

He says many aspects of the comet’s anatomy will be analyzed. These include items such as the comet’s plasma and magnetic field environments, and surface condition.

Delaney says the importance of studying the comet is beyond trying to understand the universe as a whole.continue reading... 

 

My latest article in Excalibur on Angela Davis and Bobby Seale

My latest article in Excalibur on Angela Davis and Bobby Seale highlighting the YFS Activist Assembly at YorkU

The York Federation of Students recently held an activist assembly event, which reportedly led to thundering applause and a standing ovation for the guest speakers.

The event, which took place on October 29, featured Bobby Seale and Angela Davis.

Speaking first was Seale, a founder of the Black Panther Party, a black nationalist and socialist party that was active in the United States from 1966 to 1982.

Seale spoke about his influences from books that connected him with his roots, learning about slave revolts, and all the wars African-Americans had fought in, along with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.

Seale created a grassroots jobs tutorial program for youth in the community. Seale’s goals for his programs were putting money back in the community, while educating youth and giving them practical skills.

Seale wanted to change the fact that black people were being under-represented in the system, by doing voter registration and getting more black politicians, jurors, and community leaders. continue reading...

My latest article after a hiatus on MSA partnering with ReGenesis

MSA partners with ReGenesis to clean up campus woodlot

The Muslim Students’ Association at York partnered with ReGenesis, a grassroots environmental organization that has a goal of environmental sustainability, to clean up the Boyer Woodlot.

A group of more than a dozen students descended to Boyer Woodlot for a cleanup effort on October 24.
The Muslim Students’ Association at York partnered with ReGenesis, a grassroots environmental organization that has a goal of environmental sustainability, to clean up the Boyer Woodlot. The event started with volunteers from MSA gathering after Friday prayers, then meeting up with Regenesis volunteers and gathering up the garbage in Boyer Woodlot they could find.
Ahmed Abdi, third year health studies student and MSA vice president, says “A part of our faith is to facilitate cleanliness whether it be within our daily lives or within the community at large so we thought partnering with ReGenesis would manifest our faith in our actions.” continue reading...

With Liberty and Justice for Some

Like Glenn Greenwald said With Liberty and Justice for Some.

How One Man Refused to Spy on Fellow Muslims for the FBI—and Then Lost Everything

The case of Ayyub Abdul-Alim fits a decades-long pattern of government criminalization of African-American Muslims.
via Arun Kundnani, Emily Keppler and Muki Najaer

On the night of December 9, 2011, Siham Stewart called her husband, Ayyub Abdul-Alim, as he closed down his corner store, Nature’s Garden, in Springfield, Massachusetts. She asked him to bring home a gallon of milk. A few minutes later, she watched from the window of their second-floor apartment as he was seized in the street and handcuffed by two police officers.
Forty-eight hours after Abdul-Alim’s arrest, FBI agent James Hisgen and Springfield police officer Ronald Sheehan offered him the chance to walk away free of charges if he agreed to become an informant on the Muslim community. He refused the deal and is now held at the Cedar Junction maximum-security prison in Massachusetts, facing up to sixteen years behind bars.
While awaiting trial, Abdul-Alim discovered that his wife received cash payments from the FBI totaling at least $11,949. The receipts were signed by Sheehan and Hisgen. Stewart testified against Abdul-Alim in court and admitted to working as an informant. This past April, Abdul-Alim was found guilty of illegal possession of a firearm that he alleges the officers planted on him as part of their attempt to pressure him to work for the FBI.continue reading...