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like, and contributed to Zarqawi's development of a world in which Islam was
triumphant.
For every Zarqawi, there are two Mohammed Atta's, European-educated, emo-
tionally stable, and children of parents who left the Middle East for Europe and the
United States and elsewhere. These individuals attend Western schools, but whereas
Western students who attend institutions of higher learning and are more likely to
become secularized, the Atta's of the world become more attuned with their reli-
gious upbringing. These feelings are mixed with societal maladies, or the actions of
various governments, perceived by these individuals to be attacks against Muslims
and Islam. Into this already volatile mix is the idea of
takfir,
, the idea in which
jihadists will condemn those who do not agree with their various worldviews, with
apostasy, in essence, giving them, in their own minds, the license to conduct ter-
rorist attacks.
Radicalization is a study unto itself, and contrary to past studies, there is
no magic formula for law enforcement or counterterrorism agencies to follow.
Although some lump these homegrown jihadists together, they themselves have
followed different paths to their various end states. Step one does not immediately
lead to step two on the path to jihadism; it is all personally driven. Below are the
paths to radicalization of three different individuals, which by no means encom-
pass the entire spectrum of radicalization studies, but are meant to sow the distinct
pathways that were taken to get there.
Rashid Baz
On March 1, 1994, Rashid Baz, a Lebanese livery cab driver, opened fire on a van
full of Hasidic students on the Brooklyn Bridge. The attack left several students
wounded and 16-year-old Ari Halberstam dead. Baz was angered by a massacre
of Muslim worshippers at an Islamic holy site in Hebron, and in the wake of the
attack, Baz saw himself as defender of Islam.
Baz was born into a middle-class family in Lebanon in 1965, although his father
was a Druze, a sect that broke from Islam and have since been persecuted by both
Sunni and Shiites. Baz came to the United States in 1984 and began frequenting
mosques in New York City, but he did not convert until 1992. On September 4,
1992, Baz was involved in an accident and told the driver of the other car, “I am a
Muslim.” Baz began identifying himself as a Palestinian Muslim, and in February
1994, when Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Muslims at the Cave of the Patriarchs, Baz
began a rapidly accelerated radicalization process.
During his trial, Baz's psychiatrist told the court that after the Goldstein mas-
sacre that Baz “was enraged. He was absolutely furious. He was, I think, Hebron
put him from condition yellow to condition red.” Baz began attending the Islamic
Center of Bay Ridge, in Brooklyn, New York, and was influenced by the rhetoric of
the imam who talked about revenge. Days before the shooting, Baz began referring
