EXPERT: Farah Pandith
Farah Pandith has worked to develop community responses to Islamism amongst young Muslims for the US State. She was born in Kashmir, but moved to the United States as a child, and became a US diplomat.
Farah Pandith has served three American presidents working to develop community responses to Islamism amongst young Muslims. She talks about the creativity and drive of young Muslims and how this can be engaged to develop resilience to Islamism, and deal with the impacts of Islamophobia. As Islamist groups have become more sophisticated in targetting young people, the need for increasing resilience and empowering young Muslims has become crucial. Across the world, recruiters targetting young people taking advantage of identity crises amongst young people. She talks about the predatory nature of extremist indoctrination and the multiple routes which are available to them in the information age. She advocates for cultural intelligence and building cognitive skills to diminish violence and us-versus-them attitudes, and flags Saudi influence and financial power in spreading a singular version of Muslim history. Communities and families need to play a role in recognising vulnerability in young people, she says.