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March 7th, 2011
01:00 PM ET
Muslims anxious, active ahead of radicalization hearingsEditor's Note: CNN’s Soledad O’Brien chronicles the dramatic fight over the construction of a mosque in the heart of the Bible belt. “Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door”, airs Sunday, March 27 at 8 p.m. E.T. By Dan Gilgoff, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor Every day this week, American Muslim activists are working overtime to prepare for congressional hearings on "the radicalization of American Muslims" that open Thursday. Sunday saw Muslim demonstrators gather in New York's rain-drenched Times Square to protest the hearings, standing with celebrities like Russell Simmons and other non-Muslims who held signs declaring "I am Muslim, too." On Monday, representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations - a national Muslim advocacy group - met will sympathetic Capitol Hill staffers to discuss communications strategy and grassroots organizing to counter Islamophia. On Tuesday, a coalition of major Muslim, interfaith and civil rights groups will announce a new campaign and website to push back against politicians and others they say are trafficking in anti-Muslim rhetoric. And that's before the hearings even begin. “The community is anxious, uncertain and even fearful in terms of what this could become in this environment,” says Akbar Ahmed, an Islamic studies professor at American University who has met with Capitol Hill aides in advance of the hearings. “There is a generalized sense of Islamophobia floating around, and the hearings are not doing anything to assuage Muslim fears.” Days before the first in what Rep. Peter King, the House Homeland Security Committee chairman, has said will be a series of hearings on American Muslim radicalization, many Muslims are deeply nervous at the specter of being demonized from such a highly visible platform as Capitol Hill. The hearings may stretch out for more than a year. But King’s hearings also have galvanized American Muslims, perhaps as never before, in an attempt to counter what they call a rising tide of Islamophobia, to lobby Washington about their concerns and to help shape the national narrative about their community. The efforts come a little more than six months after many Muslims were blindsided by a wave of national opposition to a proposed Islamic cultural center near New York’s ground zero last summer. “There was this sense after last summer’s events of needing to be more proactive in stemming this activity that stokes anti-Muslim hate,” said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, a national legal advocacy group. “That’s why, as soon as we heard Rep. King say he planned to hold these hearings, we started coming forward to express our concerns,” Khera said. In February, Muslim Advocates spearheaded a letter to congressional leaders objecting to the hearings. It was signed by more than 50 organizations, including civil rights groups that had not previously been involved with the American Muslim community. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a leading Muslim advocacy group, used its annual lobbying day last month to visit 90 congressional offices to “start offering facts about American Muslims and their role in helping prevent attacks on our nation,” said Corey Saylor, the group’s national legislative director. Two other groups - the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Arab American Institute - held a briefing, “Islamophobia: A Challenge to American Pluralism,” for Capitol Hill staffers last Wednesday. The King hearings are also spurring mosques around the country to get more political. “Muslim Americans make vital contributions every day,” said Hadi Nael, director of the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley in California, whose congregation is calling and writing Congress to voice opposition to the King hearings. “They love this country just as every American does and should not be placed under suspicion of terrorism because of their religious beliefs or ethnic background,” he said. “King’s hearings would do just that.”  Muslims and non-Muslims demonstrated in New York Many Muslim activists said that recent remarks from King, a New York Republican, including his support for a theory that 80% of American mosques are controlled by radical imams, are evidence that he intends to target the American Muslim community broadly with his hearings, rather than focus on Islamic radicals. “Let’s not fall into the same ugly patterns that were prevalent in earlier years in America, when Jews were suspected of aiding communism and Catholics were suspected of supporting fascism,” said Eboo Patel, a leading Muslim activist, summing up his opposition to the hearings. “Let’s not repeat that history by blaming all Muslims for the extremist actions of a range of people in this country.” A White House official appeared at a Muslim community center Sunday to speak about the need to prevent violent extremism, saying U.S. Muslims are part of the solution. "The bottom line is this - when it comes to preventing violent extremism and terrorism in the United States, Muslim Americans are not part of the problem, you're part of the solution," said Denis McDonough, deputy national security adviser to President Obama. "Of course, the most effective voices against al Qaeda's warped worldview and interpretation of Islam are other Muslims." McDonough also said, "We must resolve that, in our determination to protect the nation, we will not stigmatize or demonize entire communities because of the actions of a few. In the United States of America, we don't practice guilt by association." A White House source said McDonough's speech was not meant as a "prebuttal" to King's hearings, while a spokesman said the administration is finalizing its strategy