The Edge of Existence (part 1)

Mahmoud al-Kamal was born an Israeli Muslim. Being such he was not dealt a very good hand in life. From the time he was born it was engrained in him that the west, America, was the reason his family members died young and he suffered the economic hardships that came with being Muslim in Israel. By the time he was 15 he had no hope of ever succeeding in anything. Around this time, his hope came. He joined a group that offered him dignity and a place in Heaven. He spent the first few years being trained as a militant for a terrorist group in Palestine. This option was promise of great things for his family. As was the reality for many like him, he was terrified that he may someday be recruited to blow himself up as a martyr for Allah. He would do it if it was required of him but something inside of him wanted to live a long life and have a family of his own someday.

Through the years he was never sent on such a mission. His ranking officers saw promise in him. He was smarter than most of his peers and it was decided that he could serve a much bigger purpose.

On his 19th birthday his mission was given to him. He was going to be part of a plot to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA as a signal to the American people of what their organization was capable of and a symbol of his commitment to Allah.

He was sent to the United States. The plan was quite elaborate and would take years of preparing in order to accomplish his task. He was supposed to integrate himself into the extreme liberal society in America. To participate in protests and other movements against the government. The hope was that in being very visible to the U.S. government he would be singled out as a suspected terrorist. Having been involved with grassroots efforts his liberal American friends would come along side him and help the public realize that he was being discriminated against because of his religion. If court cases were successful he would be practically untouchable. It took 5 years but played out exactly as planned.

In November of 2005 he was arrested at his home in St. Paul, Minnesota the day after a labor march. Immediately the ACLU stepped in and through a series of court cases and appeals was released on wrongful charges. The assumption was that he’d still be on a terrorist watch list but since the FBI had tried to take action against him before and lost, it would be bad public relations to arrest him again.

Now that the foundation was laid it was time for Mahmoud to start getting in contact with the other “agents” in the U.S. He had never met any of them, only knew that he was supposed to meet them shortly after he was released from jail.

Something strange happened though. He had moved into this American community and was active in it. His American activist friends had accepted him and supported him in all he did. He hadn’t had many hard economic times since he had been in the States. He was even able to send money back to his family. He belonged and was able to belong without having to kill anyone or fear for his life every day. He decided not to go to Las Vegas and continue supporting his family.