The stories of those formerly involved in violent extremism must be told in order for us to understand and reverse the potential for brutality

A beautiful man, or a cold-blooded killer: this is the current dichotomy conjured by the name Mohammed Emwazi, or perhaps more commonly known by his media sobriquet “Jihadi John”, a name that elicits justifiable hostility, revulsion and perplexity in that it presents the image of a vicious, brutal, murdering IS henchman.

In recent weeks, the quest to reveal the man behind the mask has led to descriptions of his personality and actions before Syria, from a teacher’s assessment describing him as a steady, ordinary boy, to security service assertions that he was a young man on a violent radical trajectory. Most controversial of these analyses has been the words of Asim Qureshi of the human rights group Cage, who described his impression of Emwazi as a “beautiful young man” – a comment interpreted as inappropriate and outrageous in light of Emwazi’s metamorphosis into a killer.

Read the full article here: 

http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2015/03/28/the-ordinariness-of-violence-and-the-stories-of-formers/

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ConnectJustice is crowdfunding an innovative and ambitious series of short films – five stories of formers for free, public use. If you are interested in pledging your support and giving a donation please follow this link: https://peoplesrepublic.co/p/connectjustice/

The stories of those formerly involved in violent extremism must be told in order for us to understand and reverse the potential for brutality

A beautiful man, or a cold-blooded killer: this is the current dichotomy conjured by the name Mohammed Emwazi, or perhaps more commonly known by his media sobriquet “Jihadi John”, a name that elicits justifiable hostility, revulsion and perplexity in that it presents the image of a vicious, brutal, murdering IS henchman.

In recent weeks, the quest to reveal the man behind the mask has led to descriptions of his personality and actions before Syria, from a teacher’s assessment describing him as a steady, ordinary boy, to security service assertions that he was a young man on a violent radical trajectory. Most controversial of these analyses has been the words of Asim Qureshi of the human rights group Cage, who described his impression of Emwazi as a “beautiful young man” – a comment interpreted as inappropriate and outrageous in light of Emwazi’s metamorphosis into a killer.

Read the full article here: 

http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2015/03/28/the-ordinariness-of-violence-and-the-stories-of-formers/

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ConnectJustice is crowdfunding an innovative and ambitious series of short films – five stories of formers for free, public use. If you are interested in pledging your support and giving a donation please follow this link: https://peoplesrepublic.co/p/connectjustice/

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