When brains get washed

A filmmaker follows his extremist brother to understand why young British nationals are becoming jihadists

Over the last one month, extremists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have beheaded two American journalists and a British aid worker and released disturbing videos of the barbaric act. In each of these cases, the executioner appears to be the same man. He speaks in a British accent and calls himself 'Jihadi John'. He could well be a British national, the authorities suspect - not without reason. In the Iraq and Syria region alone, it is estimated that 3,000 foreigners have joined Islamist extremist groups. Many of them are from Britain. In fact, a growing number of young British men and women today actively and openly support and practise Jihad. One of them is Richard Dart who now goes by the name of Salahuddin and is currently serving a six-year prison term for terror-related activities.

It's a mystery that an ordinary white, middle-class boy should suddenly reject everything he grew up with and come to hate freedom and democracy. That he should be convinced that United Kingdom should be ruled purely by Sharia law where women appear in public only if they are fully covered and are stoned to death for adultery. What happened to this young man and to so many others like him that they chose to embrace such extreme beliefs? Dart's step-brother, Robb Leech, struggles to find the answers through his two intimate documentaries - My Brother the Islamist and My Brother the Terrorist.

Dart and Leech were both born and raised in Weymouth, a seaside town in Dorset. When they grew up, Dart decided to move to London; Leech chose to stay back. And from there, their lives took a divergent course. It was while reading an article on Islamist Anjem Choudary, said to be the most dangerous man in Britain, that Leech stumbles upon his step-brother's name mentioned in the fourth paragraph. "He had become one of Choudary's newest converts," says Leech in the documentary.

Over the next one year, Leech follows his brother with his camera, meets his newfound jihadist 'brothers' (also young white men), is an observer in their protest marches, visits the mosque with them - all in the hope of being able to understand why what is happening is happening. The extent of his brother's radicalisation hits him when he asks Dart how he views their relationship. He learns that to Dart the relationship is purely for the purpose of Da'wah, loosely translated as an invitation to a non-Muslim to understand Islam through dialogue. Leech also realises that Dart is no "ordinary Muslim". He is a radicalised jihadist - a brother who will touch him only with his left hand (the one he chooses to wipe his bottom with) because the right hand is only for the pure, the Muslims. He struggles to find Richard in Salahuddin and fails.

Richard-turned-Salahuddin hates Western society. Like him, the other white jihadists are also disillusioned by their society. For example, Abdul Dean, once a rap musician who now has a perfume business, became a Muslim after his 18-year-old sister died of cocaine overdose. And 17-year-old Ben, once a metalhead, embraced Islam when one day he woke up and realised that life couldn't be just about drinking and partying. Ben's is a fascinating case. His mother believes he has the right to choose his religion, but when he says he is willing to die for it, she is stumped. "I knew you were passionate, but...." she says, then pauses and after a thought, like a true liberal, says, "We all have our roads to take and Ben has chosen this road."

Leech follows Ben to London, to his initiation. There are three stages: one, distributing propaganda pamphlets among strangers on the street; two, making his first YouTube video - his 'Revert Story to Islam from Ben to Ahsan'; and three, the circumcision.

Weeks later, Leech meets Ben again outside the American Embassy where the fundamentalists, mostly white, are burning the American flag on the anniversary of 9/11. Here he notices how radicalised Ben has become in these few weeks. Also present at the protest is Choudary, the man who converted Dart and many others.

The meeting between Leech and Choudary after Dart's arrest, which is part of his followup documentary (My Brother the Terrorist) is perhaps the most powerful and chilling part of the two films. The meeting begins and ends with Choudary first asking and then telling Leech to become a Muslim. He also talks about how the Britain of today is as bad as Nazi Germany. He also says if the brain needs to be washed, then it is a good thing. The man is convincing and fanatic - a lethal combination.

By turning the camera on himself and his extremist brother, Leech, a tree surgeon-turned-filmmaker, has thrown the spotlight on what could possibly be the beginning of a clash of civilisations. These are both revealing documentaries, painfully put together. They speak of the times we are living in and of the threats that are coming home. We cannot afford to close our eyes to them.

My Brother the Islamist will be broadcast on BBC World News on September 27 at 6.40 am & 7.40 pm and on September 28 at 1.40 pm. My Brother the Terrorist will be broadcast on BBC World News on October 4 at 6.40 am & 7.40 pm and October 5 at 1.40 pm