Antonio Salas has immersed himself as an
under-cover investigative reporter many times. For six years, he trained to
adopt the identity of “Muhammad Abdallah,” a Venezuelan man of Palestinian
origin. During this time, Salas learned written and spoken Arabic. He studied
the Quran, and memorized fragments of it which he wrote out in traditional
calligraphy. He also underwent a circumcision and skin-darkening treatments,
and grew a long beard. He gave up pork, smoking, and drinking. He took classes
alongside anti-terrorist specialists and policemen.
To
test his new identity as “Muhammad Abdallah,” he traveled to Morocco, Jordan,
Israel, and Palestine. In Ramallah, he learned the psychology of terrorists:
the trauma and frustration many face, which is, in turn, harnessed by
extremists.
His
intention was to find out — how is a terrorist made? (My question to Salas is —
what is his motivation as an investigative reporter?)
In
Venezuela, he found the
presence of ETA,
FARC, Colombian paramilitary groups, Hamas, Al Qaeda, and clumps of Venezuela’s
Bolivarian groups whose members converted to Islam.
The
result is a book and the video, embedded below, which was filmed while
under-cover using a tiny hidden camera.
** WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC IMAGES **
