EU-DIGEST

"Gods Warriors": Raging Fires - by Cynthia Fuchs

In Jerusalem, Christiane Amanpour stands on a rooftop as the camera pans toward her. In this “ancient city filled with sacred meaning” for Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, she and her Special Investigations Unit crew will explore the different and similar ways that these three religions approach such meaning. Amanpour, as usual, does not back down from difficult questions. She opens her six-hour report—airing over three nights on CNN—by noting that Jerusalem, the “so-called city of peace, has been torn by centuries of war.”

This much is well known, of course. Amanpour’s thesis, however, may be less familiar. The fears and rages that drive the conflicts are born of similarity more than difference.

In "God's Muslim Warriors," on the other hand, we get yet more reporting on the murder of Dutch director Theo van Gogh three years ago by a Muslim extremist, as well as a visit to former Islamic radical Ed Husain, whose story of disaffection with the Muslim cause as preached by London extremists has been told many times in the media. There's also a mostly pointless digression on the Iran-Iraq war, as well as a strange visit to some Iranian clerics who believe in a "hidden imam" (we even get a glimpse of a Web site on the topic they created for kids).

The multipart series, which unfolds over three nights starting Tuesday, features one of the network's stars, chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, so it's getting more publicity than CNN usually gives to its documentary efforts.

Labels: Religion