2003 Annual Conference:
The Threat of "Terrorism"
Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the word "terrorism" and its derivatives have become buzz words throughout politics and the media. "Terrorism" is being used by our political leaders to justify war abroad and limit freedom at home. The Network's 2003 annual conference will focus on various issues surrounding "terrorism" and will feature a keynote address by Daniel Levitas, an expert on America's domestic terrorist threat.
The current image of a "terrorist" being portrayed by popular culture is male, Muslim and Middle Eastern. The reality is that the most dramatic terrorist attack on American soil prior to 9/11 was the Oklahoma City bombing, which was perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh, an all-American-looking boy by most standards. More recently, Eric Rudolph was captured and charged with a string of abortion clinic bombings in the South. Both McVeigh and Rudolph were driven by twisted political and religious beliefs that are still part of the American political fabric. This domestic terrorist threat is Levitas' area of expertise.
Daniel Levitas has authored the critically-acclaimed The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right. He is the centerpiece of the Network's 2003 annual conference, which will be held October 25, 2003, on the University of Montana campus in Missoula. Levitas has been organizing against radical right-wing groups at the community level since the 1980s. His book, which chronicles the development of today's so-called "patriot" movement, has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
The Network's 2003 conference will also feature workshops on the "Patriot Act," hate groups in Montana, state-sponsored terrorism in Colombia, and the daily terrorism gay and lesbian youth face in Montana schools.