Bridging the Divide #10 | Interview: Tahar Ben Jelloun, On Terrorism

The Moroccan poet, novelist, essayist, and journalist, Tahar Ben Jelloun, is one of France's most celebrated writers. He has written extensively about Moroccan culture, the immigrant experience, human rights, and sexual identity.

With the trial opening this week in Paris over the January 2015 attacks on the offices of the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and a kosher supermarket that killed seventeen people, Terrorism: Conversations with My Daughter (translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins) is a timely and essential read.

Can you briefly describe for our listeners the roots of terrorism in France, and what are its intentions?

How could the powers that be in France address the ongoing issue of police violence and toxic legacy of colonialism in an attempt to reassess its narrative about Islam, and its social policies? 

Hear the answers to these questions and more in this insightful interview for curious minds.  

Presented by Georgia de Chamberet | Produced by Rupert Such | Voice-over by Issa Naseri