Who is Osama Bin Laden?
Module 4 - Heroes and Villains
Weeks 6 & 7
Slideshow Guide
This slideshow will have a variety of different coloured texts - this indicates the activity you need to complete.
Key:
Bolded text = Write it down in your books
Red Text = Discuss as a class
Green Text = Respond in your books/Chromebooks
Regular Text = Simply read and enjoy the warmth of knowledge entering your brain
Unit Outline
This unit will discuss the following topics:
Lesson 1
Learning Intention:
The goal of this lesson is to be able to identify the meaning of terrorism and it’s role within modern history.
Tasks:
Definitions
Mini Research task
Brainstorm the following concepts:�What do you think they mean?�
Activity 1
Use the internet to find definitions for these words.
How are they similar/different?
Class expectations and general background to extremism
Terrorism is defined as “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.”�- Oxford Languages
Terrorism is not directly related to a specific religion or ethnic group - there are multiple examples of terrorism within our society that can be attributed to various societal groups.
This unit of work will be focussing on Osama Bin Laden, the creator and leader of one of the many terrorist groups, Al Qaeda.
What is terrorism?
Terrorism is a spectacle. Unlike most criminals, terrorists want their actions to be witnessed. They want as many people as possible to see, hear, discuss, and read about what they have done.
This is usually done to achieve a political goal, by having people see these events, they are exposing their views and opinions.
Activity 2
Examples of Terrorism throughout history
Some examples of physical terrorism throughout history include:
Mini Task:
Pick 1 of these events and provide a brief summary of what happened
(4-5 sentences)
Add your description to your digital learning activity sheet.
Terrorism Video
A few things explained..
Lesson 2
Learning Intention:
The goal of this lesson is to identify the origins of al-Qaeda and the Taliban and the reasons behind Bin Laden’s motivations.
Tasks:
Online question
Complete table
General background to Bin Laden
Osama Bin Laden was born in 1957 or 1958 in Saudi Arabia.
He is 1 of 52 children and was the son of a very rich business man who owned a construction company.
He grew up in a very fancy and wealthy family, and had access to the best education.
When Bin Laden was in university, he was heavily influenced by a radical pan-islamist which influenced his beliefs and every decision he made.
Pan-Islamist = A member of the Muslim faith who believes that all Muslims should be united under 1 country or state.
Osama Bin Laden later became the leader of Al Qaeda - an extremist terrorist group
Middle East during the Cold War
Activity 3
The Cold War was military tension between the USSR (Soviet Union) and the USA following the events of World War 2.
Generally speaking, USSR wanted communism throughout the world and the USA wanted to retain capitalist societies.
This led to various proxy wars where smaller forces were backed by either the USSR or the USA.
Online question:
“Why do you think smaller forces were backed by the USSR and the USA?”
Middle East during the Cold War
Activity 4
Afghanistan was one of the many victims of the proxy wars being supported by the USSR and the USA.
�The Soviet-Afghan War was a battle between the USSR and the Afghan people between 1979 and 1988.
Complete the table below:
USSR | Afghanistan |
Wanted to take over Afghanistan to uphold communist values | Unhappy with Christian people coming and taking over their country - created a resistance group called the Mujahadeen |
Used expansive resources to overwhelm Afghan forces | CIA (USA) trained and gave weapons to Mujahadeen |
Soviet forces leave in 1988 after lack of victory. | Afghanistan open to new leadership, a civil war takes place and a group called the Taliban take over in 1994. |
Video time!
Watch at your own leisure.
Osama Bin Laden: Origins of Al-Qaeda
During the Soviet-Afghan War, Bin Laden journeyed through Pakistan, Afghanistan and surrounding areas looking to amass a following to help him get rid of the invaders. �He used his status among the people and his huge financial resources to help sway oppressed people.
Bin Laden believed that the invasion was anti-islamic in nature, and therefore needed to be stopped.
His following grew and ultimately became the group Al-Qaeda in 1988.
It wasn’t until the early 1990s, that Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda created their goal of anti-western society. Shaped by his experiences with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf War, he declared that he would fight against the American presence in the Muslim World.
Sorry, that is a lot of reading, but here are some key terms to help you out with your understanding:
Amass - find/create a group
Oppressed - people who are being limited by a superior force
Gulf War - War between USA and Iraq
But who are the Taliban?
Great question *Insert student name*,
The Taliban are a militant group that emerged in the northern parts of Pakistan after the withdrawal of the Soviets in the 1990s.
They took power over the people and overthrew the bare bones politics in play in that region.
During this time, they enforced extreme versions of their religion on people and enforced this with brutality. �It is important to note that the Taliban represent a very very small number of Islamic peoples and Islam is a religion based on peace.
Why are the taliban relevant?
The Taliban are relevant to the Bin Laden story for 1 specific reason.
After the 9/11 attacks, they were accused on hiding Bin Laden from the USA and accused of working with him directly.
This led to the invasion of the USA in Afghanistan and the rapid overthrow of the Taliban and a war that lasted 20 years.
Unfortunately, in the recent weeks, the Taliban have taken back over the capital Kabul.
For those who are curious:�https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-18/taliban-press-conference-women-sharia-amrullah-saleh/100385696
Afghan appreciation
Hey guys,
Here is a video for those who are curious about the Afghan people. The youtube channel traveled in Afghanistan and met the people who are experiencing the negative impacts of the Taliban.
They are a peaceful people who have experienced truly awful events in the last 80 years.
This video may be slightly intense, but worth a watch.
Lesson 3
Learning Intention:
The goal of this lesson is to examine the course of the September 11 attacks and to identify the long term impacts of this event.
Tasks:
Activity 5:�
9/11 Timeline activity
Activity 6:�
PEC paragraph response
Warning:
The following content may be distressing to some.
September 11 2001
On the morning of September 11 2001, 4 passenger planes were hijacked by Al-Qaeda members.
2 planes were flown into the Twin Towers (the World Trade Centre). �1 plane was flown in the Pentagon (US headquarters for defense)�1 plane crashed in a field near Pennsylvania (Suggested to be heading for the White House)
This was a major terrorist attack that killed 2996 Americans - including office workers and first responders.
This event led to the war in the Middle East, massive immigration and aviation reforms, and increased levels of racism around the world.
The Twin Towers
The Twin Towers were two towers located in the southern part of the Island of Manhattan (New York City).
They were targeted for 3 reasons:
1 plane slammed into each tower resulting in the collapse of both after fire decimated the internal structures. �
The Twin Towers
The planes hit the towers during the peak working period of that morning. There were 94 floors per building.
When the first plane hit, it set fire the central part of the building. It also stopped those above it from exiting the building.
When the second plane hit the other tower, it did the same thing.
After a period of time, the fires internally made the buildings collapse. This led to many more deaths and debris in the surrounding areas. Unfortunately, due to the rapid response from the first responders (Fire/Ambulance/Police) they were also killed.
9/11 Video
The Pentagon
&
Flight 93
The Pentagon is the centre of the military control in the USA (think of it as the military buildings in Central Canberra).
This was struck by 1 plane and resulted in major fires, but relatively low levels of death and casualties.
Flight 93 was a flight allegedly headed for the White House of Camp David (Presidential Retreat).
The passengers on bomb attempted to fight back against the hijackers and ultimately crashed in a field.
Lesson 3 Activities:�
2. Activity 6:�Written Response
Bonus Videos for the curious of mind!
General Background to Bin Laden
Hilary Clinton admits that the US created Al Qaeda