to help stop violent extremism. King called for the hearings on Muslim radicalization after Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in November's elections. He declined calls from some Democrats to broaden sessions to focus on extremists of all types, including neo-Nazis, radical environmentalists and anti-tax groups. “Al Qaeda is actively attempting to recruit individuals living within the Muslim American community to commit acts of terror,” King wrote in a letter last month to Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, the ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee, who had suggested that King broaden the hearings’ scope. “Pursuant to our mandate, the committee will continue to examine the threat of Islamic radicalization, and I will not allow political correctness to obscure a real and dangerous threat to the safety and security of the citizens of the United States,” King’s letter continued. King told CNN's "State of the Union" with Candy Crowley on Sunday that "something from within" the Muslim community is a "threat" to America and needs to be explored. He compared the goal of the hearings to investigating the Mafia within the Italian community or going after the Russian mob in "the Russian community in Brighton Beach and Coney Island." "We're talking about al Qaeda," King said. "There's been self-radicalization going on within the Muslim community, within a very small minority, but it's there, and that's where the threat is coming from at this time." King has yet to release a full witness list for this week’s hearing, exacerbating Muslim anxiety. The sole witness whose name King has released is Zuhdi Jasser, an Arizona doctor who is Muslim but who has criticized his religion. King has also invited Rep Keith Ellison, D-Minnesota - the first Muslim elected to Congress - to testify. Ellison also appeared on "State of the Union" on Sunday, saying, "I challenge the basic premise of the hearings." "We should deal with radicalization and violent radicalization, but ... singling out one community is the wrong thing to do," he said. Democrats have invited Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca, who has praised Muslim leaders for building relationships with law enforcement authorities, to testify. A recent survey showed that 56% of Americans support the upcoming hearings, compared with 29% who think they’re a bad idea. The February survey, conducted by Public Opinion Research and the Religion News Service, found that seven in 10 Americans think Congress should refrain from singling out Muslims and should investigate all religious extremism. Not all Muslims object to the hearings. American University's Ahmed says that many first-generation American Muslims, feeling rejected both by their parents' culture and by their American peers, are at risk of being radicalized. "There's a new generation of Muslim Americans who are born here or have grown up here and are no longer fully accepted as Egyptians or Pakistanis, as their parents are," he says. "But America is also rejecting them, day and night Islam is being demonized… they’re suspended between two cultures.” "Whey you are 18, that can push you into a dangerous situation," Ahmed says. "You can go online and some idiot in the Middle East can push you in a dangerous direction. It has little to do with theology and a lot to do with anthropology." Other American Muslims interpret King’s hearings as the culmination of years of growing domestic suspicions of their community, dating back to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. “For the last 10 years, there has been a movement of intolerance against Muslim Americans, but it hasn’t been above the surface,” says Patel, who leads the Interfaith Youth Corps. “It’s now clear, from everything from the discussion around the Cordoba House (one name for the proposed New York Islamic center) to the way King has framed the hearings that there is an anti-Muslim sentiment in America that is reminiscent of anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism,” he said. “But I’d rather it be out in the open like it is now,” Patel continued. According to the Justice Department, there were 107 anti-Muslim hate-crime incidents in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available, up from 28 such incidents in 2000. With the 10-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the horizon and some likely contenders for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination talking up the threat of Islamic law, or sharia, taking hold in the United States, many Muslims said they fear the worst is to come. But many are also feeling that their community is finally preparing itself to take on those challenges. “This is a very American thing, congressional hearings,” said Ahmed of this week’s King session. “Let’s present the complexity and sophistication of Islam so Americans understand it better. It’s a teaching moment.” CNN's Susan Candiotti, Bonney Kapp and Rebecca Stewart contributed to this report. soundoff (1,742 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Not one of the men flying those planes on 9-11 had "Terroist" tattooed on their foreheads so how are we to tell the difference? Those men lived among us...before that horrible day, their neighbors, friends and coworkers felt that they were peaceful, trustoworthy people. And in return, they slaughtered innocent babies...the very thought still chills my blood. When and if I hear that the "peaceful, America loving" Muslims are flushing out the radicals amongst them, then I will stop being leary of them. Until that time, we'd be idiots not to root them out. And one other thing: I worked for a Muslim man and don't EVER try to tell me that they don't look down on women. When I had enough of being treated like a second class citizen in my own country, I told him so, walked out and sued the company. .
