(Slate) Muslim McCarthyism: Peter King's Broad-brush Indictment Of The "Muslim Community"

[Turborama]

By William Saletan
Posted Wednesday, March 9, 2011, at 8:47 AM ET

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These sweeping allegations—particularly the claim that law enforcement agents "throughout the country" are getting little or "no cooperation from Muslim leaders and imams"—don't jibe with http://sanford.duke.edu/centers/tcths/about/news_release20110202.php">a study issued last month by a consortium of North Carolina university researchers. The study found that in cases where Muslim-American terrorist suspects were brought to the attention of U.S. officials, "http://sanford.duke.edu/centers/tcths/about/documents/Kurzman_Muslim-American_Terrorism_Since_911_An_Accounting.pdf">the largest single source of initial information (48 of 120 cases) involved tips from the Muslim-American community."

Last Sunday on CNN's State of the Union, Candy Crowley cited the North Carolina study and asked King, "Doesn't that tell you there is cooperation there?" King replied: "http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1103/06/sotu.01.html">No. I'm aware of a number of cases in New York where the community has not been cooperative." King cited a guy who "went to two mosques in Suffolk County in Long Island, said he wanted to engage in jihad. They said we don't do it, but never told the police. And then he went off to Afghanistan. So there's just one example. I can give others." But King has never named more than three or four such cases. In his March 6 profile, New York's Robert Kolker reported that King "http://nymag.com/news/politics/peter-king-2011-3/">refuses to name the sources who claim Muslims are uncooperative," claiming that "they're always off the record with him."

Monday on Fox News, King said his upcoming hearings would feature an American Muslim who "feels very strongly that the current Muslim leadership is not doing its job." A day later, King told the same network that when Muslims come forward to report suspicions of dangerous extremism, "they do not get the cooperation from the imams and from their leaders." He brushed off the North Carolina study, accusing its authors of "leaving out any number of terrorist financing cases which there was no support from the Muslim community on."

Through this phrase—the "Muslim community"—King has casually substituted unnamed Muslim "leaders" for Muslim citizens as representatives of American Islam. Yesterday on MSNBC, Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post told King, "You have alleged that the Muslim American community has not been forthcoming in helping law enforcement officials deal with radicalization." King replied: "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHzMLtc7oGY">I talk to cops and counterterrorism people on the ground all the time, and they get virtually no cooperation." Robinson accused King of assuming "that the Muslim American community, a religious minority in this country, is somehow abetting and aiding and giving shelter to this process of radicalization, when that is clearly not the truth." King shot back: "It is the truth."

Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2287708/

Lots of follow up links within these websites which debunk King's politically motivated Islamophobic fearmongering...

http://www.cair.com/AmericanMuslims/AntiTerrorism.aspx">The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Has Consistently And Persistently Condemned Terrorism

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=4217266">Top Muslim clerics issue Fatwa denouncing terror attacks on Canada and U.S

http://www.muhajabah.com/otherscondemn.php">Muslims Condemn Terrorist Attacks

http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/muslim_voices_against_extremism_and_terrorism_2">Muslim Voices Against Terrorism and Extremism


The rhetoric against Muslim Americans -- namely, that they are a suspect community, or worse, enemies of the state; their religion is uncivilized and anti-American; they are deceitful; and they aim to destroy our culture and our constitution -- are replicas of attacks against other religious minorities in the past as well as current attacks against ethnic and racial minorities.
http://www.pjalliance.org/article.aspx?ID=632&CID=5

The Peter King Hearings: Giving Anti-Muslim Rhetoric the Congressional Stamp of Approval

On March 10, Congressman Peter King will hold congressional hearings unfairly targeting the American Muslim community.

Whether for political gain or public notoriety, anti-Muslim rhetoric and bigotry has become acceptable in political and civic discourse. These hearings are the worst example – because they legitimize anti-Muslim rhetoric by giving them a congressional stamp of approval.

Peter King has chosen to ignore the fact that those who engage in violence motivated by extremist beliefs in America today hail from myriad racial, ethnic, religious and political backgrounds. Less than two weeks ago, the Southern Poverty Law Center released a http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x592019">report on the explosive growth of right-wing anti-government and anti-hate groups. Yet the Peter King hearings are focused on scapegoating one community. America will be less safe as a result.

In the meantime, American Muslims are doing their part to keep us safe by regularly reporting criminal activity to law enforcement. In fact, law enforcement officials from the national to state to local levels have spotlighted the critical role that American Muslims play to defend democracy and security.

WhatUnites.Us calls on all Americans to focus on what unites us and to call out the hateful rhetoric and actions that divide us. Here’s what you can do to support the campaign:

* http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5779/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5901">Contact your member of congress and ask them to take a stand against hearings like this that not only divide us, but make us less safe.
* Email this page to your friends.
* Share this page with your friends on Facebook
* RT: @UniteWithUs: BREAKING: Peter King seeks to divide Americans. Tell Congress to reject anti-Muslim rhetoric. BITLY LINK #UnitesUs

From: http://whatunites.us/news/peter-king-hearings-giving-anti-muslim-rhetoric-congressional-stamp-approval

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2011798,00.html">Islamophobia: Does America Have a Muslim Problem?

[Turborama]

1. Greg Sargent: Pete King's three ring circus

It looks like Pete King's hearings into Muslim radicalization are really shaping up as a three ring circus -- in more ways than one.

A Democratic staffer on the Homeland Security Committee, which is hosting the hearings set to begin on Thursday, points out that the committee has quietly divided its plan for the hearings into three separate panels -- separating Republicans from Democrats who might disagree with them on the issues in question.

For instance, the first panel features as a witness Dem Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress, while the second features GOP Rep. Frank Wolf. Dems expect Wolf, who has a long history of doing battle with the Council of American-Islamic Relations, to support King's views of the threat of Muslim radicalization. Previously, Dems say, the plan was for Ellison to be on the same panel as Wolf, but now the two have been separated -- meaning that Dems won't be able to ask Ellison to rebut Wolf during hearings that are expected to attract national attention.

"This type of division based on party and ideology is curious. especially when the hearing is supposed to be combining thoughts to combat radicalization," one Dem staffer on the committee tells me. "Now, if Representative Wolf says something negative about Muslims, Mr. Ellison will not have the opportunity to rebut it. There is no rationale for this decision."

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Separately, the divided panels risk making the proceedings even more partisan than expected, potentially making the circus-like atmosphere even worse than it otherwise might have been. Stay tuned!

Full article: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/03/pete_kings_three_ring_circus.html

[truth2power]

2. McCarthyism. Pure and simple. n/t