Saturday Extra

Australia woke yesterday to the news of a video from Indonesia that specifically warned us to expect a terrorist attack on our soil. This is after a week that saw the arrests of 15 men in Sydney and Melbourne, some of whom might have been planning such an attack, and the publishing of controversial new anti-terrorism legislation that risks turning Australia into a very different sort of place.

One of the most surprising things about the young men who are willing to train and die as terrorists is the variety of backgrounds they come from. They come from all classes and countries, and the only thing that seems to unite them is their attachment to an extreme form of Islam. There is clearly a global aspect to Muslim identity that for some young men transcends their nationality, and that has very complex roots.

Guests

Pete Lentini
Co-convenor of the Global Terrorism Research Unit at Monash University

Michael Humphrey
Head of Sociology and Anthropology at UNSW

Further Information

Islam, Security, and Xenophobia
Friday 25 - Saturday 26 November in Melbourne
http://www.deakin.edu.au/conferences/islam/

Muslims, Secularism and the Secular State
Wednesday 23 November, 2005 at Melbourne Law School
http://www.csci.unimelb.edu.au/activities/colloquium-2005/