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Clash of Worlds examines the relationship between Britain and the world of Islam over the last two centuries. It focuses on three specific events: the Indian Mutiny, the Mahdi revolt in Sudan and the British campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the First World War and its aftermath.
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Episodes
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India
This programme concentrates on the deobandist movement that was formed after the Indian Mutiny. This movement was regarded as a response by the more militant Islamic ideologues in the region to the creeping evangelism of the British Empire. It is this very movement that would later spawn on the Taliban in Afghanistan and train a new generation of fanatics intent on bringing about the demise of the West.
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The Sudan
In the Sudan, attention is focused on the Mahdist revolt in the 1880s. This is the story of the largest power in the world, motivated and led by devout Christians who pursued their geo-political aims with a missionary and jingoistic zeal. They clashed with an Islamic fundamentalist who sought strength from inflammatory religious proclamations and was intent on purging the corrupt foreign influence on his own society through asymmetrical military means. The parallels with today are stark, especially when one considers that 100 years later, the Sudan hosted another self-styled Islamic revivalist, Osama Bin Laden.
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Israel and Palestine
The roots of the conflict are traced to the decisions made by the British during the First World War and beyond. The complex relationship between Britain and Islam could be no better embodied as the British at first promised independence for the Arabs before reneging on that through Sykes-Picot and the Balfour Declaration. The schizophrenia is emphasised through figures such as T.E. Lawrence, whose fondness of the Arabs was unparalleled, to the likes of Orde Wingate whose Christian evangelism led him to support Zionism.
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A Blakeway Production in association with CTVC for BBC 2
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