There's a lot not to like about next week's Congressional hearings into "Islamic Radicalization," but one of its most appalling aspects is the naked hypocrisy of the hearing's chairman, Republican Peter King of New York.
Until now, Rep. King has been best known for his very public support of the Irish Republican Army, which of course was internationally recognized as a terrorist organization. Despite the IRA's long history of murder, violence and intimidation, King argued (until breaking with the group over it's failure to support the US invasion of Iraq) that the IRA represented the "the legitimate voice of occupied Ireland."
And frankly, we're not mad at Rep. King for that. By relentlessly lobbying for the IRA in Washington, Rep. King created an environment where it was possible for the British government to finally sit down and talk with the IRA's political wing, Sin Féin. Negotiations that ultimately led to a peaceful end to a decades old war and undoubtedly saved many lives.
Instead, our beef with Rep. King is that while he was happy to operate within the gray areas of the IRA debate, when the conversation turned to Muslim Americans, his world view become black and white. To Rep. King, a Muslim seems to equal terrorist (or at least terrorist sympathizer), no matter what a person's background, political leanings or actions.
When pressing for the rights of the Irish people, King was careful to make a distinction between the violent extremists in the IRA and those in Sin Féin who were for legitimate political reform. But when it comes to Muslim Americans, some of whom are his own constituents, Rep. King has no problem lumping everyday, hardworking, peace loving Muslims in with the terrorists.
Having witnessed first hand how conversation between Sinn Féin and the British directly led to peace, Rep King more than anyone should know that the best resolutions are always reached through honest dialogue, not demonization and divisiveness.
The deep irony is that Rep. King has begun polluting our national conversation with his hypocritical hate mongering at just the moment that the Arab world's secular revolution has created a unique opportunity for strengthened cultural ties. Maybe that's not a coincidence. Politicians like Rep. King make a living playing on people's fears and misconceptions. It makes their job easier when we view all Muslims as terrorists out for blood, instead of possible partners in a shared future.
Let's not let Rep. King get away with it. We need to hear from politicians who are looking to bring people together, not needlessly push them apart. If we're truly worried about America's future, we need to look at hate mongering politicians like Rep King, not our Muslim fellow citizens who reject violence and extremism and simply look to be part of this great American fabric.
On Sunday, March 6th at 2pm in Times Square, NYC, I will thousands of people in support of Muslim Americans, in a rally called "Today, I Am A Muslim Too!" Please join me on Sunday in NYC or on Facebook as a show of support.
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And its the same historical error Russel (not Richard) Simmons makes in not seeing that there was another radical civil religion, Catholicism, passing as genuine Christianity, pitted as it was against Protestanism, that was the origin and cause of centuries of internecine violence in the Irish republic.
Ironically, there is much to be said about the dark terror and persecution seen throughout the bloody histories of both Islamic and Catholic authoritarian and theocratic rule in the Middle East and Europe respectively.
But, the violence and killing of those who dared to read the Bible in their own language, clearly the Prelates and bishops they defied were not obeying Jesus Christ, certainly not as Muslims are enjoined to obey the Prophet's command to "cut off the infidel's heads, nor is Jesus' teaching anything like the spirit of the Republican's Evangelical agenda to replace the constitution with their brand of religious law.
In all these cases, what we have is nothing less than an extremely dangerous, often bloody and radical religious extremism in the 21st centuries masquerading as Godliness, and all of it diametrically oppose the message of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Does Mr. Simmons imagine that in any Muslim country he would be offered the immense opppurtunties and respect he's enjoyed here as a black man in the West..things that Black Americans have struggled for centuries to achieve? What Muslim country would even allow him to speak his mind or chastise the host country so aggressively?
Leaving aside entirely the question of Muslim terrorists, the fact is that many (if not all) forms of Islam teach doctrines that deeply upset westerners-doctrines that may destabalise our society or threaten the best aspects of western culture.
That's why the word Islamophobia is so infuriating!
Its become a tool with which to bully people and silence them, and is insidiously conflated by the race relations industry..those caught up in the new drive for UNIVERSALISM and extended to mean any.
To be wary of Islam is to fear the centrality and inescapability of Religion, the loss of freedom, the harshness of Sharia, the violence and anti-Semitism of many sacred texts, its disinclination to integrate with the host culture...and finally, the incompatibility of theocratic Islam with democracy.
Even Republicans are tired of the Bushes
Senior CAIR employee Randall Todd Royer, a/k/a “Ismail” Royer, pled guilty and was sentenced to twenty years in prison
for participating in a network of militant jihadists centered in Northern Virginia.
Royer’s illegal actions occurred while he was employed with CAIR
CAIR's Director of Community Relations, Bassem Khafagi , was arrested by the United States due to his ties with a
terror-financing front group. Khafagi pled guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud, and agreed to be deported to Egypt.
Khafagi’s illegal actions occurred while he was employed by CAIR.
On December 18, 2002, Ghassan Elashi, founding board member of CAIR-Texas, a founder of the Holy Land Foundation,
and a brother-in-law of Musa Abu Marzook , was arrested by the United States and charged with, among other things,
making false statements on export declarations, dealing in the property of a designated terrorist organization, conspiracy
and money laundering. Ghassan Elashi committed his crimes while working at CAIR, and was found Guilty.
CAIR Board Member Imam Siraj Wahaj, an un-indicted co-conspirator in the first World Trade Center bombing,
has called for replacing the American government with an Islamic caliphate.
Rabih Haddad served as a CAIR Fundraiser. Haddad was co-founder of the Global Relief Foundation (“GRF”).
GRF was designated by the US Treasury Department for financing the Al Qaida and other terrorist organizations.
The fact that these hearing target one specific group is the problem. The fact that these hearings are just an extension of people like King's inability to separate peace loving Muslims from the extremest while seeming to be perfectly oblivious to the Christian extremism that exists in this country while, at the same time, being the same man as Russell points out who went to great lengths to separate the violent radical IRA members from the rest, is the hypocrisy.
We need to have conversations in this country about religion, race, sexual orientation, the media, the governments place in our lives etc.... but we need to have those conversations correctly. We can't use the facade and the language of civil discourse to mask bigotry and fear mongering.
Also, if this hearing turns into a gigantic anti-Muslim thing, people will recognize that and King will look terrible.
In the case of Muslims his hearings appear to be hate mongering, not investigation. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, however,we will see how he conducts them. If the hearings are not objective and all-encompassing of the Muslim community, let us, a multicultural American community, condemn his hearings strongly.
If King is allowed to crucify law-abiding normal-living loyal American Muslims, who will be next? The Jews? Then who? Your community? This is not a potential problem of Muslims only; hate-mongering in any form threatens all Americans, and we must all stand together against it.