...The representation of terrorism, Islam and Muslim identities on popular US series Homeland Introduction Images of Muslim and Islam have dramatically increased in the media coverage as well as popular culture ever since we have entered the “post-9/11 era”, as Elizabeth Poole observed. (2008:81) The shocking real life images from the horrifying terrorist attack in September 2011 has triggered various interpretation on the discourse of what it means to be Muslim and the image of Islam and its culture in the western media, and still have profound influence even after more than a decade and ongoing. Apart from the coverage on news media, TV entertainment, especially TV dramas also provide a powerful outlet for the popular prevailing discourses on Muslim and Islamic culture, which compare to news reports, leaves a more vivid and graphic impression on audience with its discourse and narratives. The proposed subject I am going to study is revolved around the representation of Islam and Muslim identity in the popular US TV drama Homeland. (Showtime, 2011) Homeland (Showtime, 2011) has been arguably the most successful TV series focusing on the theme of counter-terrorism and national security across the Atlantic since 2011, following its predecessor 24 (Fox, 2001) developed by the same producers. When asked what made the show distinctive compared to its predecessors, Damian Lewis, who played as Sgt Nicholas Brody, the male lead in Homeland replied, “We feel a bit differently...
Words: 4172 - Pages: 17
...Terrorism by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad Brandin P. Lea SCTY 488 – Terrorism and Homeland Security December 26, 2010 Professor Eric Witcher Abstract It has been the case that over the duration that mankind has graced the planet there has been group’s hell bent on enacting their beliefs and values upon the rest of the world. As time has passed there have been many times that these groups have changed the face of the planet permanently. You can look at any organized religious group and see just how they pushed the belief system onto others to spread their ideology. Now, taking into consideration that fundamentalism and militant groups are nothing new, you can see that it still affects society greatly even today. Let us look at the main group I am focusing on in this paper. The Egyptian Islamic Jihad is one of the most influential fundamentalists groups in the Middle East. Similar to other terrorist groups, the religious intensity factor of a particularly violent kind is pointing solely to Islam, even when religious frenzies are spreading remarkably everywhere. A retreat into religion became the way most Islamic communities could be explained, from Saudi Arabia which, with what was supposed to be a peculiarly Islamic logic, refused to ratify the Camp David Accords, all the way to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Egypt. In this way, researchers underline that the Islamic world is differentiated, in the Western mind generally, in the United States in particular, from regions...
Words: 3652 - Pages: 15
...level and eventually grow to a world standing. The local level religious growth often embraces its people, places, local cultures, and common beliefs. Religious growth often comes as a result of world event manifestations. Such events cause doubt, fear, and encourage humans to join a group that will offer advice on how to simplify their lives as they deal with their daily problems. What people often do not realize is that humans, not God, created religions. If religious beliefs get out of control, these can lead to prejudices, biases, hatred, and even murder such as what has been taking place near Israel for the past four decades (Molloy, 2010). Practices Across World Religions There are common practices and experiences across various world religions. The subjective approach believes that all humans across various world religions rely on a person’s need to belong to a movement. As such, people who are religious are dependent on the group’s beliefs in order to make decisions or project their futures on this earth. Ideally, this projection believes that their God will help guide them through all of their life’s decisions. Both Christianity and Islam believe...
Words: 1003 - Pages: 5
...the Worldview known as Islam. Islam claims to be the only true religion, bringing the purest message of Allah and could have succeeded. This paper will contain a summary of Islam, a critique, a plan as to how Christians can share the gospel and a conclusion. Summary of the Worldview of Islam Islam, to surrender, is a worldview religion founded by Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn “Abd al Muttalib ibn Hashim; or more commonly known, Muhammad. Isalam is a religion based on one man’s vision, one man’s experience. Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, is believed to be the last prophet of Allah (God). To understand Islam is to get to now its founder, Muhammad; as well as his life changing visions. Muhammad was forty years old when he experienced his first vision. It is said that Muhammad had a vision that he was visited by the angel Gabriel. In this vision Gabriel said that all the religions of the world were not only wrong and corrupted. In this vision Gabriel also said that the message of God was corrupted by man and he would be Gods messenger. Muhammad was going to receive the message from God. Muhammad was not only going to receive the message from God, but he was also going to record this message and bring it to man; to bring people back to the true path. Muhammad went through a series of seizure-like episodes that revealed this message. The visions are recorded in the Qur’an, the Islamic holy book. Muslims, those whom follow Islam, live by the Qur’an. ...
