I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad

by Souad Mekhennet

Abu Yusaf was part of a generation of young Muslims who were radicalized by the invasion of Iraq, much as the generation before him had been radicalized by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

the people with power are the ones who write history. I could see that journalists didn’t simply write what happened; what they wrote could change lives.

“We have every legitimate right to do such acts, for isn’t it America that comes to our region and kills innocents and children?

Why did people think that a voting system was protection against totalitarianism?

As I’d seen over and again, people who see themselves as victims sometimes don’t notice when they become oppressors.

it was part of my job to give people clear information that could help dispel racism and fight violence, and I, along with other journalists, had clearly failed.

Storytellers are powerful, he told me. They explain the world. They write history.

Meanwhile, in our democracies, secret detention centers, torture, and mass government surveillance have violated what we call our core values.

Is democracy really what we want, or do we instead seek to promote the values we hold dear: the equality of men and women, the rights of minorities to survive and thrive, the freedom to speak our minds and practice whatever faith we choose? Instead of talking about the need for a voting system, we should seek to adhere to a code of universal values.

Religion doesn’t radicalize people; people radicalize religion.

Opportunists have created their own ideology within Islam, and this is profoundly dangerous.

If no one is willing to speak up for what the religion actually requires, anyone can use it for his own ends.

Western involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan should have taught us all that the one you train and arm today may turn against you tomorrow. Empowering militias can lead to the destruction of nation-states as we know them today.

The world is not facing a clash of civilizations or cultures, but a clash between those who want to build bridges and those who would rather see the world in polarities, who are working hard to spread hatred and divide us.

You cannot expect tolerance if you’re not willing to give it to others.