Night Walks

"In the war of ideas, people become the terrain."

Psychological operations (PSYOP) are operations to convey selected information and indicators to audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.

In episode 10, I speak with Derek Goeriz, a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier trained in insurgency, and intelligence community professional. We cover the psyop against American identity. Why are we seeing a spike in antagonism against the law enforcement community and the American rule of law with such orchestrated precision? Where is it coming from and how do we counter it?

About Derek Goeriz:

Derek holds a BA in Political Science from Yale University and an MA in International Affairs from UCSD’s School of Global Policy & Strategy. Derek is active in helping transitioning veterans and military families through participation in various charitable organizations and resides in San Diego with his daughter enjoying politics, philosophy, & the arts. Currently works in the defense tech sector.

About Shireen Qudosi:

Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism. In 2020, she launched two simultaneous podcasts, Belonging and Endeavor Against Extremism, available on SoundCloud.

I speak with former extremist Arno Michaelis on how becoming a father pulled him out of extremism. The preventing/countering violent extremism sector often enough looks at the role of gender in extremism, but only through the lens of motherhood. When it discusses masculinity, the focus is on how toxic masculinity concepts pull men in, but rarely is the a conversation on how authentic masculinity pulls men out of the ideology and into their power as men. I discuss that with Arno, but somewhere in there something quite incredible happens: a realization that the other is speaking a language that often isn't understood ...the language of compassion, kindness, love and vulnerability. I threw away any other question I had lined up and decided to move this conversation into a figurative open field. And that is what makes this podcast episode so special, and I wish it was available in video too so you could see the meeting of the minds that started taking place. I dug into this conversation uncharacteristically hurried, running late from one meeting to another, and yet as soon as we started speaking resonating on the same wavelength, we eased into the real conversation, which I share with you here fully and unedited, and hope you enjoy. About Arno Michaelis: In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Arno Michaelis was a leader of a worldwide racist skinhead organization, a reverend of a self-declared Racial Holy War, and lead singer of the hate-metal band Centurion, which sold 20,000 CDs by the mid-nineties and is still popular with racists today. Single parenthood, love for his daughter, and the forgiveness shown by people he once hated all helped to turn Arno's life around, bringing him to embrace diversity and practice gratitude for all life. After spending over a decade as a successful information technology consultant and entrepreneur, Arno is now a speaker, author of My Life After Hate, co-author of The Gift of Our Wounds, and very fortunate to be able to share his ongoing process of character development as an educator working with Serve 2 Unite. Founded as an ongoing peaceful response to the August 5th 2012 Sikh Temple shooting in Oak Creek, WI, S2U engages students creatively with a global network of peacemakers and mentors in partnership with Against Violent Extremism, The Forgiveness Project, Search For Common Ground, and Parents for Peace. Visit: https://www.parents4peace.org https://www.lifeafterhate.org About Shireen Qudosi: Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism. In 2020, she launched two simultaneous podcasts, Belonging and Endeavor Against Extremism, available on SoundCloud. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving your support: www.paypal.me/shireenqudosi

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

A clip of Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) educator Shireen Qudosi on Hill TV, speaking to the issue of childhood/youth extremism, and how to help parents understand the challenges their children might be facing.

About Shireen Qudosi:
Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism. In 2020, she launched two simultaneous podcasts, Belonging and Endeavor Against Extremism, available on SoundCloud.
Shireen’s experience has given her insight in forecasting where the conversation among the world’s leading secular and religious Islamic leaders is heading. She is also deeply interested in personal narratives as instruments for change. As a former refugee raised across three continents, she has a unique perspective of the issues facing the U.S. and global Muslim community. In 2011, Shireen was named one of the top ten North American Muslim Reformers by journalist Christine Williams.
Stay connected: eepurl.com/tXi9
Read Shireen’s autobiographical essay here: medium.com/@shireenqudosi/how-…former-7d0041712979

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving your support: www.paypal.me/shireenqudosi

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

The Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) sectors long abandoned the conveyor belt theory -- that there is a straight pathway on which an individual becomes radicalized. However, when that story was discarded it wasn't replaced with anything that captured the communities we need fighting on the frontlines. In an episode on the power of storytelling in PVE, Shireen Qudosi shares the story she created for workshop trainings to help communities understand the allure of extremists recruiters.

Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism. In 2020, she launched two simultaneous podcasts, Belonging and Endeavor Against Extremism, available on SoundCloud.
Shireen’s experience has given her insight in forecasting where the conversation among the world’s leading secular and religious Islamic leaders is heading. She is also deeply interested in personal narratives as instruments for change. As a former refugee raised across three continents, she has a unique perspective of the issues facing the U.S. and global Muslim community. In 2011, Shireen was named one of the top ten North American Muslim Reformers by journalist Christine Williams.
Stay connected: eepurl.com/tXi9
Read Shireen’s autobiographical essay here: medium.com/@shireenqudosi/how-…former-7d0041712979

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving your support: www.paypal.me/shireenqudosi

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

It's not everyday you get a person in counter-terrorism speaking up in support of Muslim Reformers. The two niches rarely every intersect, which is why I was delighted to connect with Liam Duffy in an hour-long conversation on jihadis and Islamists.

We covered:

- ISIS hopscotching from China and it’s abuse of Muslim population, Iran for being Shia, and the West for its imperialism. How do you counter a strategy that adapts to the events of the ground so rapidly?
- Is blaming Western adventurism for jihad essentially an anglocentric view?
- How abuse against Muslim Reformers gave Liam the courage to speak openly against the ideology of violent jihad.
- The fetishizing of minority communities is an obstacle to overcoming some of the issues revolving around Islamism and jihadism.
- How are people who’ve grown up in in democratic ideals adopting an 8th century ideology?
- The romanticization of 9/11 by Islamists.
- Beyond identity politics: A look at what bonds people in a secular state.
- How to counter public denial and naivety about Islamist extremism?
- Is it possible to fight for PVE without fighting Islamism?
- The problem with pigeon-holing radicalization as a vulnerability problem.
- Managing expectations in deradicalization.
- Tell the better story: Storytelling as a response to the ideological challenge of Islamism and other challenges posed by Islamist groups to liberal democracy. Counter narratives and counter messaging

About Liam:

Liam Duffy is an independent researcher, trainer and adviser on extremism and counterterrorism. Liam designs and delivers extensive professional training programs for law enforcement, government and civil society in both the UK and overseas. He previously worked in the prevention strand of the UK government's counterterrorism strategy
_____________________

About Shireen Qudosi:

Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism. In 2020, she launched two simultaneous podcasts, Belonging and Endeavor Against Extremism, available on SoundCloud.

Shireen’s experience has given her insight in forecasting where the conversation among the world’s leading secular and religious Islamic leaders is heading. She is also deeply interested in personal narratives as instruments for change. As a former refugee raised across three continents, she has a unique perspective of the issues facing the U.S. and global Muslim community. In 2011, Shireen was named one of the top ten North American Muslim Reformers by journalist Christine Williams.

Stay connected: http://eepurl.com/tXi9
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving your support: https://www.paypal.me/shireenqudosi

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

A conversation with former NY Assemblyman Dov Hikind on the types of anti-semitism we're seeing during the coronavirus pandemic.About Shireen Qudosi: Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism. In 2020, she launched two simultaneous podcasts, Belonging and Endeavor Against Extremism, available on SoundCloud. Shireen’s experience has given her insight in forecasting where the conversation among the world’s leading secular and religious Islamic leaders is heading. She is also deeply interested in personal narratives as instruments for change. As a former refugee raised across three continents, she has a unique perspective of the issues facing the U.S. and global Muslim community. In 2011, Shireen was named one of the top ten North American Muslim Reformers by journalist Christine Williams. Stay connected: eepurl.com/tXi9 If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving your support: www.paypal.me/shireenqudosi

