19 November, 2007 | Leave a Comment
For the novel I’m writing, I need to do some research into terrorism. I want to learn about the psychological make-up of a terrorist, tactics terrorists use and how they recruit people. Thus far, I’ve been reluctant to type “terrorist tactics” or “terrorist recruiting” into an internet search engine. I use a university network for my internet service. I wonder if my account will be flagged if I search the internet for such things? I know they monitor our internet use, though to what extent I don’t know. If I search repeatedly for web pages related to terrorism, I wonder what the university would do with this information? Question me? Give it to the police? Does the Home Office keep files on those of us with visas? I don’t know.
What if I buy books on terrorism from Amazon? What if I get books on terrorism from the library? To Big Brother (be it the university, the library, Google, the government), would it seem as if I am plotting a terrorist act myself? Given that I am not a citizen of this country, I feel I have to be even more careful. I do not have the same rights as everyone else.
A recent article in the Guardian by novelist Hari Kunzru resonated with me. He wrote about this very topic, inspired by the conviction of the “lyrical terrorist,” a young Muslim woman who worked at Heathrow Airport and who is now going to prison for “possessing material likely to be of use in terrorism.” While it’s clear this woman sympathizes with terrorists in a way that is repugnant and she could very well become one herself if given the chance, she was only convicted of possessing material that anyone could download from the internet. That is frightening.
Kunzru’s new novel is about terrorism and he has plenty of research on terrorism in his home. In response to the case of the lyrical terrorist, he writes:
When the police come to my house, they’ll find a shelf full of books glorifying terrorism. In The Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, by Carlos Marighella, they’ll find detailed instructions on waging war against the state…There are books with practical details about bomb-making, hand-to-hand combat, chemical weapons and poisons. When they analyse my hard drive, they’ll realise I’ve looked at all sorts of material, on sites maintained by unsavoury people - jihadists, racists, religious cults. When the story leaks, it will look bad. A loner, obsessed by political violence, who had filled dozens of notebooks with his semi-indecipherable scrawl.
Now I am even more reluctant to search the internet for such material. Perhaps it seems I am exaggerating my fears to make some sort of political point. I’m not. If I were writing a novel about a pedophile, I most certainly wouldn’t be doing internet searches on that topic either. So for now, I won’t search the web for terrorist-related info. I just don’t feel comfortable doing it in this Orwellian atmosphere of modern-day Britain. I may pick up a few books on this subject and discuss it with a friend who is doing his master’s on a related topic. That should be enough.
The other night I was chatting with two European friends. We got into a big debate about freedom of speech. They told me they agree with limits on freedom of expression, that Holocaust deniers should be put in prison, that people who say racist things or things that offend some religious group should suffer legal consequences. These ideas are not unusual in Europe, where denying the Holocaust is illegal in many countries and there are laws against speech that is racist. I don’t agree with any of these laws. For some reason, I was surprised that these very liberal and educated guys were so nonchalant about this, that they thought such laws were a good thing. My attempts to convince them otherwise were met with a “you crazy American” roll of the eyes. I almost felt old-fashioned for expressing my views in favor of freedom of speech as a sacred right.
After this conversation and after reading Kunzru’s article, I’ve felt worried and a bit shaken. Never before in my life have I felt the need to be careful in choosing what to read or write or research. I’ve always taken it for granted that I can read anything, search for anything, write anything. Those days are over.
Anglofille said @ 5:41 pm | literary, news & politics |
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Jack Says:
November 19th, 2007 at 10:34 pmOrwellian Britain? Interesting. Do you think that the USA is not monitoring internet usage, cellphones etc.? Also, (a genuine question) does not the USA not have laws against racism? I honestly don’t know. I would have thought so given that racism was so prevalent there such a relatively short time ago.
Why not search for the psychology of terrorism. Be specific in your search. Or just go to the British Library and request what you want from there.
Personally, I wouldn’t be too concerned about searching on the net. I think that they would be looking for net behaviour in specific areas. I’m sure your University could advise. -
I’m focusing on Britain because I live here. Is the USA monitoring the internet? Well, Google is an American company and they are collecting data for the government and handing it over. I’ve already written about that.
There are no laws against “racial and religious hatred” speech in the US. The First Amendment to the Constitution would not allow that. There are no laws against Holocaust denial.
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Thus is the state of the world we now live in, were a vague, faceless threat (i.e. terrorism) has allowed the government to propigate a society where our freedoms are being stolen from us on an almost daily basis. The fact that you feel like you can’t research this topic speaks volumes about how we live our lives today.
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World Samina Malik Day December 6th « Clattery MacHinery on Poetry Says:
November 25th, 2007 at 2:14 am[...] Anglofille: i am not a terrorist, just a writer [...]
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HR Letts Says:
December 1st, 2007 at 8:14 pmGo ahead, be old-fashioned. As a fellow American, I, too, believe, freedom of speech is a sacred right. And since you subscribe to this belief, then why hesitate on using every source available for research on terrorism?
I Googled “terrorism” and in .06 seconds got 8,540,000 hits, with FEMA’s website in the top four listings. Access restricted to any one of these sites would be of greater concern to me then my IP address being added to a list because I did access it. I equate freedom of speech with unrestricted access to what I want to read, regardless of the source. Personally, if I planned to write a novel on terrorism, I would be conducting personal interviews with experts in the field.
In the absence of first-hand knowledge, the conveyance of realism requires research.