Well it looks like they can protest. This but where are they when stuff gets. blown up or when people die in the name of their god. I say go live in the middle east where you belong. Because we don't want you here
Not one of the men flying those planes on 9-11 had "Terroist" tattooed on their foreheads so how are we to tell the difference? Those men lived among us...before that horrible day, their neighbors, friends and coworkers felt that they were peaceful, trustoworthy people. And in return, they slaughtered innocent babies...the very thought still chills my blood. When and if I hear that the "peaceful, America loving" Muslims are flushing out the radicals amongst them, then I will stop being leary of them. Until that time, we'd be idiots not to root them out. And one other thing: I worked for a Muslim man and don't EVER try to tell me that they don't look down on women. When I had enough of being treated like a second class citizen in my own country, I told him so, walked out and sued the company. .
I have a problem with the Koran if it really says this. GO AND MURDER WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND YOU GO TO HEAVEN. I don't believe it could say such a thing.
Maybe like the Bible it can be twisted to say many false things.
Just be glad your boss did not require you to wear a Burka and act like a slave.
I think the Muslim community would not be under so much fire if they placed the center elsewhere. Rather them set up there than the Westboro Baptist Church...
Using a vigin to tempt you to kill and voilate the 10 commandments what a joke you want to stop being demonized then stop demonizing americans for trying to free you from your sodom hussein who was killing his own citizens like this omar and amadinejad. remove your radical leaders like we removed bush and we find common grounds for peace.
Im a Asian-American and in the country where i came from, Muslims also do terroristic acts, Asia, Middle East, Europe, and in America, where ever you are, you do terror acts. Now if you dont want the real McCoys to hate you...go back to where muslim country you came from and tell your brothers not to kill each other, not to commit those terrostic acts in foreign soil so we can live peacefully.
The muslim religion as originally intended is a generally peaceful religion. Remeber your history? The English under the banner of the Catholic church led the crusades to enlighten the "barbarians" of the middle east to their way of worship. The fear we have as Americans now is NOT the peaceful muslims, but the radical factions. However, these radical factions of islamic muslim belief tend to over shadow, and in many cases use their peaceful brothers to hide in plain site. They will never be revelaed by their brethren because they use fear to intimidate. This issue needs to be handled with a scapel and cut out the radicals and not a sledgehammer to blast all muslims.
The muslim religion was spread by war and conquest. And the crusades (which were carried out by Europeans, not just English)occurred only after 500 years of muslim conquest of Christian lands.
"And, France has also started to offer them money to leave their country for good–I wish that the US would do the same." Okay, this is the first person to actually say what they think should be done to remove Muslims from America. Since presumably this money would come from tax dollars, how much are you personally willing to give a Muslim family in your town to leave America? Also, what do you think should be done if the family doesn't accept the offer?
As a Christian I do not support these hearings. I am drawn to the idea that my religion has not always inspired everyone to do good deeds,...... and if these hearings were about Christianity I would be uncomfortable and protesting them. That being said I cannot support Islam or anything to do with it. Islam has proven in Muslim Nation after Muslim Nation that it only brings: Poverty, Hatred, injustice, Subjugation, Suppression and Religious Discrimination. God appears not to bless Nations that have Islam as the state religion. I know Muslims will hate me for what I have said because they seem to hate anyone with an opinion counter to what their Imam or Cleric would approve of........ Sadly Muslims....hate and violence that come from Islam to anyone with an opinion counter to Islam is the problem and why these hearnings are being held.
What shame your "fellow" muslims have brought upon you in YOUR generation.
and more importantly... how sad... you try to defend them.
live with your shame then...
