During this episode of McCuistion Television’s, “How America Is Seen in the Arab and Muslim World,” Dennis McCuistion is joined by Fawaz Gerges, Ph.D. Fawaz Gerges is the author of Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy and the Christian A. Johnson Chairholder in International Affairs and Middle East Studies at Sarah Lawrence College.
In the wake of 9/11, Americans were seen favorably by most people in the Middle East. Dr. Gerges, a Middle East scholar, who spends time researching how America is viewed in the Arab and Muslim world has traveled from Lebanon, to Yemen, Syria to Jordan and Algeria. He believes that today the feeling against America has both consolidated and hardened. According to Dr. Gerges,
“There is a deep anger and rage, some of which has come about as a result of the Iraq war… There is a problem. We are losing the average Muslim, the floating middle ground, and this is a red flag.”
[flashvideo file=wp-content/uploads/1600/1602AmericaIslam%20.flv /]
Dr. Gerges, who spent over 16 months in the region, interviewed hundreds of policy makers, opinion makers and Jihadists. He talks about his work as, “a book of voices. I let militants and Jihadists tell their own stories.”
Join us and Dr. Gerges as he shares his ideas as to why America was attacked on 9/11 and illuminates the differences between Jihadists and Islamists. He talks about why we should care about not alienating Muslim public opinion and why we are seen as a colonial power.
***
1602
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Dennis McCuistion is joined once again by Fawaz Gerges, Ph.D. to talk about the situation in the Middle East and the past and future of Jihadists. Fawaz Gerges is the author of Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy and the Christian A. Johnson Chairholder in International Affairs and Middle East Studies at Sarah Lawrence College.
Dr. Gerges joins us once again to discuss the impact of Jihadists. He states, “A Jihadist is an Islamic activist who wants to replace the secular state with Islamic Sharia Law with all means at their disposal including violence and terrorism to bring about their Utopia.” But he says, “we’re talking about a tiny group, thousands, not millions.”
[flashvideo file=wp-content/uploads/1600/1603_jihadists-Jihadists-1603.flv /]
Dr. Gerges goes on to talk about the limited group of extremists such as Al Qaeda,“who manipulate and distort Islam in order to garner political support at home.” He acquaints viewers further with why he conducted his studies, spending over 16 months in the Middle East region, interviewing Jihadists as well as mainstream Muslims. Dr. Gerges helps us to better understand what caused this problem.
Join us to get a clearer perspective on how the Jihadist movement has changed since its inception in the 1970’s beginning in Egyptian Universities as a socialist movement. Through this episode you’ll also gain a more thorough understanding of how we got to 9/11 and where the dangers still remain.
Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer/Producer
***
1603
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
