Divyang Patel
SRA 211
Dr. Kevin Li
April 29th, 2018
Summary of Gabriel Weimann’s book
Gabriel Weimann is a Professor of Communication at the University of Haifa, describes the use of the Internet by terrorists to operate their activities in his recent book, Terrorism in Cyberspace. He has argued in his book that the war on terrorism has not been won. Even though many terrorist groups have been largely destroyed, terrorist attacks take 10,000 to 12,000 lives annually worldwide. And the worst thing is, jihadist terrorist ideology continues to spread. How is that possible? Of course, The Internet, with its open access and freedom of speech, provides a platform for terrorists to deliberate with group members.
These terrorist groups are largely going online and adopting a new method of technology to harm the western world by hacking government websites and social media accounts, disrupting electronic banking, and gaining access to military databases. These organizations used to consist of loose-net cells, divisions, and subgroups, but now they have spread their network on the Internet through websites, e-mail, chat rooms, YouTube, Facebook, Google Earth, etc. As the young generation is more involving in terrorist activities, terrorist groups are getting expertise in advanced technological skills, Weimann warns that the “new jihad” will not be fought with weapons, but with control over cyberspace.
The book is divided into three parts which addresses three major questions. The first part mostly answers why terrorists use the Internet, how they use it, and for what purposes. How and why terrorism went online? While the second part focuses on the emerging trends in cyberterrorism, what recent trends should be discerned such as engaging children and women, and using social media. It also discusses the future threads and how they can be reduced. The third part is a commentary on counterterrorism measures and on the ethics of online surveillance in the United States that forces citizens to compromise privacy for national security.
To answer all these answers, he has analyzed so many terrorist websites and their online activity. Weimann has been studying terrorism since 1998, selects the most important web activities, describes their background and history, and surveys their content in terms of kind and intensity, the groups and prominent individuals involved, and effects. He highlights cyber terrorism against financial, governmental, and engineering infrastructure; efforts to monitor, manipulate, and disrupt terrorists’ online efforts; and threats to civil liberties posed by ill-directed efforts to suppress terrorists’ online activities as future, worrisome trends.
Weimann investigates the connection amongst media and terrorists throughout in this book. "Terrorism is a theater," said Weimann. Like a craftsman, an extremist needs attention. He picks his technique, time, area, and people to make a scene for attraction. He also states that the web is the best place to use to spread their organization and assembling support for their violent exercises in light of its simple access form anywhere, “lack of regulation, vast potential audiences, fast flow of information,” and, most importantly, the anonymity to post “their extremist beliefs and values” and then “disappear into the dark.” They abuse the Internet sites, emails, visit rooms, virtual message sheets, cell phones, Google Earth, YouTube and other online video sharing locales, and additionally interpersonal interaction destinations.
Out of so many suggestions of radicals that Weimann covers, his bits of knowledge on the part of ladies as suicide bombers are particularly interesting. He expresses that numerous terrorist based websites prompt ladies on the best way to raise youngsters to bear on jihad. Confirmations and life stories of female bombers in both Islamic history and current circumstances are frequently published and spread to urge ladies to do suicide bombings. One such example, Umm Nidal, whose six children are for the most part jihadi warriors for a Hamas partner, was lifted to the status of a good example after her demise in March 2013. She was named as "the khansa of Palestine" after the female poet Al-Khansa. Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri's better half Umayma Hassan is likewise depicted as an icon. Her messages train ladies to help their men in jihad.
In this book, he doesn’t include the Christian, Hindu, and politically motivated extremism or terrorism, and it also directly depends upon Western authority to interpret Islam. Someone can see this book as an orientalist one since he is excluding the opinion of Muslims. This book is current and provides an easy read. This book may not benefit scholars of cybersecurity because of its generalist approach, but as a basic examination of topics related to new media and terrorism, it could be useful. However, any reader interested in a balanced consideration of the complexity of international terrorism should proceed with caution given the book’s essentialist approach that perpetuates the Muslim stereotype.