US Congress Hearing on Muslim Radicalization is Un-American
By Kaleem Kawaja
Washington DC
Rep Peter King is indulging in a witch-hunt and his action in holding a public hearing in the US Congress on "Islamic Radicalization in US" is a throwback to the McCarthy hearings in 1950s on the subject of "Communists in US". Such an action by a US Congressman from the august institution of US Congress is bound to encourage extreme right wingers and anti-immigrants in the US who have been baiting not only Muslims but also all people who are other than Christians and Jews. Such an action will lend respectability to witch-hunting against colored people in the US.
It was most disappointing that Rep King declined to invite to the March 10 hearing any representative from any of the about ten major organizations of American Muslims from across the US, or any officials of any major US law enforcement agencies, e.g. FBI, Justice Department, etc. Instead he selectively invited unknown biased personalities. Strange was the testimony of Dr Zuhdi Jesser (a Syrian-American Muslim) of Arizona. Dr Jesser made wild and unsubstantiated generalized allegations that 20-30% of Muslims in the US are radical Muslims sympathetic to violence. But upon questioning he was unable to say how he came up with that estimate. It was incredulous to hear him say that this estimate was based on his experiences with Muslims in Egypt. How relevant is that extrapolation from Egypt to the US? He refused to answer that question.
More than anything such a radical action by a US Congressman will divide American public and may result in encouraging the harassment of peaceful Muslim citizens and citizens whose origin is in Asia; their places of worship, their schools, their businesses and even their homes. Surely such baiting of America's Muslims takes away their fundamental citizenship right to practice their religious faith without being harassed for that. That is a very un-American and unconstitutional action that flies in the face of the Bill Of Rights enshrined in the US Constitution.
