Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title White Widows: the myth of the deadliest jihadi women Media name/outlet Tony Blair Institute for Global Change Duration/Length/Size 1200 Country/Territory United Kingdom Date 20/09/18 Description In stories about European women terrorists, their sex and religious identity dominate explanations of their suspected violence. Whether it’s today’s ‘jihadi stars’ Samantha Lewthwaite and Sally Jones, known as ‘white widows’, or the first European female suicide bomber, who blew herself up in Iraq more than a decade ago, Muriel Degauque (aka Myriam Goris), the reports imply that radical female converts are deadlier than all other extremists. Their relatively ordinary upbringing, their whiteness and their gender mean they avoid suspicion. With their fanaticism, devotion and sacrifice, they become poster children for extremist groups, symbols of the persuasive power of their ideology. The media and the propaganda of extremist groups bestow on them a twisted celebrity. Persons Katherine Brown
Keywords
- Jihad
- Religion
- Gender
- Terrorism
- ISIS
- Counter-Terrorism