DNL #12: TERROR FEEDS. Panel with Saud Al-Zaid, Pieter Van Ostaeyen and Dave Keating
Channel: Disruption Network Lab
Date: 2017-12-15

Disruption Network Lab 
An ongoing platform of events and research on art, hacktivism and disruption in Berlin. 

Berlin, November 24 - 25, 2017
TERROR FEEDS: Inside the Fear Machine
12th Event of the Disruption Network Lab, Kunstquartier Bethanien Berlin, Studio 1.

Web: http://www.disruptionlab.org/terror-feeds/
Twitter: @disruptberlin 
Facebook: /disruptionlab 

Artistic Director and Curator: Tatiana Bazzichelli
Guest Curator: Mauro Mondello
Programme Managers: Nada Bakr, Claudia Dorfmüller, Kim Voss

Credits: 
Disruption Network Lab Berlin - www.disruptionlab.org
Video by Rofsofilms - www.rofsofilms.com 
Graphic: Jonas Frankki 
CC Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International 
Photo thumbnail: Maria Silvano

November 25, 2017
16.00-17.30  ·  PANEL
RADICALISED: The Franchise of Terror

Saud Al-Zaid (Scholar of Islamic Studies, Berlin Graduate School of Muslim Cultures, DE), Pieter Van Ostaeyen (Historian & Arabist, PhD candidate KU Leuven, BE). Moderated by Dave Keating (Journalist, US/BE).

The jihadist group Islamic State has become notorious for its brutality, including mass killings, abductions and beheadings. The group has demanded Muslims across the world to swear allegiance to its leader and migrate to territory under its control, and has demanded that other jihadist groups worldwide accept its supreme authority. This panel focuses on the fighters behind the Islamic State façade and especially their identities and origins, and their reasons for leaving everything behind to join the fight. Saud Al-Zaid will present his anthropological perspective on the human beings that decided to enroll the terrorist groups during the last years, focusing on the roots and the specifics of different cultural and social backgrounds. Pieter Van Ostaeyen will present an in-depth analysis on European foreign fighters through recruitment, networks, and case studies on individuals, examining their reasons to engage in violence, or for traveling to join ISIS in the Middle East. Furthermore, his presentation will reflect on the methods used by ISIS to recruit and direct individuals. The panels will also address what possible future actions the foreign fighters — who at their peak numbered tens of thousands from dozens of countries — might decide to take after the conflict ends.