As a South African having grown up under Apartheid, I'm very wary of loaded terms like "terrrorist" and struggle to think of criteria that might consistently be applied to define someone as such. The media, it seems, have far less hesitation, and seem agreed that the 7 July London bombers meet the spec.
As the second anniversary approaches, News24 has posted Shiv Malik's three-part BBC-drama-that-didn't-happen focusing on the transition of Sidique Khan from Beeston boy to bomber. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 deal variously with Malik's problems of access to the material, Sidique's story, and the broader social context in which it continues to play out. If nothing else, it's an interesting glimpse on quite how hard-nosed and insensitive reporters are prepared to be in pursuit of a story.
Of possibly more interest, though, are the issues around young people and identity - and specifically young Muslim people and identity - that Malik's article discusses. How different are thoses issues to those discussed by some of our own students in their blogs on this very blog spot? Why then do the Beeston boys become bombers, while our students do not?