Introduction
Throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century, words such as jihad, suicide bomber, and al-Qaeda increasingly permeated the collective consciousness of Americans. These words were associated with fear, with terror, with the threat of death, and with the eastern ‘Other’. September 11, 2001 is a day on which most can recall the shaky words of broadcasters and the billowing plumes of smoke that were emitted from the towers of the World Trade Centre when members of the Islamic fundamentalist group al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger airplanes and crashed them into targeted landmarks in the United States. Lawrence Wright’s novel, The Looming Tower, draws upon several years of first-hand research and investigative journalism that reveals the political and historical atmosphere that led to the events of that day. The author composes a rigorous, detailed, and poetic work of nonfiction that illustrates the complex and geographically dispersed histories of Islamic fundamentalism and gives life to the personalities of the men that shaped the ideas that guided al-Qaeda. In the book, the actions of these men are built around narratives of their pasts; narratives of sexual obsession and repulsion, humiliation, torture, and resentment. The novel is rich with detail and divulges the reader in the particularly emotional and personal nuances of men such as Sayyid Qutb, Ayman Zawahiri, and Osama bin Laden. In 1978, Edward Said wrote the groundbreaking book, Orientalism, which has since given clarity to the power dynamic between the East and the West, the Occident and the Orient. Orientalism is the pervasive and largely Western tradition of building stereotypical and negative archetypes of people of the Middle East and Asia. Or...
... middle of paper ...
... Qaeda Warrior Uses Internet to Rally Women. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/world/europe/28terror.html
Sherwell, Phil. (January 23, 2010). Al-Qaeda has trained female suicide bombers to attack West, US officials warn. The Telegraph. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7062745/Al-Qaeda-has-trained-female-suicide-bombers-to-attack-West-US-officials-warn.html
Von Knop, Katharina. (2007). The Female Jihad: Al Qaeda’s Women. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 397-414.
Wark, Wesley. (January 28, 2011). The sisterhood of death. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/bombshell-the-many-faces-of-women-terrorists-by-mia-bloom/article1886122/
Wright, Lawrence. (2006). The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York: Random House.
Likewise, Goodwin illustrates how the use of categorical terrorism can be seem being used by Al-Qaida during the attacks of 9/11. Nonetheless, it is evident that Al-Qaida is unusual in terms of using terrorism to influence the rise of unity rather than trying to overthrow a standing state. For the purpose of instigating a pan-Islamic revolutionary movement, Al-Qaida tries to unite all Islamic people under one state to develop umma, or Muslim community. The logic of Al-Qaida remained that if their “revolutionaries” could illicit a reaction from the powerful US state, resulting in oppression of the middle-eastern region, that Al-Qaida could, as a result, unite all Muslims to counter this suggested oppression. Although the end goal of Al-Qaida clear failed, it does suggest the organization’s attempt at implementing categorical terrorism.
For a second, the U.S. stood still. Looking up at the towers, one can only imagine the calm before the storm in the moment when thousands of pounds of steel went hurdling into its once smooth, glassy frame. People ran around screaming and rubble fell as the massive metal structure folded in on itself like an accordion. Wounded and limping from the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, America carried on, not without anger and fear against a group of innocent Americans, Muslim Americans. Nietzsche’s error of imaginary cause is present in the treatment of Muslim Americans since 9/11 through prejudice in the media, disregard of Muslim civil liberties, racial profiling, violence, disrespect, and the lack of truthful public information about Islam. In this case, the imaginary cause against Muslims is terrorism. The wound has healed in the heart of the U.S. but the aching throb of terrorism continues to distress citizens every day.
One of the most famous contemporary ethnographic studies of women and gender within Islam is Erika Friedl’s Women of Deh Koh, in which her main concern seems to be providing he...
Stanley, A. (2010, April 19). A Terrorist, Plain-Spoken And Cold. New York Times. p. 1.
Many young women who become extremists, and join ISIS find themselves to share the similar mediocre perspective and thinking. It is no secret that ISIS is a terrorist organization of extremists Jihads that believe in the distorted views of Islam. Through social media, and other live broadcast videos, brutal and violent crimes such as, “torture, executions, and mistreatment of prisoners, hostages and civilians” are displayed, and still young women are brainwashed and attracted to join ISIS. In Cassie Shortsleeve’s recent article about how the mind of an extremist works explores the power of social influence and how the effects are dangerous. According to Shortsleeve’s ISIS uses, “fear and obedience as the two common psychological traits to
Miyasato, Merle. "Suicide Bombers: Profiles, Methods and Techniques." DTIC Online. Defense Technical Information Center. May 2006. Web. 25 Nov. 2009.
Travesties are committed against women every day, in every country, in every city, town and home. In Afghanistan women are not only discriminated against, they are publicly reduced to animals. Women are deprived of basic human rights: they are not allowed to travel outside their homes without being completely covered by the traditional shroud-like burqa; they are not allowed to speak or walk loudly in public; they are not allowed to laugh or speak with other women; they are not allowed to attend school nor work; they are expected to be invisible; they are the ghosts of what were once educated, notable, and successful women. With their ruthless and extreme laws, the Taliban have effectively removed the physical presence of women in Afghanistan. The Taliban have stolen the very souls of these women and have turned them into the “living dead” of Afghanistan. The Taliban’s harsh restrictions and extreme religious laws have tainted the freedoms and basic human rights of the once valued and prominent women of Afghanistan.
Carberry, Sean. ”Women in Combat: What do Troops in Afghanistan Think.” npr.org. NPR, 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
Deeb, Mary-Jane. Freedom House. Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa-Oman, 2010. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=179 (accessed August 14, 2010)
Currie, Stephen. "Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda." Terrorists and Terrorist Groups. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2002. 69-83. Print.
Ratnesar, Romesh. "Ground Zero: Exaggerating the Jihadist Threat." TIME.com. N.p., 18 Aug. 2010. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. .
BUSH, G. W. (2006). [Online] The War on Terror. Vital Speeches of the Day. Ebsco, Vol. 72 Issue 6 (3) p.162-164. Available from: web.ebscohost.com. [Accessed 29/10/2013]
Women involved and associated with terrorist groups particularly go against these gender stereotypes due to the shocking nature of their actions. As pointed out by Hoogensen (2005:122), the incidence of female terrorism does not only speak to the phenomenon of terrorism itself but equally challenges our culturally and socially constructed assumptions about gender roles. In fact, acts of terror perpetrated by women often create a sort of fascination and are often judged not only on the basis of terrorism but additionally on the basis of who committed the acts. This fascination is notably underlined in Bloom’s (2007:100) study of female terrorism where she estimates that the media reporting of acts committed by women is eight times more important than the coverage of similar acts orchestrated by men.
"Muslim Women's Perspective on Women's Plight in Afghanistan". Afghanistan Online. Nov 1996. 13 Mar 2006. .
Pakin, Tern Toles. "Explosive Baggage: Female Palestinian Suicide Bombers and the Rhetoric of Emotion." Women and Language Fall 2002: 79-88