Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Britz

"Britz" is a 2007 presentation of Channel 4 TV in Britain, that was shown in two parts. One seen from the point of view (pov) of a young British Muslim and the other from that of his sister. Here is the official story summary:

"Sohail is an ambitious law undergraduate who signs up with MI5 and, eager to play a part in protecting British security, begins an investigation into a terrorist cell. His sister Nasima is a medical student in Leeds who becomes increasingly alienated and angered by Britain's foreign and domestic policy after witnessing at first hand the relentless targeting of her Muslim neighbours and peers. With action set in Pakistan, Eastern Europe, London and Leeds, both feature-length episodes detail a tragic sequence of events from two distinct perspectives. At the heart of this thought-provoking drama is a revealing examination of British Muslim life under current anti-terror legislation. Britz ultimately asks whether the laws we think are making us safer, are actually putting us in greater danger."

It is a challenging and gritty story, showing how someone can be easily radicalized, come to accept everything that they previously opposed, and be prepared to kill many others for their cause. The depiction of the sister's terrorist training in Pakistan is completely convincing. Although the two povs are supposed to counter-balance each other, the pov of the author, Peter Kosminsky, is clearly a leftist anti-establishment position, that allows both of the siblings to experience almost entirely negative aspects of British life. The fact that they draw opposite conclusions from their experiences is both fundamental to the story and problematic. But, while the story is supposed to challenge the use in Blair's Britain of anti-terrorism laws, the path taken by the sister, Nasima, only goes to prove the necessity of those laws, and even in some cases their leniency.

I recommend seeing this in order to recognize the true danger that comes from native born "domestic" Islamist terrorism.

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