C L O S E R

Protected: de Volkskrant – Binnenland – Predikers van zuivere islam voelen zich onbegrepen

Posted on June 13th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

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Protected: AD – ,,Niet in een flat met zuipende jongeren’’

Posted on June 13th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Young Muslims.

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C L O S E R – SonicJihad: A Day in the Life of a Dutch Resistance Fighter

Posted on June 2nd, 2006 by .
Categories: Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Sometimes, Dutch press is really sleeping.

Or isn’t this news:

CM: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

SJ: I am Samir. I was born and raised in Holland. But my parents are from Moroccan origin. I’m 25 years old. I have a master degree in management, economics and law. I work for a hospital as a quality manager implementing the ISO quality certificate. My hobbies are Battlefield 2, movies and Thai-Boxing.

CM: Are you Islamic? What are your political views on what’s going on in the Middle East right now? Did they affect your choice of theme for the video?

SJ: Yes I am Muslim. But my ethnic background and religion have nothing to do with this video. My political views are like most of the people of Europe. We think that Team America IS the WORLD police 😉 I live in the west, I love the west and I do love American culture. Especially rap such as Eazy-E, NWA, Public Enemy, T-KASH and especially…. Paris! Did my views effect my choice? Nah man we were just making videos for fun. Just look at the [BF2] community, there are lots of videos made.

CM: What’s the inspiration behind your handle, “SonicJihad”?

SJ: Paris is a rapper that is trying to put a positive message in his raps… Not that bling bling, ‘ho this… that’s what’s dominating the charts nowadays. Believe me I love some good “gangsta rap” once in a while; but there has to be balance. And that is what’s wrong with the hip-hop scene nowadays. I really liked the album Sonic Jihad. And I really felt the artist and his views of the messed up situation in the world nowadays.

CM: Paris once released a song called “Bush Killa”, but it was about Bush Sr., not Dubya. When did you first come up with the idea for the video? Is there a story the video is trying to tell, or is it just a collection of interesting footage from the game?

SJ: The idea came to me when I saw that Team America movie. GREAT movie everybody should watch it. This video was just for fun with a Team America twist. There is a character [Gary Johnston] in the movie that talks about his goats getting killed by a Blackhawk helicopter and that’s why he wanted revenge. I just took that story for my BF2 video and worked it out.

CM: What was the original intent in making the video? Fan-film, demo of gaming skill, protest, art project, clan recruitment, just for fun?

SJ: It was just a fan-film made by me. There are a lot of films made by the battlefield community. There is an in game battle recorder, so that encourages [you] to make movies about the game you have just played.

CM: When did you originally release the video?

SJ: I released the video in I think December last year. So I don’t know why they come up with this about 6 months later. Is the defence department that slow in searching the net for possible threats? If that is the case I fear the worst…

CM: When did you first hear that your video was being touted as an example of “terrorist propaganda”? What was your reaction to hearing this?

SJ: I head it first from a PlanetBattlefield member named “Drezeir” he opened a topic about it at PlanetBattlefield.com. And he send me a mail about it… Of course I was shocked. It’s not everyday that they label you part of al-Qaeda… and a Jihad recruiter. They demonised me by directly labeling me to someone from al-Qaeda who’s trying to recruit innocent children that are playing this game, by using a mod.

CM: What did you think when you heard the claim that you had “modded” the game? Isn’t the character in the footage just the “Insurgent” faction from the “BF2: Special Forces” expansion pack?

SJ: It is just in game footage from SF, no self made mod at all. I can’t get even my own computer to work. So you can see programming isn’t on of my strong points As a matter of fact my computer crashed just a few days ago, and for a month now I cant get BF2 to work…

CM: Do you regret having made the video at all? Or releasing it, considering how it’s being treated by the media?

