Real World Event Discussions

Hearings on "Domestic Muslim Terrorism"

POSTED BY: Niki2
UPDATED: Monday, March 21, 2011 20:42
VIEWED: 9998
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NIKI2

Monday, March 14, 2011 2:00 AM

Quote:
A controversial congressional hearing Thursday on the radicalization of Muslim Americans touched on sensitive questions involving terrorism and tolerance a decade after the 9/11 attacks.

At times emotional and theatrical, the four-hour session of the House Homeland Security Committee included calls from moderate Muslims for support in overcoming extremists seeking to indoctrinate their children, as well as protests from Democratic legislators who complained the hearing unfairly implicated all Muslims for the criminal acts of a small minority.

In the end, committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York, said the hearing that generated widespread media coverage "actually went a lot easier than it could have." He blamed what he called the "mindless, baseless hysteria in the media" in preceding weeks for the controversy, and promised additional hearings in coming months, with the next perhaps focusing on the radicalization of Muslims in U.S. prisons.

Despite strong criticism from Muslim Americans and accusations of a McCarthyist revival, King started the hearing by defending it as neither "radical or un-American."

"To back down would be a craven surrender to political correctness and an abdication of what I believe to be the main responsibility of this committee to protect America from a terrorist attack," he said.

Recruiting young American Muslims is part of al Qaeda's strategy to continue attacking the United States, said King, who called on Americans to reject the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent Muslim-American advocacy group in the United States.

Witnesses stressed to the panel the need for more understanding of the issue, with a father describing how his son was radicalized by Islamic extremists, and a moderate Muslim activist advocating an American form of Islam that believes in "separation of mosque and state."

At the same time, the only law enforcement official to testify, Sheriff Leroy Baca of Los Angeles County in California, seemed to sum up the overall approach needed by calling for increased understanding by Americans of their changing society.

"The truth is that America is becoming a society of the world, and because of that we have to be sensitive, we have to know how to work with various communities," Baca said. "Americans need to wake up and start learning more about all the issues that affect their well-being. ... The real truth is that the American public must step up to the plate and do more, even if it's just educating yourself."

Evidence of the deep public divide over the issue included a woman in the public gallery wearing a T-shirt that had "No Bigotry" written in large letters.

Democrats on the panel sharply criticized King for focusing the hearing only on the Muslim-American community, with some expressing outrage and other making emotional pleas.

Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York called the hearing "great theater" but lamented the lack of a definition for terrorism and radicalization. For example, she said, parents in her district tell of chidlren being recruited and brainwashed by local gangs.

Rep. Keith Ellison, the first elected Muslim member of Congress, choked up in describing the sacrifices of Muslim Americans, among them Salman Hamdani, a 23-year-old paramedic and New York City police cadet who died trying to save others in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

With Hamdani's mother in the room, Ellison teared up as he explained that people "falsely speculated (Hamdani) was with the attackers because he was Muslim."

"His life should not be identified as just a member of an ethic group or just a member of a religion, but as an American who gave everything for his fellow Americans," the sobbing Ellison said.

He acknowledged that some Muslims are responsible for violent acts, but said blaming the entire Muslim community for the evil o

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FREMDFIRMA

Monday, March 14, 2011 3:20 AM

CANTTAKESKY

Monday, March 14, 2011 7:31 PM

That breaks my heart.

KWICKO

Monday, March 14, 2011 11:21 PM

If the IRA had perped 9/11, King would be hailing them as heroes. His beef isn't with "terrorism" at all - it's with Muslims.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

KANEMAN

Monday, March 14, 2011 11:45 PM

squirt....ah.

RIONAEIRE

Tuesday, March 15, 2011 1:05 AM

I would love to hear from more moderate/"normal" Muslims who stand up and denounce terrorism and stand up for their "normal"/moderate Muslim friends and comrades. I think that would help everyone.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

KWICKO

Tuesday, March 15, 2011 1:24 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
I would love to hear from more moderate/"normal" Muslims who stand up and denounce terrorism and stand up for their "normal"/moderate Muslim friends and comrades. I think that would help everyone.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

I'd like the same from "moderate", "normal" christians, too, but every time I ask them to denounce their terroristic murdering fuckwit whackjobs (Scott Roeder, David Koresh, Timothy McVeigh, Eric Rudolph, George W. Bush, etc.), I get lots of people telling me that I'm being ridiculous.

