8 Feb 2010
Alan R
Episode 1 of 'Generation Jihad' has just been screened in UK.
My impressions were that although the level of analysis was above the routine, the framework was that we are, according to Mr. Taylor, dealing with 'a tiny minority' of Muslims who become putative jihadists ('2,000' in the UK, plus an unspecified number of Muslim 'supporters').
The line of analysis of the programme was not to see a continuum from the essentials of the ideology of Islam through to the actual practice of jihad violence against British people; instead, the emphasis was on how socially isolated individual young Muslims became vulnerable to becoming 'radicalised ' by certain imams and jihad internet sites.
Interestingly, the programme concentrated on Muslims in the Yorkshire area of England, a key area in the genesis of the 7/7 jihad on London, and incidentally the home area of the presenter, Mr. Taylor.
Next week, the investigation goes more global, and includes an examination of the jihad threat to the USA.