SJ: I don’t regret making the video. It wasn’t intended for the purpose what it was portrayed to be by the media. So no I don’t regret making a funny video.. why should I? The only thing I regret is thinking that news from Reuters was objective and always right. The least they could do is some online research before publishing this. If they label me al-Qaeda just for making this silly video, that makes you think, what is this al-Qaeda? And is everything al-Qaeda? Or has this name become synonymous to the “communist” labeling a few decades ago…

CM: Have you seen any videos al-Qaeda uses to recruit members? Were any used as a template or inspiration for your film?

SJ: Everybody has seen videos of al-Qaeda. [They are] constantly in the news. If they were an inspiration… not directly no. The C4 blowing up and RPG are very popular in the game. You could say those are exactly the tools being used by al-Qaida, but to link this game to that organisation goes too far even for me. And I personally think it’s a shame that BF 2 is put in a bad spotlight. I think whats wonderful about this game is that there are no politics at all. There is no good or bad, there are no evildoers. You can chose each side you want and enjoy the game. Hmmm that’s not the case with America’s Army. A game that was meant to recruit people. Do I smell a little bit of hypocrisy?

CM: Has anyone from the government contacted you about your film? How about major news media such as Reuters?

SJ: No, nobody from the government or Reuters. Thank god for that (governm.). Yes I have had interviews for CNBC, ABC and others… and a lot of online magazines.

CM: Other than Team America: World Police, what other sound clips did you use? Which were taken from fictional portrayals of al-Qaeda/insurgents (movies & video games), and which were from real-life circumstances (such as the Bush “crusade” speech remix)?

SJ: That crusade part was some audio clip with a “combat tune” underneath it, that I found online. And because the video was about the man getting revenge through “Jihad”, I thought it fit the clip and the story. In the Team America sound clip he says that the Americans invaded his country and he was holding them responsible for that, so why not take a sound clip that quotes the man in charge? And that other “Allahu Akbar” [“God is Great”] sound clips were mostly from the movie “Lion of the Desert” and some of real life clips. I don’t know where to find that stuff anywhere else. I first did it without the “Allahu Akbar”, but I thought it wasn’t complete without it. And it just fit the story.

CM: What prompted the various choices of music used in the background?

SJ: I was just looking for music that fit a “jihad” story and sounded middle-eastern. Most of the sounds are from the movie called “Lion of the Desert” with Anthony Quinn. And it just fit the movie that I was trying to make. And that music from the “crusade” part sounded just like some good drums before going to “war”. I don’t even know what they are saying, because I speak just a little bit of Arabic. I’m a Moor so I speak Berber. I hope that the message in the audio wasn’t coming off too strong.

CM: Have you seen South Park/Team America writer Trey Parker’s take on all this?

SJ: Yes I have seen it. It looks like I have involved him too in this messed up affair. Sorry for that 😉 I just want to say to him, Loved Team America and keep up the good work… Stop involving Al-Jazeera in this…

CM: Once again, thank you for taking the time to talk to GamePolitics. I’ll let you get back to dodging counter-terrorist agents. Best of luck getting your copy of BF2 running bug-free.

SJ: I hope EA helps me with finding a solution to this bugged out game. Thank you for the interview.

Yes, its about a game altered by Samir S. (SonicJihad), that is to be found on the Planet Battlefield forum.

More background information: (more…)

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C L O S E R – ‘Wilkommen zum’ commodification of Islam

Posted on June 1st, 2006 by .
Categories: Multiculti Issues, Some personal considerations, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Commodification is the transformation of what is normally a non-commodity into a commodity. In case of religion and culture it means that beliefs, symbols, experiences, and practices are turned into free-floating signifiers of an authentic, (read consumerist), self that can be consumed like any other product. Boubekeur (in ISIM Review 16: 12) sees a development of ‘cool islam’: the revalorization of the personal pleasure of consumption, success and competiveness. The youth forges a new urban islamic culture based both on an individualistic ethic that promotes economic success and a certain conception of well being. Religious and secular (consumer) symbols can come together as Boubekeur shows in several examples such as Mecca Cola’s French slogan: Drink with commitment (familiar with Nike’s Just do it!) which in Arab could mean: Drink faithfully.

