A capacity audience of Israeli diplomats, journalists, students and scholars filled the World Jewish Congress conference room in Jerusalem to hear internationally recognized terrorism expert Yonah Alexander (pictured right) speak on the 'Ticking time bomb: Understanding the challenge of international terror'. Alexander, the Israeli-born director of the International Center for Terrorism Studies of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Virginia, was introduced by the chairman of the WJC Institute for Research and Policy and former Israeli ambassador Mordechai Palzur.
Palzur stressed the importance of the issue of terror which has so affected the quality of life of people around the world and which continues to be an international menace. Professor Alexander noted that although the al-Qaeda central command may be dying, its tentacles around the world lived on, and that the decentralized structure of the organization had added to its resiliency. These would remain a force to be reckoned with for many years to come and continued to have the power of inflicting major damage on Western institutions' and individuals. "We know how quickly al-Qaeda metastasized after 9/11. The internet has been used fuel the growth of radicalization." Alexander also spoke about the significance of Islamic radicalism as a factor in motivating terrorists especially among youth.
Among those who took the floor during the spirited discussion that followed the lecture were retired Supreme Court justice Gabriel Bach, BESA researcher Mordechai Kedar, Yosef Govrin, former Israeli ambassador Mordechai Arbell, Polish honorary counsel Ze'ev Baran, 'Jerusalem Post' correspondent Oren Kessler and UCLA PhD candidate Ari Barbalat. Institute Board member Nir Boms presented the concluding remarks drawing upon his own research on the Arab world.
