Hosted in the Frontline Club Forum room – an iconic hub for international affairs and independent journalism in London – the evening will include a panel discussion around the book by some of its contributors and other experts followed by an iftar meal to meet the panelists.

THE EXILE tells the extraordinary story of the almost ten years that Osama Bin Laden evaded intelligence services and special forces units, drones and hunter killer squads. Through the eyes of those who witnessed it, Scott-Clark and Levy offer an insider’s account from bin Laden’s four wives and children, his deputies and military strategists, his spiritual advisor, the CIA, Pakistan’s ISI, and many others who have never before told their stories.

Having gained unique access to bin Laden’s inner circle, Scott-Clark and Levy, recount the flight of Al Qaeda’s forces and bin Laden’s innocent family members, the gradual formation of ISIS by bin Laden’s lieutenants, and bin Laden’s rising paranoia and eroding control over his organisation. They also reveal that the Bush White House knew the whereabouts of bin Laden’s family and Al Qaeda’s military and religious leaders, but rejected opportunities to capture them, pursuing war in the Persian Gulf instead, and offer insights into how Al Qaeda will attempt to regenerate itself in the coming years.

The sporadic release of documents by the Defence Department in recent years only represented about 1 percent of the million-plus document trove recovered in Abbottabad. “We need more detail and not less. We require more nuance and understanding if we are to ever tamp down a bloody conflict that threatens the globe,” write Scott-Clark and Levy, “And it is from this place— a desire for a contemporary, complex, untidy, knotted, verbal history, where no one is regular or consistent, and where allies are murderously betraying their friends, in which good men make poor choices, and switch sides, and wives become double agents—that this book begins.” While we think we know what happened in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011, we know little about the wilderness years that led to that shocking event.

Chair- Owen-Bennett Jones

Owen Bennett-Jones is a journalist for the BBC and one of the hosts of Newshour on the BBC World Service. He has reported from over 60 countries, including Pakistan. In this time he gained unprecedented access to interview members of Al Qaeda. In 2008 Bennett-Jones won the Sony journalist of the year award and in 2009 the Commonwealth journalist of the year. He is the author of ‘Pakistan: Eye of the Storm’ (2010) and a contributor to the Lonely Planet’s ‘Pakistan and the Karakoram Highway’. Bennett-Jones is a regular contributor to the Financial Times, the Guardian and the London Review of Books.

Speakers

CATHY SCOTT-CLARK

Is an award-winning journalist, author and film-maker, reporting over the past twenty five years for the Sunday Times, Guardian, BBC and Channel 4 from places as varied as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Serbia, Russia,, China, Bangladesh, Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iran.

ADRIAN LEVY

Is an internationally renowned and award-winning investigative journalist who worked as a staff writer and foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times for seven years before joining the Guardian as senior correspondent. He has reported from South Asia for more than a decade, and now lives in London.

On Friday 20 May, the Frontline Club hosted a screening of ‘He Named Me Malala’, an insightful and emotional portrait of Malala Yousafzai, that usher us into Malala’s life; both now and before she was shot by the Taliban while campaigning for Pakistani girls’ right to education. The screening was followed by a panel discussion moderated by BBC journalist Sima Kotecha, with Gulwali Passarlay, an author and Afghan political refugee, Philippa Lei, Director or Policy and Advocacy at Malala Fund, and Elin Martinez, researcher in the Children’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. The panel discussed the right to education for refugees, all contributing their individual expertise.

A constant theme throughout the evening was lack of access to education for refugees around the world, whether in refugee camps in Jordan, or in foster care in the UK, and what barriers need to be overcome for this to change. Passarlay arrived in the UK when he was 13 years old, after travelling for one year, through ten countries. He initially found it very difficult to access education, and describing it as “the key to freedom”. All panel members agreed that education was vital for all refugee children, with Lei commenting that many governments do not spend enough money on an infrastructure to facilitate providing education to all refugees, and that rich countries should be providing more resources to those countries that are hosting the majority of the world’s refugees, stating that: “…governments have a financial responsibility to provide an education for every child”.