Or what to think of a short story that was told by one of my ISIM colleagues. About a boy who was asked if he was a Muslim or not, and he stated (after a bit of thinking), yes, I have a mobile phone with the Quran on it! Nice for the Ilkone:

More orthodox people might find it offensive or ridiculous. Commodification is often seen in a negative light. But we shouldn’t forget that youth nowadays are growing up in a society that places much value upon consumerism. We shouldn’t be surprised that this has consequences for the religious convictions. We can probably also see it among youth that for example support Globalicious in their struggle against poverty and famine.

But also non-Muslims know how to commodify Islam. For example Dutch HEMA in a advertisement campaign in 2003 for their clothes. They used a woman with a headscarf in the campaign:

Probably not meant as a political statement, but as a means to expand their share of the market. Considering the discussions on internet however we should consider it as a political statement as well. Certainly when an another campaign from a mobile phone provider used a woman with a headscarf as well. On some internetfora this was seen as ridiculous: the backwardness (in their view) of Muslims combined with a highly sophisticated Western product. And of course now there is the campaign of Puma for the World Cup Football in Germany:

These are examples of a different type of commodification of course, because it is used by ‘Western’ companies with a completely different message. In this case Pumafootball is also supporting an aid campaign for Africa. Off course one can be a little cynical about their good intentions, but perhaps adds like these could also normalize the public presence of Islamic symbols. And yes, normalize in this case means (also) pulling them into the neo-liberal free market sphere and the culture of consumerism. Both forms of commodification are recent developments, interesting and relevant for thinking about religion and identity in the modern world.

2 comments.

C L O S E R – 'Wilkommen zum' commodification of Islam

Posted on June 1st, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Multiculti Issues, Some personal considerations, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Commodification is the transformation of what is normally a non-commodity into a commodity. In case of religion and culture it means that beliefs, symbols, experiences, and practices are turned into free-floating signifiers of an authentic, (read consumerist), self that can be consumed like any other product. Boubekeur (in ISIM Review 16: 12) sees a development of ‘cool islam’: the revalorization of the personal pleasure of consumption, success and competiveness. The youth forges a new urban islamic culture based both on an individualistic ethic that promotes economic success and a certain conception of well being. Religious and secular (consumer) symbols can come together as Boubekeur shows in several examples such as Mecca Cola’s French slogan: Drink with commitment (familiar with Nike’s Just do it!) which in Arab could mean: Drink faithfully.

Or what to think of a short story that was told by one of my ISIM colleagues. About a boy who was asked if he was a Muslim or not, and he stated (after a bit of thinking), yes, I have a mobile phone with the Quran on it! Nice for the Ilkone:

More orthodox people might find it offensive or ridiculous. Commodification is often seen in a negative light. But we shouldn’t forget that youth nowadays are growing up in a society that places much value upon consumerism. We shouldn’t be surprised that this has consequences for the religious convictions. We can probably also see it among youth that for example support Globalicious in their struggle against poverty and famine.

But also non-Muslims know how to commodify Islam. For example Dutch HEMA in a advertisement campaign in 2003 for their clothes. They used a woman with a headscarf in the campaign:

Probably not meant as a political statement, but as a means to expand their share of the market. Considering the discussions on internet however we should consider it as a political statement as well. Certainly when an another campaign from a mobile phone provider used a woman with a headscarf as well. On some internetfora this was seen as ridiculous: the backwardness (in their view) of Muslims combined with a highly sophisticated Western product. And of course now there is the campaign of Puma for the World Cup Football in Germany:

These are examples of a different type of commodification of course, because it is used by ‘Western’ companies with a completely different message. In this case Pumafootball is also supporting an aid campaign for Africa. Off course one can be a little cynical about their good intentions, but perhaps adds like these could also normalize the public presence of Islamic symbols. And yes, normalize in this case means (also) pulling them into the neo-liberal free market sphere and the culture of consumerism. Both forms of commodification are recent developments, interesting and relevant for thinking about religion and identity in the modern world.

