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Overview Al-Qaeda Was Responsible for the Most Horrific and Historically Significant Terrorist Attacks in American History

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Overview Al-Qaeda Was Responsible for the Most Horrific and Historically Significant Terrorist Attacks in American History WHAT IS AL-QAEDA? 9/11: PRE-VISIT OVERVIEW Al-Qaeda was responsible for the most horrific and historically significant terrorist attacks in American history, yet many Americans (especially those who were too young to remember the attacks) do not understand what al-Qaeda’s intention was. This lesson provides general material on al-Qaeda’s organizational structure, history, and mission. AGE GROUP Grades 9-12, College Level COLORADO GRADE LEVEL EXPECTATIONS/HIGH SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS HISTORY 1. The historical method of inquiry to ask questions, evaluate primary and secondary sources, critically analyze and interpret data, and develop interpretations defended by evidence from a variety of primary and secondary sources 2. Analyze the key concepts of continuity and change, cause and effect, complexity, unity and diversity over time 3. The significance of ideas as powerful forces throughout history COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS (GRADES 11-12) ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS: COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS: SPEAKING AND LISTENING • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS: COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS: READING • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclus.ions drawn from the text. ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS: READING • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2 Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text. LENGTH OF LESSON One 45-minute lesson 1 of 7 WHAT IS AL-QAEDA? 9/11: PRE-VISIT RATIONALE In this lesson, students will explore the history of al-Qaeda from secondary source analysis and will answer critical discussion questions, helping them gain a better under- standing of al-Qaeda, and the political implications of the September 11th, 2001 attacks. OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this lesson, students will be better able to: • Analyze secondary source material describing al-Qaeda, its goals, and its motivation; • Discuss their understanding and impressions of the text; and • Listen carefully to their peers while engaging in collaborative conversation about a sensitive and important topic. MATERIALS Worksheet 1: Discussion Questions Handout 1: What is al-Qaeda? Handout 2: How has al-Qaeda Evolved since 9/11/01? INCLUDED Worksheet 1: Discussion Questions Handout 1: What is al-Qaeda? Handout 2: How has al-Qaeda Evolved since 9/11/01? 2 of 7 WHAT IS AL-QAEDA? 9/11: PRE-VISIT Lesson 1. Warm Up: Give students up to five minutes to work with a partner and write down everything they know about al-Qaeda. 2. Pass out Handouts 1 and 2. Give students 20 minutes to read and write down at least three questions about what they read. 3. Split students into small groups. Each group will be responsible for one of the discussion questions on Worksheet 1. 4. Reconvene the class, asking each group to present their information (including questions and comments). 5. Have the whole class discuss what they learned from the articles. 6. Ask students to keep a record of what they learned either in a journal or reflective essay. 3 of 7 WHAT IS AL-QAEDA? 9/11: PRE-VISIT WORKSHEET 1: PRE-VISIT Discussion Questions 1. Describe al-Qaeda’s structure. How does it help the organization survive? How does it make al-Qaeda difficult to fight? 2. What does the first source mean when it says “depend on the sponsorship of a political state”? Why is that significant? What does it mean when it says that the organization “operates as a franchise?” 3. What is al-Qaeda’s goal? What might be their reasons? What is the significance of the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center? How might this operation have furthered al-Qaeda’s goals? 4. According to the second source, how has al-Qaeda evolved since 9/11? Where do they stand today? What is different? What is still the same? 5. Think about other ideological wars you may have learned about in history. How do they compare to the one al-Qaeda is waging? Think about organizational structure, resources, goals, and methods of recruitment. 4 of 7 WHAT IS AL-QAEDA? 