Twenty years ago this weekend, the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, were not only a tragedy for those personally involved, but they also changed the world forever.

They have certainly had an impact on Muslims, many of whom feel that it has led to the rise of Islamophobic abuse and attacks worldwide. On the world stage, they are held responsible for a neo-conservative influenced foreign policy from the US and its allies with the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. To this day, the aftermath of the attacks still affects the region, with many millions displaced or killed.

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This weekend on Islam Channel, starting on Friday 10th September at 9pm (BST), we are broadcasting a special edition of The Review focusing on 9/11 and its aftermath, running over three days marking the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. From 10th to September 12th, we will be inviting those involved as well as expert analysts to talk to our host, Aaqil Ahmed, about its lasting impact.

Watch the first and second episodes here.

Friday September 10th – the first episode talks about the context surrounding 9/11 including US foreign policy, the ideology of extremist groups and their justification for violence. Guests include:

Dr. Anne Speckhard – Global Director, International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and has taught the Psychology of Terrorism for the Security Studies Department in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Wendy Lanski – 9/11 Survivor. She was working on the 29th floor in the World Trade Center North Tower when the first plane hit the Tower. 

Dr. Usama Al Azami – Islamic Studies Lecturer, University of Oxford. He studied for his BA in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford, and his MA and PhD in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. Alongside his university career, he also pursued Islamic studies in seminarial settings and has travelled extensively throughout the Middle East.

Saturday September 11th – our second show on the twentieth anniversary talks about the impact of the war on terror, the rise of radicalisation, Islamophobia, the rise of the far right, and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. A representative from the Uighur community will also be coming on to talk about how 9/11 has affected them.

Khola Hasan – Intervention Provider, Home Office. She works closely with the police, prison and social services dealing with young people being radicalised into extremism. Shariah Council Advisor at Europe’s first Shariah Council in London.

Abdulhakim Idris – Inspector General, World Uyghur Congress. He is one of the founding members of the East Turkistan Union in Europe in 1991 in Germany which is the first established Uyghur organisations in Europe. Mr. Idris also co-founded the World Uyghur Youth Congress (WUYC) in 1996 and the East Turkistan National Congress in 1999 as well as the one of the founders of the World Uyghur Congress in 2004.

Sunday September 12th - our concluding show talks about where we are now twenty years later.

Tasnime Akunjee – Human Rights Lawyer. He is a criminal defence solicitor working in the field of terrorism and terrorism related offending, who has worked on many high-profile cases.

Afaf Nasher – Executive Director, New York Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations. Prior to accepting the role of Executive Director, she served as Board President for the organisation and continues to serve as a volunteer with several religious and secular organisations in various capacities.

Moazzam Begg – Former Guantanamo Bay Detainee. He is the author of Enemy Combatant and outreach director for UK-based campaigning organisation CAGE. Moazzam was arrested in Pakistan, where he was helping set up education programmes for children, in the panic-stricken months after the 9/11 attacks. He spent three years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement, and was subjected to over three hundred interrogations, death threats and torture. He was released early in 2005 without explanation or apology. 

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