2 comments.

Protected: AD.nl – ‘Zo’n doe-het-zelf-imam, dat is pas echt gevaarlijk’

Posted on May 27th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

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spiked-politics | Article | The truth about 7/7: it was meaningless

Posted on May 21st, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

spiked-politics | Article | The truth about 7/7: it was meaningless
The truth about 7/7: it was meaningless
The UK government’s ‘narrative’ on the London bombings shows how empty and pointless the attacks were. So why do so many try to read meaning into them?
by Brendan O’Neill

Why did four British citizens blow up themselves and 52 others on a Thursday morning in July 2005?

From what we’ve read over the past 10 months – the reams of analysis, commentary and speculation – you might think they did it as part of some Islamist conspiracy, or to register their opposition to the war in Iraq, or because they were evil and wished to topple British, even Western civilisation. In fact, as the UK government’s narrative on 7/7 now reveals, there is little hard evidence that they did it for any of those reasons. The truth appears to be that 7/7 was meaningless; it was a nihilistic attack carried out by four fairly ordinary blokes for no easily discernible aim or agenda. And tragically, those who died in it may as well have been killed by an earthquake or in a train crash. It is time to stop trying to read meaning into 7/7, and get over it.

2 comments.

spiked-politics | Article | The truth about 7/7: it was meaningless

Posted on May 21st, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

spiked-politics | Article | The truth about 7/7: it was meaningless
The truth about 7/7: it was meaningless
The UK government’s ‘narrative’ on the London bombings shows how empty and pointless the attacks were. So why do so many try to read meaning into them?
by Brendan O’Neill

Why did four British citizens blow up themselves and 52 others on a Thursday morning in July 2005?

From what we’ve read over the past 10 months – the reams of analysis, commentary and speculation – you might think they did it as part of some Islamist conspiracy, or to register their opposition to the war in Iraq, or because they were evil and wished to topple British, even Western civilisation. In fact, as the UK government’s narrative on 7/7 now reveals, there is little hard evidence that they did it for any of those reasons. The truth appears to be that 7/7 was meaningless; it was a nihilistic attack carried out by four fairly ordinary blokes for no easily discernible aim or agenda. And tragically, those who died in it may as well have been killed by an earthquake or in a train crash. It is time to stop trying to read meaning into 7/7, and get over it.

2 comments.

C L O S E R – Annual Meeting of Muslims in France

Posted on May 6th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Young Muslims.

This weekend the annual meeting of Muslims in France, takes place in Bourges. See the program (*.pdf) or watch LIVE.

0 comments.

Top-x.nl :: Laat je stem horen!

Posted on April 25th, 2006 by .
Categories: Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Wat het waard is? Weet ik niet. De vraag is wat mensen onder vrijheid verstaan. Daar lijkt dit onderzoek meer informatie over te geven, dan over de vraag of mensen zich vrij voelen.

Top-x.nl :: Laat je stem horen!
Uitslag: Vrijheid
25 april 2006

Hoe vrij voelen jullie je? Op straat voelt bijna de helft van jullie zich niet vrij om te zeggen wat je wilt. Mogen ouders bepalen met wie je omgaat? Nee, dat mag niet, zegt 61 procent. Mag je oerwoudgeluiden maken in het stadion? Ja, de helft zegt dat dat mag. Bekijk ook de andere uitslagen van de enquête over vrijheid, ingevuld door ruim 4200 panelleden.