9/11: PRE-VISIT HANDOUT 1: PRE-VISIT What is al-Qaeda? Excerpt from “Osama bin Laden’s Network of Terror” Pearson Education, Inc. What is al-Qaeda? After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda (or al-Qa’ida, pronounced al-KYE-da) surpassed the IRA, Hamas, and Hezbollah as the world›s most infamous terrorist organization. Al-Qaeda—”the base” in Arabic—is the network of extremists organized by Osama bin Laden The death of bin Laden, who was killed in a joint operation by U.S. troops and CIA operatives in May 2011, complicated the future of al-Qaeda. Some speculated that the group will be emboldened and seek retaliation, while others wondered if it might founder without its supreme leader. In June, U.S. officials announced that after pouring through the documents and computer files taken from bin Laden›s compound, they confirmed their assumption that al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been seriously weakened as a result of U.S. counterterrorism operations undertaken in Pakistan.More than a month after bin Laden’s death al-Qaeda named Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s theological leader, as its leader. Bin Laden’s death was followed in June by the demise of another powerful, top-ranking al-Qaeda leader, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed. He was the leader of al-Qaeda in East Africa and organized the U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998. He was killed during a shootout at a security checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia. Leadership and Structure Although al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden have become virtually synonymous, bin Laden did not run the organization single-handedly. His top advisor was al-Zawahiri, bin Laden’s successor. Al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian surgeon from an upper-class family. He joined the country’s Islamist movement in the late 1970s. He served three years in prison on charges connected to the assassination of Anwar Sadat, during which time he was tortured. After his release he went to Afghanistan, where he met bin Laden and became his personal physician and advisor. He was likely instrumental in bin Laden’s political evolution. Al-Zawahiri is suspected of helping organize the 1997 massacre of 67 foreign tourists in the Egyptian town of Luxor and was indicted in connection with the bombing of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. In 1998, he was one of five Islamic leaders to sign on to bin Laden’s declaration calling for attacks against U.S. citizens. He is wanted by the FBI and has been sentenced to death by Egypt in absentia. In March 2004 the Pakistani military began an assault on al-Qaeda troops along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. These troops were believed to be defending al-Zawahiri, who managed to escape. Al-Qaeda’s leadership oversees a loosely organized network of cells. It can recruit members from thousands of “Arab Afghan” veterans and radicals around the world. Its infrastructure is small, mobile, and decentralized—each cell operates independently with its members not knowing the identity of other cells. Local operatives rarely know anyone higher up in the organization’s hierarchy. 5 of 7 WHAT IS AL-QAEDA? 9/11: PRE-VISIT Al-Qaeda differs significantly from more traditional terrorist organizations. It does not depend on the sponsorship of a political state, and, unlike the PLO or the IRA, it is not defined by a particular conflict. Instead, al-Qaeda operates as a franchise. It ovidespr financial and logistical support, as well as name recognition, to terrorist groups operating in such diverse places as the Philippines, Algeria, Eritrea,Afghanistan, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Somalia, Yemen, and Kashmir. Furthermore, local groups may act in the name of al-Qaeda in order to bolster their own reputation—even if they are not receiving support from the organization. Ideology and Goals The principal stated aims of al-Qaeda are to drive Americans and American influence out of all Muslim nations, especially Saudi Arabia; destroy Israel; and topple pro-Western dictatorships around the Middle East. Bin Laden also said that he wishes to unite all Muslims and establish, by force if necessary, an Islamic nation adhering to the rule of the first Caliphs. According to bin Laden’s 1998 fatwa (religious decree), it is the duty of Muslims around the world to wage holy war on the U.S., American citizens, and Jews. Muslims who do not heed this call are declared apostates (people who have forsaken their faith). Al-Qaeda’s ideology, often referred to as “jihadism,” is marked by a willingness to kill “apostate” —and Shiite—Muslims and an emphasis on jihad. Although “jihadism” is at odds with nearly all Islamic religious thought, it has its roots in the work of two modern Sunni Islamic thinkers: Mohammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Sayyid Qutb. Al-Wahhab was an 18th-century reformer who claimed that Islam had been corrupted a generation or so after the death of Mohammed.
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