What shame your "fellow" muslims have brought upon you in YOUR generation.
and more importantly... how sad... you try to defend them.
wow 70 virgins for a marytr? sounds way to good to be true. Guess these virgins are hiding where? some magical genie in a bottle? let just suggest that was true even though we all know the camel got his nose stretched on this one like ponokio. Naive I must say 70 virgins to be a martyr this world dosnt have that many virgins to hand out to ever martyr of islam so some of you might have to take sloppy seconds even if we estimated world population of islam at 1,571,198,000 thats 109983860000 virgins and that is not including past only present population of islam thats 109983860000 virgins . I have one question were are these virgins hiding? cause you probably dont got that many virgins on earth even if there was 70 wifes for each person. Sounds like a magical genie with a big fable. so if we multiple that times 100 just for a rough number for past population thats 109983860000000 Im just trying to figure out were akbar is hiding all these virgins? That you gotta take into consideration what guarentess all these 70 virgins will like you? perhaps akbars got a magical potion number 9 for that? get real. perhaps akbar is testing out all the virgins making sure his martyrs dont get cheated? again were are this many virgins ?perhaps akbar has a 109983860000000 cross dressing wigs?
3 of those virgins are hiding in your home!
Matt1234
I'm going to answer a few question here.
First of all I lived near a Muslim school for over 14 years and knew a few of it's leaders. We got along just fine. After 9/11 they were scared, yet no one in the area caused any trouble for them as they were known in the area as good people. We talked about terrorist and radical Muslims and they would privately condemn the acts, yet many had trouble condemning the people and what I call "Dark Ulama and clerics" those that teach Radical Islam. Some admitted fear for family members still in the Middle East.
Go to Dearborn, Michigan and see for yourselves. Preaching Christianity in that city can get you hurt. FACT
To me what it comes down to is my Neighbor can be Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu or even Wiccan. As long as they don't force me in any way to follow their rules I have no problem with them.
I saw the KKK mentioned here. Don't recall anyone being killed by the KKK lately. Don't recall the KKK bombing children almost daily even other KKK members. The radicals are out of control as they kill even other Muslims in horrible ways.
Remember the past and fix the future. Jihad is for fools and I believe most in America would say so.
I also want to say murder for making a picture or burning a book is stupid as if that can hurt
god then it isn't God.
The Murder of Shahbaz Bhatti, in Pakistan for being a moderate shows much of the truth about the radicals. Agree or Die is their motto.
Hope I answered most questions put to me. If not well sorry
Original post:
************************
Matt1234
If the US Muslim community want's me to believe them as not radical. Then they need to stand up to the radical Muslims and their terrorist acts. I mean look at how Muslims act in general if you say of do anything they don't like. Make a cartoon and they place death threats, Burn a book and more death threats. You think others have to follow your rules. I don't for one. If you want tolerance then show some yourselves. A picture and a book aren't worth killing anyone over.
Show by your actions what you are.
yeah because when they stand up that's reported in by a media that has a vested interest in distracting Americans from other issues. yeah, I saw all the reports on CNN about Muslims who spoke out about terrorism. And of course, the Muslims who lost their lives in 9/11 deserved it because Muslims did the bombing regardless of the fact that they probably never even heard of Bin Laden. Because the Muslim community in America is so tight knit and close, (disregarding the racism between Muslims of different ethnicities) that we all know what everyone else is doing. Because there aren't Muslims who have been fighting against women's oppression for centuries (long before the west decided to go save them)
grow up
@Aisha
I know of a Muslim community that is close nit and good. It is in Gainesville, Florida. I knew one of the Clerics that is a extremely good man. Better than say Fred Phelps and Pat Robertson by a long shot. Think that is why that nutjob at dove church was so angry.
BTW no one deserves to be a victim of terrorism no matter what their faith. Never said that was so. Women deserve to be treated as equals no matter their faith.
It is a fact that the Muslim radicals do the majority of terrorism so that does make people suspect them more. To me any Cleric that promotes radicalism and violence as well as any Christian minister should be removed from any post of authority and if not a US citizen deported. If any member hearing their sermons does violence they should be charged as a accessory to the crime.
A few years ago when Pat Robertson suggested Orlando, fl deserved or should recive a terrorist attack for flying the gay flag, if it had happened he should have been charged.
So no it isn't about religion only just daily facts on who is doing it.
Muslims are the problem. Extremism is written into their religious texts. Libs are so ignorant. Non-American Muslims hate Libs more than they hate Conservatives, because atleast Conservatives know that Muslims don't want "infidels" to pretend they're friends.
Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists All of Them Pay The Same Amount of Tax to the Government, All There Kids go to The Same School, All of Them Voted to Elect America's Next President, All of Them are Defending America (The American Army is Made of People From All Religions) And at Last All of Them are Human Beings. Why Deference? Why Should American Muslims Have to Pay For The Sins of Some Foreign Terrorists? Or Maybe Only Because They Call The God, Allah? Like Blacks, Jews and Catholics is This Now Muslims Turn to Sacrifice Everything to Get There Rights?
I am happy the muslim community is galvanized. I am glad we are having dialogue. I am also pleased we are having hearings. However, I do have a couple of questions. Why wasn't the community "galvinzed" after 9/11 to stand up and distance themselves from those who committed the crimes against the United States and the muslim communities fellow citizens and why has the muslim community waited to stage rallies until they felt their community is at risk? I have never understood this. When I found out about the abuse in the Catholic Church I did EVERYTHING I could as a baptized member to let the church know how disgusted I was and how I would no longer be supporting the church ( I am still appalled and fully support ALL victims suing the church) The reality is that there have been a number of attempted attacks on our soil and they have been attempted by disenfranchised youth who have acted in the "name of allah" the other truth is the larger muslim community has not come forward with information. There may be VERY GOOD reasons for this, fear of retaliation, etc. but we need to figure out what is going on BEFORE anyone else is killed if possible.
I was going to ask the same thing.......Why weren't they "galvanized" after 9/11-and since 9/11?
I wish that they would all leave our country–and go back to their own countries.
With all of our problems, all of which the Right Wing blame on Obama, the Weeper of the House chooses to focus on this issue. What a fool we all are to let this happen.
This article, and it's comments serve as proof that religion makes otherwise moral people say and do disgusting things.
Islam way of life = Sharia law = oppression of women, and gay.
Talk about the so called "islamophobia". What's irrational about the fear of Islam? I want my daughter to live in a land free of the pollution of the disgusting Sharia law.
Sayings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him:
"It is the generous (in character) who is good to women, and it is the wicked who insults them."
"The most perfect believers are the best in conduct and best of you are those who are best to their wives."
"Treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers."
Before any other religion or system in the world Islam gave a woman the right to inherit, the right to vote and voice her opinion, the right to trade invest and improve herself financially, the right to own – buy and sell, the right to seek knowledge and have a good education, the right to work and has even gone further to oblige the males in every stage of her life, whether it was a father, brother or husband ... It's their duty before God to take care of her, to spend on her, to provide her with the food , clothing and shelter that she needs, to provide her with a good education, to protect her from anything that can harm her and to never hesitate to put their lives in stake for her if the need calls them to do so.
Kindly listen to Yvonne Ridley – the award winning British journalist who embraced Islam . If some Muslims mistreat women , it is not because of Islam ..
According to an article written by Lucy Berrington in the Times Magazine (London) dated 9th Nov. 1993: "It is even more ironic that most British converts should be women, given the widespread view in the west that Islam treats women poorly. In the United States, women converts outnumber men by four to one, and in Britain make up the bulk of the estimated 10, 000 to 20, 000 converts, forming part of a Muslim community of 1 to 1.5 million "
Wang is absolutely right. Liberals love to bandy the term "Islamophobia", but Greeks and Yugoslavians, who lived under Muslem rule for four hundred years, know more about Islam than Soledad will ever know.
Thanks for the clarification. Now I'm much relieved that my daughter will be four times more vulnerably than a man to the corruption and oppression your disgusting religion.
wow 70 virgins for a marytr? sounds way to good to be true. Guess these virgins are hiding where? some magical genie in a bottle? let just suggest that was true even though we all know the camel got his nose stretched on this one like ponokio. Naive I must say 70 virgins to be a martyr this world dosnt have that many virgins to hand out to ever martyr of islam so some of you might have to take sloppy seconds even if we estimated world population of islam at 1,571,198,000 thats 109983860000 virgins and that is not including past only present population of islam thats 109983860000 virgins . I have one question were are these virgins hiding? cause you probably dont got that many virgins on earth even if there was 70 wifes for each person. Sounds like a magical genie with a big fable. so if we multiple that times 100 just for a rough number for past population thats 109983860000000 Im just trying to figure out were akbar is hiding all these virgins? That you gotta take into consideration what guarentess all these 70 virgins will like you? perhaps akbars got a magical potion number 9 for that? get real.