‘Vrij zijn, ik wil alleen maar vrij zijn…’
Meer dan 16 procent van jullie voelt zich niet of nooit vrij in ons land. Onder moslimjongeren is dat 27 procent. Niet iedereen is altijd overal vrij om te zeggen wat je denkt. Op school kan 67 procent van de leerlingen dat en op straat geldt de vrijheid van meningsuiting maar voor 47 procent van de ondervraagden. Van de moslimjongeren vindt 89 procent vrijheid van godsdienst belangrijker dan vrijheid van meningsuiting. Van alle anderen is 22 procent het daarmee eens.
Ik mag toch alles zeggen?
Je mag anderen niet beledigen zegt 72 procent. Op de vraag of je mag zeggen dat de islam een achterlijke godsdienst is, zegt 35 procent ja en 61 procent nee. Mag je zeggen dat homoseksualiteit gewoon een ziekte is? Ja, vindt 25 procent en nee zegt 71 procent. Oerwoudegeluiden maken i het stadion mag wel vinden de meeste, 51 procent. Bekijk hier de uitslagen!
‘Die komt er bij ons thuis niet in!!’
Jongens zijn stelliger in hun uitspraken dan meiden. Ze vinden het belangrijker om te kunnen zeggen wat zij willen. En ze zijn volgzamer dan de jongens. Mogen ouders jou verbieden een relatie te hebben met iemand die zij niet zien zitten? Dat mogen ouders, zegt 32 procent van de jongens tegen 24 procent van de meisjes. Van de jongens vindt 31 procent dat de leraar het dragen van hoofddoekjes mag verbieden tegen 18 procent van de meisjes.

Alle uitslagen op de website van Top-x.nl

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Belgium-Muslim s-Crime /WRD Brussels Imam denounce killing of Belgian youth – Irna

Posted on April 23rd, 2006 by .
Categories: Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Belgium-Muslim s-Crime /WRD Brussels Imam denounce killing of Belgian youth – Irna

Brussels, April 21, IRNA

The Imam (prayer leader) at Brussels Islamic Centre Friday condemned as a ‘heinous crime’ the killing of a Belgian youth by killers believed to be of North African descent.

Addressing the large gathering of worshipers, the Imam in his Friday sermon said robbery and murder were grave sins in Islam and noted that it was the religious duty of Muslims to contribute to maintain peace and security in the country in which they live.

17-year-old Joe Van Holsbeeck was stabbed to death in the Brussels Central Railway Station last week, for refusing to hand in an mp3 player.

The killing at one of Brussels busiest train station and at day time has shocked the Belgian society.

The Imam urged Muslim families to pay careful attention to the upbringing of their children in accordance with the true teachings of Islam.

“The people who know who the killers are, should not remain silent and reveal their identity,” Nordine Taouil of the Antwerp Mosque was quoted saying by the local media.

Brussels police have released video images of the killers.

The Saudi-funded Islamic Centre of Brussels is the biggest mosque in Belgium and the only Muslim worship house to be recognized officially by the state.

An estimated 400,000 Muslims, a majority of them from North African states like Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, live in Belgium.

0 comments.

‘Hip’ hijab takes on Dutch prejudices | csmonitor.com

Posted on April 20th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Young Muslims.

‘Hip’ hijab takes on Dutch prejudices | csmonitor.com
‘Hip’ hijab takes on Dutch prejudices
A ban on head scarfs in school gym classes spawns the ‘capster’ and a small business.
By Leela Jacinto | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
SON EN BREUGEL, THE NETHERLANDS – In 1999, while seeking a graduate project idea at the Design Academy of Eindhoven, Cindy van den Bremen found a problem-solving opportunity.

The Dutch Commission of Equal Treatment had recently ruled that high schools could prohibit Muslim girls from wearing head coverings in gym class. Girls were advised to wear turtlenecks teamed with swim caps. But some were ignoring the sartorial advice, preferring instead to skip gym all together.
At about that time, the Dutch were beginning to become disillusioned with multiculturalism – a trend that was to intensify in the next few years with the death of maverick anti-immigrant politician Pim Fortuyn and the murder of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by a radical Dutch Islamist.

For Ms. van den Bremen, the phys-ed class controversy offered a means to marry her political sense of injustice with her professional expertise. “I realized that if the hijabs did not look traditional, but hip and trendy, they could possibly change prejudice into some sort of admiration,” says the young Dutch designer.