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

As Ramadan 2020 kicks off, so has the first controversy of the season. In Minneapolis Minnesota, CAIR backed a recently passed public ordinance allowing a 5 daily Muslim calls to prayer which start from sunrise and continue through sunset. Catch my conversation with Dalia Al-Aqidi, the woman challenging Ilhan Omar's congressional seat for Minnesota's 5th district. Dalia breaks down CAIR's agenda and unveils the problematic past of the mosque behind this call to prayer.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

Set to the backdrop of a warm Georgia summer night, we bring you an intimate conversation with forensic psychologist Rachel Bell. We cover:

- Rachael's experience working in Rotterdam, offering therapy to Muslims extremists classified as "honor killers." What did she do to "test" them?
- Genetic predispositions to psychosis, exploring the evergreen question of nature vs. nurture.
- How do we use science to dissuade people from joining extremist organizations? A look at tangible solutions that lead with psychology.
- What are the red flags for parents, teachers and counselors should watch out for?
- How can you treat people with extremist behavior? Does that change if it's a cult or gang?
- Acculturation vs. Assimilation: programs that can create pathways for belonging.
- Why the West needs to educate itself on what's coming in from vulnerable migrant communities just as much as they might expect those communities to understand Western law and culture.
- Why did a popular liberal media outlet look the other way on female militants and child militants?
- How do we build programs to empower youth and deal with some of these issues from the bottom up?

The evening was generously hosted by Georgene Brazer.

Rachael Bell has worked as a forensic psychologist for over 25 years. She owns a private counseling practice and a podcast series called True Crimes Podcast. She's taught in the U.S. and in two universities in the Netherlands, covering a range of subjects from forensic psychology, personality theories, research, and criminal psychology. Rachael has a double Masters in health psychology and clinical psychology, with a focus in forensics.

About Shireen Qudosi:
Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism. In 2020, she launched two simultaneous podcasts, Belonging and Endeavor Against Extremism, available on SoundCloud.
Shireen’s experience has given her insight in forecasting where the conversation among the world’s leading secular and religious Islamic leaders is heading. She is also deeply interested in personal narratives as instruments for change. As a former refugee raised across three continents, she has a unique perspective of the issues facing the U.S. and global Muslim community. In 2011, Shireen was named one of the top ten North American Muslim Reformers by journalist Christine Williams.
Stay connected: http://eepurl.com/tXi9
Read Shireen’s autobiographical essay here: https://medium.com/@shireenqudosi/how-i-became-a-muslim-reformer-7d0041712979

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving your support: https://www.paypal.me/shireenqudosi

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

Jeff Schoep, former commander of the largest Nazi party in the United States, joins us for an hour-long conversation on his experience, deradicalization, and the parallels he sees between Islamists and neo-Nazis, along with the alarming trend toward extremism in American politics right now in a post-coronavirus world.

We also cover:
- Conspiracy theories in the time of a virus pandemic. Will the coronavirus bring on the "boogaloo"?
- Is America headed toward the climactic war that extremists want? Are we becoming radicalized and cult-minded?
- I question whether psychological violence is the connective tissue between radicalization and violent extremism. And on that note, is the coronavirus stimulus package a form of economic violence?
- Are extremists prophets of social breakdowns?
- How propagandists find marketing opportunities in crisis and violence
- What needs to change within our culture and society in order to dissolve the lure of extremist ideologies?
- How the "grey space" between black and white is an opportunity to create something new.
- Identity markers prime us for extremism.
- A desire for glory and remembering what it means to be a hero.
- How legacy got Jeff into...and out of...the Nazi movement.
- Fascination as a gateway to hate?
- The alarming behavior parallels between Nazis and Islamists.
- What is made up of the wall that extremists put up to block out human dignity and empathy?
- The skepticism and challenges of renouncing Nazism.
- The Silent Audience.
- What does peace mean to Jeff?