The panel all dismissed the financial argument that educating and housing refugees will use up their resources, with Martinez observing that “resources can be found when they want to be”. Passarlay stated that these arguments, which create an “us and them” are unfair, asking

“Why are we blaming refugees [for austerity]? We should see refugees not as a burden, but as an investment”

And stating that, as Malala has said before, “we have a voice in the West but we take it or granted”. In agreement, Lei observed that “Malala is using her voice to bring some of that moral conscience back”, when she is not scared to ask difficult questions and talk about the issues that matter to her.

In answer to an audience member asking what do refugee children need the most, Passarlay, with agreement from the other panel members, told her that “What is in short supply is dignity, human value…understanding and compassion. Education is important, but, they are traumatised, before that they need love”.

For more information about any future screenings of ‘He named me Malala’ and the work of the Malala Fund, visit https://www.withmalala.org/

This event will be moderated by Max Houghton, senior lecturer in photography at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. She previously ran the documentary photography MA at the University of Westminster, and edited the photography biannual 8 magazine for six years. She writes regularly on the arts for publications including FOAM, Photoworks, 1000 Words and The Daily Telegraph.

David Birkin is a British-born artist based in New York. He studied anthropology at Oxford University and fine art at the Slade, and was a fellow on the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art. His past projects have included a collaboration with the courtroom sketch artist at Guantanamo, a visual rendering of identification numbers from the Iraqi civilian casualty database, and skywriting an extract of CIA legalese above Manhattan. He has exhibited internationally, most recently at The Mosaic Rooms in London, FotoFest in Houston, and the Whitney ISP in New York, and has written for publications including Creative Time Reports, Cabinet Magazine, Ibraaz and the Harvard Advocate.

He Named Me Malala is an intimate portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted by the Taliban and severely wounded by a gunshot when returning home on her school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The then 15-year-old was singled out, along with her father, for advocating for girls’ education, and the attack on her sparked an outcry from supporters around the world. She miraculously survived and is now a leading campaigner for girls’ education globally as co-founder of the Malala Fund.

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman) shows us how Malala, her father Zia and her family are committed to fighting for education for all girls worldwide. The film gives us an inside glimpse into this extraordinary young girl’s life – from her close relationship with her father who inspired her love for education, to her impassioned speeches at the UN, to her everyday life with her parents and brothers.

The release of He Named Me Malala coincided with a 12-month social action and advocacy campaign – #withMalala. Through audience engagement with global and in-country calls to action, the campaign aims to raise mass awareness, funding, and policy change by activating millions of people worldwide as newfound champions for girls’ education globally.

Sima Kotecha (moderator) is a British television and radio journalist working for the BBC. She currently is a multimedia reporter for BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme and makes regular appearances on the main BBC News TV bulletins as a reporter. She also presents the BBC1 TV news bulletin at 8pm and has presented Radio 5Live’s Up All Night and Newsday on the BBC World Service.

Gulwali Passarlay is an Afghan political refugee currently reading politics and international relations at the University of Manchester. He has appeared on the BBC, Channel 4 News and TEDx.

Philippa Lei is Director of Policy and Advocacy at Malala Fund. Philippa studied NGOs and International Development at LSE after spending 3 years in Romania working with children orphaned by AIDS. She held senior positions at World Vision and Save the Children before joining Malala Fund and has published papers and worked extensively on child rights policy, lobbying and programming related to international development.