Within months, the “capster” was born, and quickly blossomed into a business. In four styles designed for tennis, skating, aerobics, and outdoor sports, van den Bremen’s head coverings were sleek, safe, and – in the words of a local Islamic cleric – “Islamically correct.”
(more…)

1 comment.

'Hip' hijab takes on Dutch prejudices | csmonitor.com

Posted on April 20th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Young Muslims.

‘Hip’ hijab takes on Dutch prejudices | csmonitor.com
‘Hip’ hijab takes on Dutch prejudices
A ban on head scarfs in school gym classes spawns the ‘capster’ and a small business.
By Leela Jacinto | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
SON EN BREUGEL, THE NETHERLANDS – In 1999, while seeking a graduate project idea at the Design Academy of Eindhoven, Cindy van den Bremen found a problem-solving opportunity.

The Dutch Commission of Equal Treatment had recently ruled that high schools could prohibit Muslim girls from wearing head coverings in gym class. Girls were advised to wear turtlenecks teamed with swim caps. But some were ignoring the sartorial advice, preferring instead to skip gym all together.
At about that time, the Dutch were beginning to become disillusioned with multiculturalism – a trend that was to intensify in the next few years with the death of maverick anti-immigrant politician Pim Fortuyn and the murder of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by a radical Dutch Islamist.

For Ms. van den Bremen, the phys-ed class controversy offered a means to marry her political sense of injustice with her professional expertise. “I realized that if the hijabs did not look traditional, but hip and trendy, they could possibly change prejudice into some sort of admiration,” says the young Dutch designer.

Within months, the “capster” was born, and quickly blossomed into a business. In four styles designed for tennis, skating, aerobics, and outdoor sports, van den Bremen’s head coverings were sleek, safe, and – in the words of a local Islamic cleric – “Islamically correct.”
(more…)

1 comment.

Nonviolent but still a threat? – Islam in Europe – MSNBC.com

Posted on April 20th, 2006 by .
Categories: Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Nonviolent but still a threat? – Islam in Europe – MSNBC.com
Inside ‘Islam’s political insurgency’ in Europe
In the war of ideas, Hizb ut-Tahrir stakes its ground, courts controversy

• Hizb ut-Tahir Q&A
Jamal Harwood, spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain, answers MSNBC.com’s questions about the controversial group.

LONDON — Merely a radical Islamic political party or a “conveyor belt for terrorists”?That is the question British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government hopes to answer when it decides whether to join Germany, Russia and many Muslim-majority states in formally banning the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) for allegedly inciting violence.

Hizb ut-Tahrir says it is a nonviolent political party, but critics assert it is deeply divisive and potentially dangerous — especially in Europe — because it is openly anti-democratic, calls for a new world order based on uniting the world’s 1.2 billion Muslims in a new state and shares a worldview, if not methodology, with some violent groups.
(more…)

0 comments.

The Observer | UK News | Leak reveals official story of London bombings

Posted on April 9th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

The Observer | UK News | Leak reveals official story of London bombings
Leak reveals official story of London bombings

· Al-Qaeda not linked, says government
· Internet used to plan 7/7 attack

Mark Townsend, crime correspondent
Sunday April 9, 2006
The Observer

The official inquiry into the 7 July London bombings will say the attack was planned on a shoestring budget from information on the internet, that there was no ‘fifth-bomber’ and no direct support from al-Qaeda, although two of the bombers had visited Pakistan.

The first forensic account of the atrocity that claimed the lives of 52 people, which will be published in the next few weeks, will say that attacks were the product of a ‘simple and inexpensive’ plot hatched by four British suicide bombers bent on martyrdom.

Far from being the work of an international terror network, as originally suspected, the attack was carried out by four men who had scoured terror sites on the internet. Their knapsack bombs cost only a few hundred pounds, according to the first completed draft of the government’s definitive report into the blasts.

