Jigsaw - 3

• Share your answers with original base group – you need one person who completed each reading in your group

1. State Sponsored Terrorism,

2. Religiously Motivated Terrorism, and

3. al Qaeda

4 Motivations

1. The World Gone Wrong

2. No Other Options

3. Cosmic War Against the Enemy

4. Symbolism and Violence

Which of these would apply to al Qaeda’s attack on the U.S.?

U.S. and the Middle East

• Political Islam – are there justifications for terrorism within Islam?

• Islam is related to Arabic salaam which means peace

• A religion that values family and tolerance

• Many Jews fled persecution in Europe for more tolerance in Ottoman Empire

Jihad = Struggle

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

• Great Jihad –struggle against one’s own moral shortcomings

• Little Jihad – struggle against enemies of Islam

• “Let there be no two religions in Arabia.” – U.S. has soldiers in Saudi Arabia – one of Al Qaeda’s complaints

Conflicting Views

• Americans – separation of politics from religion – in the Constitution

• Osama bin Laden – no separation, a political struggle is a religious struggle

• Political Islam (Islamic Fundamentalism) strives to establish a society based on Shari’a law

• Islam, not a political system, binds many Middle Eastern countries together

Think/Pair/Share

• “There are only two powers now in the world. One is America, which is tyrannical and oppressive. The other is a warrior who has not yet been awakened from his slumber and that warrior is Islam.”

• —Imam Mouaid al-Ubaidi, Iraqi Muslim Cleric

• What does this mean? • Who would believe this and why would someone

believe this?

Islam

• 1 billion people

• Most countries – economic and political system resemble Feudalism

• Most are very poor – Saudi Arabia = $15k, Egypt = $2.5k, U.S. = $48k

• Income largely tied to oil, which employs very few people

Islam vs. U.S.• Arabs have been unable to unify to stand up to the

West – Egypt tried and failed• U.S. supported overthrow of democratic

government in Iran – 1953• Iranian Revolution of 1979 – revolt against U.S.

supported dictator (Shah of Iran)• Iran-Iraq War – 1980 – 1988: Iraq tried to take

control: Sunni vs. Shia – U.S. allied with Iraq• 1991 Gulf War – Iraq invaded Kuwait – U.S. and

others forced Iraq back

Islam vs. U.S. - 2

• U.S. supports monarchies/dictatorships in Middle Eastern countries

• U.S. 30+ years gone to war to protect oil

Discussion Questions

For Arabs1. Should Arabs fight U.S. and Israel – symbols of

weakness of Arab states or fight Arab governments which oppress their own people?

For U.S.2. Should we support stability (protect existing

dictatorships and the supply of oil) or democracy in the Middle East?

3. How should U.S. respond to political Islam?