Elin Martinez joined Human Rights Watch in July 2014, as a Researcher in the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, focused on the right to secondary education. She previously worked for the Global Partnership for Education’s Secretariat in Washington, as well as Save the Children UK, where she led the organization’s global advocacy efforts on the right to education in humanitarian emergencies and armed conflict.
Prior to focusing on global education advocacy, she worked at Franciscans International, a faith-based international NGO. Focused on human rights issues in the Asia Pacific, she worked with grassroots human rights defenders and advocacy organizations to develop national human rights advocacy strategies and to increase accountability for human rights violations through UN human rights bodies. You can follow her work on twitter via @Martinez_Elin or by visiting: https://goo.gl/V9m0jW

https://www.withmalala.org/
Directed by: Davis Guggenheim
Country: UK
Year: 2015
Runtime: 88′

Set in Pakistan, the documentary follows enigmatic cleric Maulana Aziz, also known as Abdul Aziz Ghazi, who is waging jihad against the Pakistani state and based at the controversial Red Mosque in Islamabad. Alongside Aziz, the film follows two 12-year-old students who have attended the madrassas – Islamic seminaries that teach Sharia law as the only law and at which students learn to recite the Quran – run by the Red Mosque network. Zarina escapes from her local madrassa to join a regular school; while Talha disengages from his moderate Muslim family and decides to become a jihadi preacher whilst studying at a madrassa.

The documentary explores the proliferation of Islamic fundamentalism in the context of a state that is trying to combat the indoctrination of children at madrassas.

The directors began the discussion by explaining how they had gained access to Aziz. Naqvi described how initially the film was about the two young teens, but as the story developed it became obvious that the team “needed to dig much more deeper than just following the other characters… We needed an anchor point, to follow someone who actually used a lot of these other characters, perpetuating their own rhetoric. And for us that happened to be Maulana Aziz,” said Naqvi.

Naqvi subsequently followed Aziz on and off for two years, but admitted the real access did not come until 2013. “I definitely came with my own baggage and my own prejudices,” said Naqvi. He was confronted by a man “affiliated with an institution that perpetuated militancy and intolerance in Pakistan, so I hated him definitely,” said Naqvi.

However, in 2013 “there was a major shift” in how Naqvi worked with Aziz.

Naqvi described how he had come to meet Aziz “on a common ground… on questions of my own faith and own spirituality.”

Goodman Levitt attributed much of the film’s success to the relationship Naqvi was able to build with Aziz, and commented that a combination of “good fortune and great work” had led to the film being made.

Saw @manaqvi‘s insightful and powerful documentary #AmongtheBelievers at the @frontlineclub last night.Most important film of the year.

— Maha Khan Phillips (@MahaKhanPhillip) March 12, 2016

Naqvi described how gaining access to and working with Zarina was a “real privilege” for the team. Despite pressure from her community not to become involved with the film, Zarina’s parents “really supported their daughter in wanting to bring this story forwards.” Zarina “really wanted to share her story, she was really open to it,” said Naqvi.

In addition to Aziz, Talha and Zarina, the film follows Dr Prevez Hoodbhoy, a doctor of nuclear physics and activist protesting the activities of the Red Mosque. Hoodbhoy was Aziz’s foil throughout the documentary and Naqvi described him as a useful ally of the production from the outset.

Much of the discussion focused on the future of Pakistan, and what changes will develop in the near future.

Among the Believers also explores the National Action Plan, instigated by the Pakistani government to push curriculum reform in the madrassas and to combat the culture of militancy. “The fact that they came up with the National Action Plan… The fact that there are some small disparate groups coming out on the streets and condemning this culture of intolerance, that’s something. All we can hope is that it grows from there,” said Naqvi. 

The response to the movie from within Pakistan was mixed. Some of Naqvi’s biggest and most loyal supporters are from Pakistan. However, some reacted “very viscerally… [they] said you’re just perpetuating a very singular stereotype and orientalist spectacle for western media.”

Naqvi concluded: “I’m still affecting change and if I can be part of the dialogue in change, that’s great.”

Among the Believers is being screened twice daily at the Curzon Bloomsbury, London until March 17 2016.

Charismatic cleric Abdul Aziz Ghazi, an ISIS supporter and Taliban ally, is waging jihad against the Pakistani state. His dream is to impose a strict version of Sharia law throughout the country, as a model for the world. A flashpoint in Aziz’s holy war took place in 2007, when the government leveled his flagship mosque to the ground, killing his mother, brother, only son and 150 students. With unprecedented access, Among the Believers follows Aziz on his very personal quest to create an Islamic utopia, during the bloodiest period in Pakistan’s modern history.

