Sunday, February 12, 2012
Close Reading Al-Qaeda
Following the questions in the syllabus, and connecting this to our conversations about Al-Qaeda, start the conversation on the blog about the relevance of these messages. Are these communiques to be taken seriously, or, as Elshtain would have it, are they simply beside the point, the ravings of the evil or pathological? One thing you might do is to google some or even just one of these grievances, to see what you find online.
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After reading the Al Qaeda reader, I had mixed feelings. What makes reading this and getting a point of view of Bin Laden so difficult is that our cultures are so inherently different. I found it difficult to justify the acts of 9/11 in terms of his statements the Al Qaeda Reader has. Their beliefs (based on what I read) seem to be so different than ours, I find it hard to believe anything we do will bring peace between us. Our culture praises what their culture defines as evil. While it is difficult though, I was able to get a sense of it. I can see how our culture can be considered the enemy to their beliefs. I don't believe these are the ravings of a pathological person though. It sounds to me like the basic thoughts of an extremist, just as we have the like in our country one example being the westborrow baptist church.
ReplyDeleteOnce I read and watched the video interview with Raymond Ibrahim I've come to the realization that not matter what our two cultures, Western civilization as we know it and the Islamic world, will never see eye to eye. From their prophet Muhammad stating that it is every Muslims duty to kill every infidel to reading how Bin Laden justifies the 9/11 attacks. After it all soaked in my emotions were twisted. One side of me was raging with anger while the other side felt remorse for the Islamic society. The sympathy grabbed ahold of me due to the fact that these people are born and raised in this setting, they will never know anything different from what the Koran says. What if Muslims decided to be open minded and spent time in our culture? Would the outcome be a positive or negative gain for the safety of infidels or tighten/loosen our relations with Islamic nations? I just can't help myself but ask what if.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that I really like about this video is that it truly gets down to the problem. Al Qaeda and its followers were raised with a mentality that is nearly polar opposite of ours (going solely off this interview) and have a different world view. Their world outlook is different just like any other cultures however theirs involves violence against the majority.
ReplyDeleteHow can we deal with this? We have to be accepting of others’ views but at the same time can we accept violence, death and destruction? This video did not really answer terribly too much for me. It did give me a greater understanding of Al Qaeda though, and it gave me a visual of what Al Qaeda’s drive really is/was.
To add to my statement above; during class I had a thought. I put myself in Bin Laden’s position as a kid. When you are a child your parents are the one you gain all your knowledge from. If your parents are camel herders and have little to nothing, how do you feel about a nation with everything?
DeleteBin Laden was raised in a place where the environment was everything. He had to know everything about the desert to live. Then he looks over here and sees us taking the environment for granite (based off his beliefs) and what is he to think. Bin Laden grew up with an extreme hatred for our way of life however violence is no way to take care of this.
I am not agreeing with Bin Laden just giving my understanding on why he did what he did.
I think the communiqués should definitely be taken seriously because I’m sure that some of them are issues that both Americans and others around the globe are genuinely concerned about. In class, we noted that the complaints made by Bin Laden could really make you think because there was some truth to what he was saying. For instance, on page 204, Bin Laden notes the disconnect between what Americans say about supporting female liberation, while subsequently presenting women as sex objects in the media and other places for profit.
ReplyDeleteI obviously, in no way, believe that Bin Laden’s decision to attack the U.S. was justified, but I do think it’s important to think about some of the issues that, realistically, are legitimate. Bin Laden clearly took extreme measures that were unnecessary, but I think it’s important to consider the motivation and reasoning that both Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in general had prior to the attacks.