Task #3

Terrorists Among Us: Jihad in America, a PBS documentary first aired nationwide in 1994, was produced by investigative reporter Steven Emerson after the first bombing of the World Trade Towers in 1993. The documentary was recently updated following terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001.

In making this groundbreaking documentary, Emerson was the first American journalist to document in chilling video the militant Islamic support networks and terrorist groups secretly operating on American soil. Counter-terrorism officials from the National Security Council, Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have acknowledged that Emerson's documentary demonstrated that he had more reliable and accurate information about the secret terrorist networks on American soil than the US Government . Emerson was successful in infiltrating key conferences and rallies with hidden cameras in an effort to track down the people responsible for supporting and abetting terrorist activities on U.S. soil. At these events, and on this film, these extremists state their chilling intentions in their own words.

 The film, then and now, has brought the attention of the U.S. government authorities to the network of Islamic extremists in the United States that promote a culture of hatred, arrange for training in bomb-making and target practice, raise funds for militant groups in the Middle East, and in some cases, support terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. The film tracks down and shows interviews with a network of Islamic extremists in New York, Boston, New Jersey, Texas, California, Florida and Kansas, detailing their hatred and violent intentions against all Americans, including Christians, moderate Muslims and Jews in the United States.

 Emerson emphasizes throughout the one-hour documentary that the majority of Muslims in the United States do not support terrorist activities. He also says that Islam, as a faith, condemns such acts of terrorism. Emerson also notes, that the Islamic extremists who promote and carry out Jihad, are as a great a threat to moderate Muslims as they are to Christians, Jews and all American citizens.

 The video is an educational call to action for the American public, to provide U.S. law enforcement authorities with the tools they need to deal with this real threat to the American way of life. By educating the public, the film suggests that effective preventative measures can then be taken. Suggestions by counter-terrorism experts throughout the video help us understand the scope of the threat and what needs to be done to protect U.S. citizens, while at the same time preserving civil liberties.

• How is it similar/different to your main text?

Similar:
The way it is similar is that the documentary still potrays muslims as the extremiests, attackers and
terrorist that are trying to attack the western world.

muslims are demonised

Diffrent:
This is more serious and my main text mimics such an dangerous activity which has been used to killed example 9/11. My main text is a comedy and this is a documentary.

• How does this show how the genre/society/issue has changed?

this shows that society now laugh and find things that are bad to our society fun for example terrorism is dangerous and terrosit jihad activities have killed people in the past, but now society escapes from that and finds films such as four lions funny. if this film was to be shown 10 years ago when 9/11 took place there would be huge amounts of complaints because at the time people were still sufering from the events and the loss of family and freinds. maybe this now shows that society have learnt to relax and understand that comedy is comedy.