BRITZ- A Psychological Warfare or an Innocent Film?

Is the new two-part series BRITZ a new tactic to remind viewers that the terrorist threat is very real while we go about our lives thinking otherwise? The BRITZ shows a young Asian Muslim man who joins the MI5 (intelligence service) and helps track down British Muslim terrorists.

Is this drama part of a psychological warfare to threaten and frighten Muslims to believe that they are being watched every single second of the day? I think so. And I believe it is also a tactic to scare the British public that the terrorist threat is something the MI5 have to tackle daily. It makes one suspect that their neighbors could be terrorists, or their colleagues at work. Any group of men having fun at a paint-ball park will also be suspects; perhaps they are training to be terrorists. Every Muslim is a suspect.

I admit that I hold the same values of Sohail, the lead character, in that I honor being a Western, whether that is as an American or British or Australian. I am proud to be a part of this country. It sheltered me, it gave me opportunities that I probably would not have received back home. And I would proudly stand up for it if anyone decided to treat it the wrong way. And I have defended it many times back in Egypt, though I may not agree with the foreign policies of the Western world, like many American and British people.

But I feel as if the film is forcing me to choose between the country I was born in or my faith. The slogan for this two-part drama, which continues tomorrow, is "Whose side will you choose?". The two sides shown is the intelligence service and the terrorists. To be honest, I don't want to be part of either. Is that fair? I want to live my life peacefully without these creepy, scary, conspiracies. I don't want to believe that the government has our telephone/mobile/houses tapped, because that would mean I'm not trusted just because I'm a Muslim. I want to believe that only people who act suspiciously in terms of involving themselves in activities that may lead to terrorism deserve to be bugged, for the safety of the country and its people. I don't want to believe that innocent Muslims are under surveillance just because they are Muslims, because that would be unfair; there are plenty of innocent Muslims who are against terrorism, including me. 

I think if someone doesn't like the West, then they should go home. They should not live in this country. And if I found someone who was like that I would inform the intelligence services straight away, because these people hold no faith or morals; they are killers who would kill you and your family if you so happened to be on the train the day they decided to carry out their heinous attacks.

The intelligence man in the film said something interesting, as to why these young men become jihadis. Because they feel guilty from their lives in the West, what with all the privileges they have, so they resent it because it is these countries that are waging wars against the Muslim world. They have some sort of identity crises, not knowing where exactly to belong. And so they join groups of people who hold the same ideologies they do, to feel like they belong to a larger group of people. That is the basic human need- to feel that one belongs, and this is how they do it.

But I believe you can be with the people who are against the politics of the country and are also against the terrorists. There is a middle ground. And you don't have to sell your soul to the intelligence services to be a faithful citizen of the country you reside in.

I write this not knowing what the future holds for innocent Muslims in the West. Are we responsible for these terrorists turning out to be what they are? Could we do something to stop these groups forming? Are moderate Muslims doing enough? Do we have to forget about our Muslim identity in order to stop terrorism as what the film tries to portray with Sohail drinking and having sexual relations with an English woman? 

Can't Western people see that I can be a faithful Muslim and at the same time a faithful Westerner? That I can take the good things from Western society and be proud of it and at the same time be proud of being a Muslim, both not conflicting with each other but both helping me be a better person?

That I can pray, fast, wear the Hijab and attend Islamic lectures and at the same time protect the Western country I was born in from any harm, even if that means from people who claim to be Muslims?

That there is a middle ground we can choose, if only they let us. These psychological warfare tactics may be seen as to pressurize us to abandon our religion in order to not be terrorists. If that is so, then I want to be comfortable in practicing my religion and not be called a political-activist-soon-to-be-terrorist. What does a Muslim have to do to prove their loyalty to the country they are living in? Why it is only Muslims that are being shown as terrorists? There are so many more terrorists out there that are bound to be getting up to no good also, right?

Whatever the answers, however you feel after watching this thrilling, psychologically disturbing drama, and so does the psychological warfare. I'm just afraid that this will escalate the already escalating paranoia that Britain and America is going through. Whenever people start to forget and go on about their daily lives normally, the media just has to remind them, like salt rubbed on a wound.

Unique Muslimah is a journalist and freelance writer who was raised in the West, of Egyptian origin. Unique Muslimah has written for various publications in the US and UK. On Unique Muslimah's blog, she analysis cultures, films, books, people and supports Muslim women's rights according to Islam. To visit her blog check http://uniquemuslimah.wordpress.com where you can also e-mail her.