Covert Contact 68: Egyptian, Muslim, American

Angie Gad joins me on Covert Contact for a June 2017 conversation about growing up Egyptian, Muslim, and American, and how those overlapping identities shaped her work as a Middle East and terrorism analyst. Her story brings a personal perspective to questions of belonging, cultural expectations, and service to country.

Angie describes her parents' efforts to preserve Egyptian traditions, Arabic, and religious practice while raising children in the United States. Moving to Egypt as a teenager gave her a deeper understanding of the region's everyday life and cultural nuances. She explains how that experience, alongside her language skills and religious education, became an asset in her analytical work.

We also discuss the difficult negotiations involved in building an independent life while remaining close to family. Angie recalls balancing graduate study, work, and a long commute before persuading her parents to accept her decision to live near her job.

The conversation turns to suspicion of Muslims and the difference that personal contact can make. Drawing on encounters at home and work, Angie argues for patient conversation with people whose understanding of Islam comes largely from news coverage. She also describes the frustration of seeing terrorist attacks renew collective suspicion of a community that is itself harmed by extremism.

We close with the risks of marginalization and the ways extremists exploit exclusion in their messaging. Angie outlines an early-stage project to challenge terrorist interpretations of Islamic scripture, both for people vulnerable to recruitment and for a wider public seeking to understand the religion. These experiences and proposed efforts reflect the discussion at the time of recording.