The Jihad Next Door: The Lackawanna Six and Rough Justice in an Age of Terror

by Dina Temple-Raston

They called themselves the Arabian Knights. They were six Yemeni-American friends, a gang of high-school soccer stars, a band of brothers on the grim side streets of Lackawanna's First Ward, just a stone's throw from Buffalo. Later, people would argue about why they left western New York in the spring of 2001 to attend an al-Qaeda camp. Some said they traveled to Afghanistan to become America's first sleeper cell—terrorists slumbering while they awaited orders from on high. Others said that their ill-fated trip was a lark, an adventurous extension of their youthful wrestling with what it meant to be Muslim in America. Dina Temple-Raston returns to Lackawanna to tell the story of a group of young men—born and brought up in small town America—who left otherwise unremarkable lives to attend an al-Qaeda camp. Though they sought to quietly slip back into their roles as middle class Americans, the 9/11 attacks made that impossible. The Jihad Next Door is the story of pre-emptive justice in the age of terror. It follows a handful of ordinary men through an extraordinary time when Muslims in America are often instantly suspect, their actions often viewed through the most sinister lens.

Genres: Terrorism

312 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2007

About the author

Dina Temple-Raston is a Belgian-born American journalist and award-winning author. She is the creator, host, and correspondent of the podcast "What Were You Thinking,"

Reviews

[Rohan]

Core

[Kelly]

I'm not sure if there was a title change but the book I'm currently reading is entitled The Jihad Next Door: The Lackawanna Six and Rough Justice in the Age of Terror.

In the second chapter she states that Buffalo is 20 miles and a bridge from Canada. This may be an acceptable, if inaccurate statement from someone with only cursory knowledge of the area but in the acknowledgments she notes that she spent "the early part of 2007 living in Allentown to finish this project." Makes me question her observation skills.

[Jennifer]

Fantastic.