Words: 1719 - Pages: 7
...The Islam Religion Rel/134 The Islam Religion “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God” is the basic core belief in the Islamic religion. Islam means “submission (to God)” in Arabic. Islam is a monothetic religion whose followers are known as Muslims. This paper will be clearing common myths in the Islamic religion, explaining the sacred texts, and giving descriptions of common symbolism in Islamic text and religious practices. Also to be found in the paper is the historical foundation of the religion and some of the similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity. Islam traces its roots back to Abraham and his son Ishmael. In 570 AD, a descendant of Abraham named Mohammed was born. He began his life working as a shepherd for his uncle. In 610 AD, the Qur’an begins to be revealed to Mohammed by God. By 650 AD, the complete written text of the Qur’an is established. Only one hundred years after Muhammad’s death, Islam had spread around the Mediterranean. The Golden Age of Islam (750-1258 AD) saw new legal, philosophical, and religious developments. The major Hadith collections were compiled and the four modern Sunni Madh'habs, or schools of law were established. As the Caliphate, or Islamic Empire expanded, the Muslim culture became enriched by the scholars, poets, and scientists that they conquered. For example, many Muslim thinkers pursued humanistic, rational and scientific discourses in seeking knowledge, meaning and values...
Words: 1721 - Pages: 7
...suspicious behavior as he was reciting prayers in Arabic in his own way. Rizwan, A Muslim who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism that complicates socialization, embarked on an extraordinary journey to meet the US president to clear his and his son’s name, when his teenage son was killed in a racial violence after the 9-11 terrorist attack. It’s not a real life story; it’s the plot of the world-renowned movie “My Name is Khan”. Unfortunately real life tragedies of Arabic speaker in everyday life don’t always have happy endings like Rizwan’s, in that movie. After 9-11 Arabic speakers were blacklisted, shunned and suffered losses, and some were killed; In the catastrophic event of 9-11 along with the religion Islam, the language got agonized, anyone who speaks it, anyone who is directly or indirectly attached to it – Arabic, the most misunderstood, misjudged and unappreciated language of current Western world. The aim of this essay is to discuss the negative stereotypes of Arabic speakers portrayed in western society with examples given in relation to the role of the media and the effects of religious racism on average everyday life of users of this language. Religiously and ethnically diverse societies produce a range of constantly changing issues and challenges for society, groups and individuals. Some of these issues include exclusion of minority groups, racism, harassment, stereotyping, intimidation, denial of employment, disapproval to build...
Words: 2072 - Pages: 9
...enrolled in the terrorism course. One of the requirements was to read a book called, The Cell, Inside the 9/11 Plot, and By John J. Miller. I thoroughly enjoy the topic of terrorism and I continually educate myself on this topic. I actually began to read the book the weekend of Sept 11th 2011. The book over all was a very intense book, it went into great details on many avenues of the 9/11 plot and what went wrong. I have written a review of my first hand account of this book and what it means to me. The authors do a very good job of providing an overview of the long string of Islamic fundamentalist attacks on American interests and the homeland, from the Meir Kahane assassination, on November 5, 1990, to the attacks on September 11, 2001. In fact, they trace some of the origins of the reign of terror back to groups like the Black Liberation Army, which ended up overlapping with Muslim fundamentalists groups, helping to train them and to acquire arms. It was actually in 1980, when the BLA, Black Panthers, Weather Underground, and others were engaging in domestic terrorism in and around New York City that the FBI and the New York Police Department formed a Joint Terrorism Task Force. Most of the book follows the work of the JTTF in general and of Agent John O'Neill. Mr. O'Neill, in a bitter irony, had just left the JTTF to take a job as Chief of Security at the World Trade Center when the towers were struck. His stories, and John Miller’s long working relationship with him, provide...
