Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

The rough road from carer to killer

By Tanveer Ahmed - posted Friday, 6 July 2007


For those with a sense of victimhood and alienation, Islamism offers a potent identity to express alienation and connect their personal story to a larger, global struggle, fuelled by television images of conflicts such as those in Palestine, Chechnya or Iraq. In this way Islam has become a symbol of protest - political or social - attracting many who feel disenfranchised or wronged by the society in which they live.

This gains greater weight when you consider that not only are a great proportion of the world's poor Muslim, the places of social exclusion in the West also have a strong ethno-religious flavour, from North Africans in Paris to South Asians in Britain and to a lesser extent, Lebanese in south-western Sydney. These groups often perceive themselves as marginalised or undervalued in their society and thereby feel a connection with the "real" poor and dispossessed Muslims in other parts of the world.

These imagined feelings of connection with the poor and dispossessed are the reasons why the middle classes of the developing world have so often been the leaders in radical groups, including terrorist operations. This is heightened when they feel a sudden drop in status on migrating to the West or are excluded from its liberal social mores.

Advertisement

Overseas doctors as a group are not a terrorist threat. Most make a wonderful contribution to our society. It is a quirk of immigration patterns and Western skill shortages that they have formed the bulk of the latest terrorism detainees. But the event illustrates the kind of groups that may be vulnerable to the lure of terrorism. In this case, sadly, those who were dedicated to preserving human life were transformed into the exact opposite.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All

First published in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on July 5, 2007.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

7 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Dr Tanveer Ahmed is a psychiatrist, author and local councillor. His first book is a migration memoir called The Exotic Rissole. He is a former SBS journalist, Fairfax columnist and writes for a wide range of local and international publications.
He was elected to Canada Bay Council in 2012. He practises in western Sydney and rural NSW.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Tanveer Ahmed

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Photo of Tanveer Ahmed
Article Tools
Comment 7 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy