Produced by Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders

Original Broadcast: October, 29, 2008

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“Can young Muslims fight terror with YouTube?”

It’s been over a year since Osama bin Laden sent his last videotaped message around the world via Al Jazeera and the Internet, and yet the grim image of a turbaned terrorist holding an AK47 is the first thing that springs to mind when we think of Muslims and the Media. But try to imagine Osama bin Laden organizing his Facebook page. Terrorists using twitter? When it comes to social networking, Al Quaeda is behind the curve. A movement of media savvy young Muslims are creating empowered on-line communities that might do more to discourage the spread of radical Islam than the Department of Homeland Security.

Guests

Reza Aslan is a fellow at the University of Southern California and Middle East Analyst for CBS News. Aslan is co-founder of BoomGen Sudios and executive for Mecca.com, an online community for Muslim youth.

Ali Ardekani is the founder of Ummah Films and creator of the popular Youtube series “Ask Baba Ali.” He’s currently on tour as a standup comedian.

Dr. Ramez Maluf is director of the Beirut Institute for Media Arts and the Institute for Media Training and Research at Lebanese American University. He is author of Beruit Reborn.

Hana Rahman is the co-founder of waleg.com, an Arab pop culture blog. It now consists of 18 blogs of which 14 are in English, 3 in French and one in Arabic. Hana joins us to talk about “Noor,” a Turkish soap opera and pop culture craze in the Arab world.

Reading List

• Beirut Reborn by Dr. Ramez Maluf, Academy Editions, 1996.
• Commentary on “Noor” by Hana Rahman, Waleg, 2008.
• “Why Do They Hate Us? Strange answers lie in al-Qaida’s writings” by Reza Aslan, Slate Magazine, August 6, 2007.
• Additional Interviews with Guests:
  • “Arab Media Reports on Zarqawi Killing” an interview with Ramez Maluf, NPR’s Morning Edition, June 9, 2006.
  • “Baba Ali, a Rising Muslim star”, The Muslim News, May 30, 2008.
  • “International Correspondents” an interview with Ramez Maluf, CNN, July, 20, 2007.
  • “Young Video Makers Try to Alter Islam’s Face” a feature on Baba Ali by Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, May 8, 2008.
• Background Articles:
  • “A Blog as national conscience” by Jeffery Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2008.
  • “Al Qaeda and the Digital Cultural Divide” by Douglas McLeod, Inside Islam: Dialogues and Debates, October 28, 2008.
  • “Evolution of Egyptian Blogging” by Marc Lynch, Abu Aardvark, October 2, 2008.
  • “Fight Terror With YouTube” by Daniel Kimmage, New York Times, June 26, 2008
  • “I’m not a scholar, I just try to tell people simple things” an interview with Baba Ali by Zahed Amanullah, AltMuslim, June 12, 2007.
    
  • “Moved by a Crescent” by Maureen Dowd, New York Times, October 21, 2008.
    
  • “Watching ‘Friends’ in Gaza: A Culture Clash” by Michael Kimmelman, Herald Tribune, September 7, 2008.

Related Posts on Inside Islam:

• “Young Muslims and New Media” (all show posts)

Last update: March 10, 2009.