Episode 34: My life in Al-Qaeda, a conversation with Aimen Dean
Ask Haviv Anything6 Elo 2025

Episode 34: My life in Al-Qaeda, a conversation with Aimen Dean

Aimen Dean was once a fervent young jihadi fighter, a passionate believer in radical Sunni Islam who had memorized the Quran by 12 and was fighting in the Bosnian jihad by 16.


Haviv talked to Aimen about the religious and psychological journey of a young jihadi, his experiences in the wars in Bosnia and Chechnya, his recruitment by Bin Laden himself in the mountains of Afghanistan, and his sudden and powerful disillusionment, both political and religious, that led him to become an MI6 spy in Al Qaeda's ranks.


They talked about present-day Islam, the "deradicalization" that Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa underwent in recent years, possible better futures for Gaza and whether Israeli-Palestinian peace was still possible. We also talked about why he thinks it's time to end Western experiments in reforming Middle Eastern governance and fall back on what he sees as the most natural and inclusive form of government for the region: The paternalistic monarchy.


This episode was sponsored by David and Karen Divine, who asked to dedicate it to someone we lost on October 7. This episode, we remember Abed Rahman Ziyadne, 26 of Rahat, part of Israel's Bedouin Arab community, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists on the Zikim beach, north of Gaza, on October 7, 2023, along with his girlfriend, Yulia Chaban.


Please join me on Patreon to support this project: ⁠www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.


If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.


Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(151)

146: Israel's political system worked. Then we tried to fix it. With Dr. Shany Mor

146: Israel's political system worked. Then we tried to fix it. With Dr. Shany Mor

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com...

14 Syys 1h 25min

145: Waking up from our rage-filled slumber

145: Waking up from our rage-filled slumber

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com...

10 Syys 27min

144: Inside the fight to change Haredi politics, with Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer

144: Inside the fight to change Haredi politics, with Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com...

7 Syys 1h 17min

143: How to win the Israeli election

143: How to win the Israeli election

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/...

3 Syys 1h 21min

142: Can Gaza ever move on from Hamas? With Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

142: Can Gaza ever move on from Hamas? With Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com...

30 Elo 1h 42min

141: Why Western ideas crash and burn in the Middle East, with Simon Sebag Montefiore

141: Why Western ideas crash and burn in the Middle East, with Simon Sebag Montefiore

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com...

24 Elo 1h 8min

140: Van Jones returns - The hard questions of Black-Jewish relations

140: Van Jones returns - The hard questions of Black-Jewish relations

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com...

20 Elo 1h 10min

139: Dara Horn’s final solution to the Jewish question

139: Dara Horn’s final solution to the Jewish question

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com...

19 Elo 1h 12min

Suosittua kategoriassa Historia

olipa-kerran-otsikko
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
mayday-fi
mystista
rss-ikiuni
huijarit
tsunami
konginkangas
totuus-vai-salaliitto
sotaa-ja-historiaa-podi
rss-i-dont-like-mondays-2
rss-subjektiivinen-todistaja
rss-historian-salaisuudet
rouva-diktaattori
rss-peter-peter
rss-historian-pitka-oppimaara
tiedetta-ja-sirkushuveja-vanhojen-aikojen-podcast
rss-outoja-uutisia-pohjois-suomesta
hippokrateen-vastaanotolla
rss-kirkon-ihmeellisimmat-tarinat