I’m actually too outraged at this show of Un-American activity in the House to comment…
Huffington Post
They were moved when the first Muslim elected to Congress shed tears for a Muslim who died trying to save others on 9/11. They were irked by accusations from House members and annoyed when fellow Muslims maligned their faith.
At times they were an “Amen” corner. At other moments, they jeered and glared at the images beamed live from Capitol Hill.
But for the most part, the dozen Muslims gathered here on Thursday (March 10) at the home of a local grassroots activist sat silently as they watched the House Homeland Security Committee’s hearing on “the extent of radicalization in the American Muslim Community.”
The hearings, spearheaded by Chairman Peter King, drew loud protests from many U.S. Muslims before they even started. Too many politicians are blaming too many Muslims for the heinous actions of a few, they said.
In Boston, Aatif Harden went to New England’s largest mosque to watch, a facility that opened in 2009 after years of resistance from locals.
Harden, active in the Muslim American Society, had anticipated at least a few friends would join him at the mosque. But they were too busy with work or school, he said, to spend time watching Washington.
Malik Khan, president of the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland, Mass., was among of those who skipped the viewing party. “Sometimes I think the hell with it,” he said. “We do so many good things, and people still just want to demonize us.”
So Harden watched the hearings alone. He didn’t say much, until Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., accused the Council on American-Islamic Relations of terrorist sympathies.
“All of this stuff is old,” he said. “What’s an unindicted co-conspirator anyways? What the hell is that?”
The feeling was much the same back in Virginia, where 28-year-old Salah Ayoubi called similar charges from King “ridiculous.” Saba Baig, a 34-year-old home-schooling mother, called CAIR, a Muslim civil rights group with chapters across the country, “our biggest voice.”
Related Articles
- Radical Islam Hearings on Capitol Hill (kevinhannigan.com)
- Muslim Congressman, Religious Leaders Rebuke King’s Hearings (blogs.abcnews.com)
- Muslim Cops Put Faith, Lives On The Line (huffingtonpost.com)
- Muslim family grapples with growing Islamophobia (cbsnews.com)
- Peter King and Keith Ellison: Hypocrisy and fake tears on Capitol Hill (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
- ‘Radicalization’ hearings reignite US Muslim debate (lookatvietnam.com)
- Muslim radicalization hearings set for Capitol Hill – CNN International (news.google.com)
I keep being told by my Rightie friends that only liberals see people as members of groups, that the Right sees them as individuals.
This, glaringly and graphically, puts the lie to that notion.
This is a sad and scary day in American politics.