The film also follows the lives of two teenage students who have attended madrassahs (Islamic seminaries) run by Aziz’s Red Mosque network. Throughout the film, their paths diverge: Talha, 12, detaches from his moderate Muslim family and decides to become a jihadi preacher. Zarina, also 12, escapes her madrassah and joins a regular school. Over the next few years, Zarina’s education is threatened by frequent Taliban attacks on schools like her own.

Aziz’s foil is nuclear physicist and leading educational activist Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy. He passionately opposes Aziz through his public appearances, lectures, and in the media. Opposition to Aziz comes to a head in December 2014, when Aziz insults a grieving nation by trying to justify the brutal massacre of 132 school children in Peshawar by the Taliban. The attack ignites a movement to end extremism in Pakistan’s mosques and madrassahs. Led by Hoodbhoy and others, Pakistan’s moderate majority focuses on Aziz and calls for his arrest.

Intimate and shocking, Among the Believers offers rare insights into the ideological battles shaping Pakistan and the Muslim world.

Directed by: Hemal Trivedi and Mohammed Naqvi
Country: Pakistan
Year: 2015
Runtime: 84’

From the early days of the Arab Spring that sparked hopes for change to the years of instability and political tension that followed, this enthralling documentary follows the stories of young prominent underground artists from across the Middle East during the period of 2009 to 2013.

In a region fraught with political tension, these progressive musicians and artists have struggled for years to express themselves freely and to promote more liberal attitudes within their societies.

From young female artists in Egypt overturning the norms by living alone, to the persecution of a famous Lebanese musician for singing against the political leader, director Farid Eslam paints a picture of a new generation challenging both old and new realities with passion and admirable perseverance.

Directed by: Farid Eslam
Runtime: 84′
Year: 2015
Country: Czech Republic, Germany, UK, Egypt, Canada, US
Languages: English, Arabic

For over two decades, Christina Lamb has reported from Afghanistan, with unparalleled access to all key decision makers. She has developed an extensive understanding of the country, its people and the ongoing conflict.

In her new book Farewell Kabul: From Afghanistan to a More Dangerous World, she offers her final analysis of the realities of Afghanistan. She tells the story of well-intentioned men and women going into a place they did not understand, thinking it was the right thing to do, and how it became a conflict that everyone wanted to exit.

Christina Lamb will be joining us in conversation with BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter, Sarah Montague, to give her personal account of the longest war fought by the United States in its history, and by Britain since the Hundred Years War. She will offer her insight into the mistakes made, the lessons learned and the Afghanistan that is left behind.

Christina Lamb is the roving foreign affairs correspondent for The Sunday Times, she has been a foreign correspondent for more than twenty five years, living in Pakistan, Brazil and South Africa first for the Financial Times then The Sunday Times. She is the author of The Africa House, House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-torn Zimbabwe, Waiting For Allah: Pakistan’s Struggle for Democracy, The Sewing Circles of Herat, My Afghan Years and co-author of I Am Malala.

PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT WILL BE FILMED AND STREAMED LIVE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Directed by Tonje Hessen Schei and produced by Flimmer Film, Drone takes an in depth look at the United States’ use of drone technology, questioning how drones are altering the psychology of war. Drone explores new war technology from both the perspective of civilians living under drones in Pakistan and drone pilots training on programmes that resemble video games.

The film covers diverse and integral ground, from the recruitment of young pilots at gaming conventions and the re-definition of “going to war”, to the moral stance of engineers behind the technology, and the world leaders giving the “green light” to engage in targeted killing. Tonje Hessen Schei presents a thorough and well researched examination of how drones are remoulding the technological, political, and psychological landscape of war for both countries using the new technology and citizens of countries under drone strikes.

In the midst of the rapid advancement of technology, with which international legislation is struggling to keep up, Schei‘s film displays how drones are rapidly defining a new perception of war.

Directed by Tonje Hessen Schei
Duration: 78′
Year: 2014