As Signy keeps pointing out, goose sauce = gander sauce.

I remember several around here celebrating the murder of George Tiller during a church service. Really classy bunch, these so-called christians. I find it hilarious that they consider themselves any different than fundamentalist Muslims, since they act exactly like them.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

CANTTAKESKY

Tuesday, March 15, 2011 1:49 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
I would love to hear from more moderate/"normal" Muslims who stand up and denounce terrorism and stand up for their "normal"/moderate Muslim friends and comrades. I think that would help everyone.

Uh... they've BEEN out there denouncing. It's not their fault CNN and mass media doesn't want to pick it up. (How can you sell fear and hatred if we hear from normal Muslims on TV? No, we need Glenn Beck to show us how terrifying the muslim world has become.)

All you have to do is google "muslims denouncing terrorism." Here are the top 2 results:

Big list of denunciation:
http://www.muhajabah.com/otherscondemn.php

Another big list:
http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/muslim_voic
es_against_extremism_and_terrorism_2/

Nice poem here:
http://www.muhajabah.com/9-11_poem.htm

Quote:

A Poem About September 11

By Rooshna Kidwai

Tragedy struck the country on the 11th of September
Terror grasped our hearts on a day that all will remember
Shock combined with anger, pain combined with fear
As we intently watched the news and brushed away the tears
Planes explode into buildings, causing them to collapse
Maybe a scene from a movie, or just a nightmare, perhaps?
But that’s just wishful thinking, we knew it was very real
Because the families of the victims wait for the pain to heal
The question continued to echo, only the answer did we lack
Who were the monsters who committed this deadly terrorist attack?
Now we know their identities: Muslims by their names
And because of these cowards, all Muslims were defamed
This isn’t what Islam teaches; I’m a Muslim so I should know
What the terrorists did was wrong, and Hell is where they will go
Us Muslims did nothing wrong, but still you persist to despise
A group of innocent people, who now fear to step outside
We won’t ask you to forgive us for something we didn’t do
But please respect us like your own, because we are just like you
Let’s hold our hands with peace, and let’s join our hearts with love
Pray for the victims who died in the blue sky up above
Too high above for us to know how these people felt
The victims in the buildings and the horror with which they dealt
Imagine the pain of their families, who lie at home in wait
For someone to come inform them of their beloved’s fate
We called it the United States, but it wasn’t until now
That we were a country united under a single vow
Dear God, Together we stand and together we pray
For all who lost their lives on that sorrowful day
And protect all the Muslims from anyone who expresses malice
And doesn’t know the difference between a Muslim and a terrorist

GOD BLESS AMERICA

RIONAEIRE

Tuesday, March 15, 2011 7:02 AM

I agree that murdering Tiller wasn't right, and didn't solve anything, kind ofembarassing really.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

AURAPTOR

Tuesday, March 15, 2011 2:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
If the IRA had perped 9/11, King would be hailing them as heroes. His beef isn't with "terrorism" at all - it's with Muslims.

D.C. Snipers - Muslims

Ft Hood shooter - Muslim

Shoe Bomber - Muslim

El Al Airline shooter at LAX - Muslim

TImes Square Bomber - Muslim

Seattle shooter at Jewish school - Muslim

Denver shooter of 4 co-workers and a police officer - Muslim

Salt Lake City shooter of 5 is an immigrant - Muslim

And I'm not even going to bother w/ the 'honor' killings. Those are too numerous to count.

If you want to deal with all the non-Muslim related violence, by all means, that's a legitimate issue. But to ignore the fact that there are 'some' Muslims who commit violence - IN THE NAME OF THEIR GOD, and that this group isn't a threat... is an act of pure self delusion.