The Home Office account, compiled by a senior civil servant at the behest of Home Secretary Charles Clarke, also discounts the existence of a fifth bomber. After the bombings, police found an unused rucksack of explosives in the bombers’ abandoned car at Luton station, which led to a manhunt for a missing suspect. Similarly, it found nothing to support the theory that an al-Qaeda fixer, presumed to be from Pakistan, was instrumental in planning the attacks.

A Whitehall source said: ‘The London attacks were a modest, simple affair by four seemingly normal men using the internet.’ (more…)

0 comments.

The Observer | UK News | Leak reveals official story of London bombings

Posted on April 9th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

The Observer | UK News | Leak reveals official story of London bombings
Leak reveals official story of London bombings

· Al-Qaeda not linked, says government
· Internet used to plan 7/7 attack

Mark Townsend, crime correspondent
Sunday April 9, 2006
The Observer

The official inquiry into the 7 July London bombings will say the attack was planned on a shoestring budget from information on the internet, that there was no ‘fifth-bomber’ and no direct support from al-Qaeda, although two of the bombers had visited Pakistan.

The first forensic account of the atrocity that claimed the lives of 52 people, which will be published in the next few weeks, will say that attacks were the product of a ‘simple and inexpensive’ plot hatched by four British suicide bombers bent on martyrdom.

Far from being the work of an international terror network, as originally suspected, the attack was carried out by four men who had scoured terror sites on the internet. Their knapsack bombs cost only a few hundred pounds, according to the first completed draft of the government’s definitive report into the blasts.

The Home Office account, compiled by a senior civil servant at the behest of Home Secretary Charles Clarke, also discounts the existence of a fifth bomber. After the bombings, police found an unused rucksack of explosives in the bombers’ abandoned car at Luton station, which led to a manhunt for a missing suspect. Similarly, it found nothing to support the theory that an al-Qaeda fixer, presumed to be from Pakistan, was instrumental in planning the attacks.

A Whitehall source said: ‘The London attacks were a modest, simple affair by four seemingly normal men using the internet.’ (more…)

0 comments.

Protected: Moslimjongeren zijn onwetendheid autochtonen zat – telegraaf.nl [Binnenland]

Posted on April 3rd, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

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Protected: RNW: 'Fundamentalisme is geen terrorisme'

Posted on March 25th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

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Protected: RNW: ‘Fundamentalisme is geen terrorisme’

Posted on March 25th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

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Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws|Jongeren surfen langs religies

Posted on March 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

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Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws|Jongeren surfen langs religies

Posted on March 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

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Protected: Trouw, deVerdieping| overigeartikelen – Gesluierde vrouwen / Waarom Nadia de nikaab afdeed

Posted on March 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Young Muslims.

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Protected: Trouw, deVerdieping| overigeartikelen – Gesluierde vrouwen / Waarom Nadia de nikaab afdeed

Posted on March 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Young Muslims.

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International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) – Conflict prevention and resolution – France and its Muslims: Riots, Jihadism and Depoliticisation

Posted on March 18th, 2006 by .
Categories: Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) – Conflict prevention and resolution

France and its Muslims: Riots, Jihadism and Depoliticisation
Europe Report N°172
9 March 2006

This report is currently only available French.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

France faces a problem with its Muslim population, but it is not the problem it generally assumes. The October-November 2005 riots coupled with the wave of arrests of suspected jihadists moved the question of Islam to the forefront of French concerns and gave new life to concerns about the threat of a Muslim world mobilised by political Islamism. Yet the opposite is true: paradoxically, it is the exhaustion of political Islamism, not its radicalisation, that explains much of the violence, and it is the depoliticisation of young Muslims, rather than their alleged reversion to a radical kind of communalism, that ought to be cause for worry. The key to minimising the risks of rioting and militant jihadism is to curb forms of state violence being exercised against predominantly Muslim, working-class neighbourhoods and to promote political participation by their residents.
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Protected: Brabants Dagblad: Jongeren hebben honger naar de koran

Posted on March 2nd, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Young Muslims.

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