I was a guest on Al Jazeera recently to discuss how the War on Terrorism has been used to target protest groups and whistleblowers who expose animal cruelty on factory farms.
It was a pleasure being on the same show with Laura Beth Nielsen and Shiraz Maher, and connecting the dots between the civil rights abuses against Muslim communities and this crackdown on dissent.
From Al Jazeera:
For over a decade now, the United States has used the word ‘terrorism’ to wage wars beyond its borders and the same word has been used within its borders to spy on Americans.
The latest case was in New York. A federal judge has ruled that the city’s police department’s surveillance of Muslims in New Jersey was a legal effort to prevent terrorism, not a civil rights violation.
And the US is not alone. Several countries across the globe have used the pretense of ‘terrorism’ to crackdown on opponents, through various anti-terror laws.
So, has this word been exploited?
Presenter:Â Shihab Rattansi
Guests: William Potter: an award-winning journalist and author of ‘Green Is The New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege’
Laura Beth Nielsen: a research professor at the American Bar Foundation and director of the Legal Studies Program at Northwestern University
Shiraz Maher: a fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London; who is currently leading a research team looking into the flow of foreign fighters going to Syria