Words: 908 - Pages: 4
...of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP).), Jan, 2016. “If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles“ –– Sun Tzu, Chinese philosopher and military strategist, around 500 BC. “Our terrorism against America is blessed terrorism.” –– Osama bin Laden (on video) “The acme of this religion is jihad.” — Osama bin Laden (Bergen, 2001, p. 41) Many have asked, “what can we do to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)? ” There have been a variety of suggestions from airstrikes, isolation , establishing a national unity government in Iraq to the feasibility of a counter-offensive using 'local' militia's and only as a last resort U.S. Boots on the ground. These are all worthy ideas; however, it is imperative to get a fundamental understanding of what has caused this problem because ISIS is growing and becoming stronger (even though current air strikes and counter-offensives have been successful). Before a decision can be made a rigorous analysis is necessary, a sociological analysis, so that the United States and the rest of the world can determine what must be done regarding ISIS and why. (Thesis): This paper will argue that the challenge of removing IS lies in our ability to understand and realize that the terror group’s appeal is not its alleged goal of a regression to the glorious past of Islam (as Armstrong put it), nor that Islam is the fundamental cause of this anomaly, but that ISIS's appeal is, as...
Words: 20913 - Pages: 84
...Abstract The research is aimed at solving a problem in Media and how it reports. The Problem which this study wishes to study is how is the handling of the Media Landscape in the fields of Terrorism Crime and the Violence in Mindanao and how did it affect Muslim Communities attitudes and Behavior towards the institution of Media. The hypotheses is the there is a significant effect on the behavior of the community and their views on the institution of Media. To gather data and to analyze this problem the researchers used a descriptive status analysis which seeks to answer questions to real facts relating to existing conditions in group of cases that is chosen for study. The sample is determined using a simple random sampling which aimed at a minimum target of 300 respondents which is the 10% of the population of the area which is 3,000. The respondents where chosen out of the 19 Muslim Communities found in Metro Manila, the number of ethnic groups in the area is more diverse than most other Muslim Communities in the Metro Manila area. The subjects aged 15- 40 years regardless of educational background and social status. The study did not put too much stress on the quality of the respondents because it is important that a more honest response and to measure their knowledge of issues, this is done to observe their experiences outside of the Muslim Community. The researchers opted to use a survey method to gather the data needed for this research. The study employed a Likert...
Words: 25535 - Pages: 103
...conflict has led to a growth in Islamic extremism in Pakistan’s border regions which have turned into safe-havens for fighters in Afghanistan in their war against the US and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA). Evidence shows that these fighters still receive covert support from Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and elements of the Pakistani military. 2. Scope. This essay will first explain the roots of Islamic militancy in Pakistan including Pakistan’s involvement in the rise of the Taliban and home-grown extremist groups. This essay will then examine the nature and extent of the conflict between the Islamic militants and the Pakistani government and finally how this conflict is influencing the insurgency in Afghanistan. 3. Aim. The aim of this essay is to explain the causes and nature of the conflict between Islamic extremists and secular forces in Pakistan, and...
Words: 3102 - Pages: 13
...Military Law Seminar Fall, 2014 Article The Influence of Social Media on Homegrown Terrorists and Balancing Data-mining Between Civil Liberties and National Security Julianne Grim [Insert Abstract] [The focus of this article will be narrowly tailored to include the most popular social media sites in the western world, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and how they are utilized by known terrorist organizations Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL)] I. The Developing World of Social Media Social media activity accounts for over 22 percent of all time spent online in the United States, making it the number one activity people do on the internet. However, the world of social media extends beyond Facebook Twitter and YouTube. Social networking sites are developing faster than they can be analyzed and popping up all over the world. But social media is not a new phenomenon either, people have been seeking out like minded individuals in online communities for nearly two decades. During the infancy stages of social media people logged onto forums, blogs, chat rooms etc. Each social media platform varies slightly from the next - allowing for different types of content to be generated - but each platform seeks to accomplish two goals; generating content and engaging with other interested people. Modern terrorists are taking advantage of the fruits of globalization and modern technology, especially advanced online communication technologies that are used to plan...