About Shireen Qudosi:
Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism. In 2020, she launched two simultaneous podcasts, Belonging and Endeavor Against Extremism, available on SoundCloud.

Shireen’s experience has given her insight in forecasting where the conversation among the world’s leading secular and religious Islamic leaders is heading. She is also deeply interested in personal narratives as instruments for change. As a former refugee raised across three continents, she has a unique perspective of the issues facing the U.S. and global Muslim community. In 2011, Shireen was named one of the top ten North American Muslim Reformers by journalist Christine Williams.

Stay connected: http://eepurl.com/tXi9
Read Shireen’s autobiographical essay here: https://medium.com/@shireenqudosi/how-i-became-a-muslim-reformer-7d0041712979

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving your support: https://www.paypal.me/shireenqudosi

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe

Shireen Qudosi speaks with former Al-Qaeda propagandist Jesse Morton on:
- The Jihadi response to America's panic over coronavirus
- Divergent narratives between the East and the West
- How extremists will use a global pandemic to demonize the enemy, and how this ties in with conspiracy theories and end-times rhetoric.
- Why secularism is broken and whether it can be salvaged.
- Every crisis is an opportunity. In the West that means breaking away from broken models of polarized leadership, and why safe centrism doesn't work either.

Qudosi: "America is a story and this is a time to reconnect with that story."

Morton: "If you walk 19 years into a forest, it'll take 19 years to talk back out. This is the long hard haul of redefining who we are as a people."

About Jesse:
Jesse Morton is founder and head of Parallel Networks, an organization combating hate and extremism, and research coordinator for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue’s Against Violent Extremism Network in North America. Once a prominent radicalizer in the West, Morton co-founded and was chief propagandist of Revolution Muslim, a New York City-based group active in the 2000s, where he helped insert the narrative of Al-Qaeda and Salafi-jihadist ideology into the American ambit. He has lectured at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University (Saudi Arabia) and Sunderland University (Morocco), and worked at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, focused on issues such as jihadist propaganda. Morton was named one of Foreign Policy’s 2017 Global Thinkers.

About Shireen Qudosi:
Shireen Qudosi is a writer and speaker on faith, identity, and belonging. She’s one of the leading North American Muslim Reformers. Her work has been published in The Federalist, Women in the World, Clarion Project, The Middle East Forum, and more. Her keynote writings also include an in-depth assessment on the War on Terror through the lens of WWII and a two-hour exclusive interview with radical Imam Abu Taubah, who was linked to Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen. In 2016, Shireen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, offering a powerful testimony that tied the current crisis to Islam’s origin story. “Original Islam” is a theme that runs through the veins of her work, and is central to the book project she is pursuing. In 2017, Shireen launched a petition against Davis hate imam Ammar Shahin, which broadened into a small movement in 2018. She carried her message on hate imams in Never Again is Now, a documentary by filmmaker Evelyn Markus, on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. In 2019, she bridged her experience in reform to ally with former extremists and develop a training series on preventing violent extremism. In 2020, she launched two simultaneous podcasts, Belonging and Endeavor Against Extremism, available on SoundCloud.
Shireen’s experience has given her insight in forecasting where the conversation among the world’s leading secular and religious Islamic leaders is heading. She is also deeply interested in personal narratives as instruments for change. As a former refugee raised across three continents, she has a unique perspective of the issues facing the U.S. and global Muslim community. In 2011, Shireen was named one of the top ten North American Muslim Reformers by journalist Christine Williams.
Stay connected: http://eepurl.com/tXi9
Read Shireen’s autobiographical essay here: https://medium.com/@shireenqudosi/how-i-became-a-muslim-reformer-7d0041712979

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving your support: https://www.paypal.me/shireenqudosi

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.eradarkheart.com/subscribe