Words: 5398 - Pages: 22
...principle of the cold war can be seen as the East-West competition in ideas, arms and spheres of influence. (REF) After Afghan terrorists dramatically attacked the United States on September 11, 2001; America declared a war on terror and flew its troops into Afghanistan in pursuit of avenging their nation and capturing al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Again America found itself in opposition to the East, nevertheless this time a different region. And Again the East was fighting against this new world order and America's quest for world domination in a globalising world. The aim of the essay is to explore the relationship between the cold war and the ‘war on terror' in Afghanistan and to find similarities in political patterns and warfare, in order to answer the question Main Body - History Main question - Relationship The cold war marked the struggle between America and the USSR after the Second World War. The war influenced international affairs majorly. It influenced the way conflicts were handled, the way countries were divided up and the increasing growth in weaponry production. The United States of America as well as the USSR had weapons of mass destructions in nuclear form, which formed a global threat for all humanity. However, both superpowers were aware of the exceeding dangers of their nuclear weapons. Therefore they would not fight an open war against each other. However they fought wars by proxy, supporting other countries to fight each other on their behalf...
Words: 3840 - Pages: 16
...visà-vis Non-Interest Banking In the Nigerian Economy, its background and Origin, a review on non-interest banking system in Nigeria compared with other countries, arguments from different analyst on Non-interest banking System, the implication of statutory auditor, the implication, the role of auditor, the laws and guidelines guiding non-interest banking in Nigeria, differences between Islamic banking system and conventional banking System, its benefit, timing, profit sharing and problem. KEYWORDS: Non-interest Banking, Islamic Banking, Statutory Auditors, Guidelines, Conventional Banks, Nigerian Economy, Overview, Benefits and profit sharing. *Dr. Akinyemi Balogun is a multi professional, a financial expert, a manager of repute, a chartered banker and associate chartered institute of marketing, fellow national institute of marketing, associate chattered institute of management. Dr. Akinyemi Balogun is the head of department of Business Administration, college of social and management sciences (COSMAS), in Achievers University, Owo. The views expressed in the paper are purely that of the author as they do not in any form represent the official position of Achievers University, Owo on the matter. INTRODUCTION 61 THE SURVIVAL OF ISLAMIC BANKING AJBMR Islamic banking refers to a system of banking or banking activity that is consistent with Islamic law (Shariah) principles and guided by Islamic economics. Islamic banking as "a non-interest form of...
Words: 3672 - Pages: 15
...centerpiece of the United States (US) Middle Eastern policy has been its relationship with Israel. The combination of unwavering support for Israel and the related effort to spread ‘democracy’ throughout the region has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and jeopardized not only US security but that of much of the rest of the world. This situation is unparalleled in American political history. Throughout this paper we will explore some reasons why the United States has been willing to set aside its own security and that of many of its allies in order to advance the interests of another state. One might assume that the bond between the two countries was based on shared strategic and interests, or compelling moral imperatives, but neither explanation can account for the remarkable level of economic, military, and diplomatic support that the United States provides to the State of Israel. We’ll also explore how the United States’ strategic military operations in support of Israel, is in America’s national interest. The United States is now the world's only superpower; if it does not exert international leadership, what country will? No other state’s military has the will or the capability to take on such threats as those emanating from rogue states like Iraq, Iran, or North Korea; nor can any other deal with issues such as the spread of weapons of mass destruction, international terrorism, radical Islam, or international narcotics trafficking. In short, American leadership is...
Words: 1760 - Pages: 8
...Terrorism and Homeland Defense Fundamentals Weekly Assignment 3.2 Part One: 1. Describe the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947. For two years after the end of WWII, the world was in constant flux. New countries and boundaries were being drawn and one of the most contested and controversial was the creation of an Israeli/ Palestinian state. The Learning Network (2011) states the following: On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews, allowing for the formation of the Jewish state of Israel. Since 1917, Palestine had been under the control of Britain, which supported the creation of a Jewish state in the holy land. Sympathy for the Jewish cause grew during the genocide of European Jews during the Holocaust. In 1946, the Palestine issue was brought before the newly created United Nations, which drafted a partition plan. The plan, which organized Palestine into three Jewish sections, four Arab sections and the internationally-administered city of Jerusalem, had strong support in Western nations as well as the Soviet Union. It was opposed by Arab nations. US Central Intelligence Agency (para. 1-3) 2. Why do you think that Palestinian terrorists concentrate on soft targets? The concentration on soft targets is a result of the need to draw attention of a global audience that is increasingly challenging to traumatize, the growing sophistication of the terrorists...
Words: 2908 - Pages: 12
