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AMP Comment – January 1, 2005
2004: Another hard year for the American Muslims
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
On December 27, a group of 34 American Muslims were searched, fingerprinted and photographed at the US border on return from an Islamic conference - Reviving the Islamic Spirit - in Toronto. When they objected strenuously to being fingerprinted, the US officials told them that "you have no rights."
This year end incident symbolizes the state of civil rights of the American Muslim community since 9/11. Civil rights was the defining issue during the 2004 election campaign as the Muslim community, victim of guilt by association, remained under siege with profiling at airports, interrogation by FBI, surveillance of mosques, campaign against Muslim charities and constant print and electronic media attacks on Islam.
Attack on Islamic faith, in 2004, remained a past time for many, particularly the Christian right. Just two recent examples: (1) After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Franklin Graham called Islam "an evil and wicked religion." In an interview with The Los Angles Times on Nov. 27, 2004, he was asked if he still thought of Islam in the same way. "I haven't changed my mind," he said. (2) Bruce Tefft, a founder of the CIA's counter-terrorism center and now an advisor to the New York Police Department's intelligence and counter-terrorism divisions, told a seminar in Canada in Nov., 2004: Islamic terrorism is based on Islam as revealed through the Qu'ran and that while there may be moderate Muslims, Islam itself is immoderate.
A main effect of 9/11 has been that Islamophobia is not only more widespread but also considerably more mainstream and respectable. The problem of rising Islamophobia in America and Europe was highlighted at a UN seminar in December 2004, titled, "Confronting Islamophobia: Education for Tolerance and Understanding."
Inaugural remarks of the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, were very illuminative: "Islam's tenets are frequently distorted and taken out of context, with particular acts or practices being taken to represent or to symbolize a rich and complex faith….Some claim that Islam is incompatible with democracy, or irrevocably hostile to modernity and the rights of women. And in too many circles, disparaging remarks about Muslims are allowed to pass without censure, with the result that prejudice acquires a veneer of acceptability."
Hence, one is not astonished at the Cornell University Poll where 44 percent of the 715 people who were polled said that Muslims’ civil rights should be curtailed. The poll also found that 27 percent of respondents said all Muslim Americans should be forced to register where they are with the federal government and 26 percent of those polled said they think mosques should be "closely monitored" by the police.
The Cornell Poll result is the expected outcome of the government biased policies and anti-Muslim and anti-Islam media campaign since 9/11.
The survey also found a correlation between television news-viewing habits, a respondent's fear level and attitudes toward restrictions on civil liberties for all Americans. People who watched a lot of TV news were found to be more likely to favor restricting civil liberties. "The more attention paid to television news, the more you fear terrorism, and you are more likely to favor restrictions on civil liberties," said Erik Nisbet, senior research associate with the ILR Survey Research Institute, which commissioned the study by Cornell.
Daily News Editor, Richard Lodge, spoke for millions of Americans when he said about the Cornell University Poll: “Have we become so frightened by the war-mongering by the Bush White House and the constant hype of television newscasters and hate-radio hosts that we believe the bad guys are all around us? If you want to strip civil rights from your Muslim neighbors, is that because you actually believe those people are lined up behind Osama bin Laden? Are you afraid of Muslim Americans because you think they are evil people, or because you are ignorant about them and believe the bigotry and fear that some of the American media are foisting off on us all?”
The Cornell University poll came two months after a poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations which found that 1-in-4 Americans believes in a number of anti-Muslim stereotypes and negative images of Muslims are 16 times more prevalent than positive ones.
On the positive note, 2004 can be described as the year of political activism for the seven million-strong American Muslim community. It was an election year and the Muslim community showed maturity by participating in the national political process in order to make its voice effective.
American Muslims have increased their participation in political and social activities since 9/11, according to a poll by the Council of American-Islamic Relations. The poll said that roughly half of American Muslims surveyed say they have increased their social (58 percent), political (45 percent), inter-faith (52 percent) and public relations activities (59 percent) since the 9/11 terror attacks.
The community was the focus of the mainstream media which not only highlighted its political activities but also the problems it faced since 9/11. During this year, the Muslim political activism was extensively reported by the mainstream media with such headlines: New Jersey Muslims stressing political participation. U.S. Muslims seek greater electoral clout. Muslim groups flex political muscle. Election rouses Muslim vote: Civil rights issues raise stakes in tight presidential race.
Evidently, whether intended or not, Muslims voted en bloc on November 2, 2004 presidential election, a behavior that is undoubtedly the outcome of personal and collective experiences, not a political strategy per se. The only reason for en mass Muslim and Arab vote for Senator Kerry was the civil rights issue as they endured much of the brunt of the Bush administration’s transgression on the country’s rights, and particularity their civil liberties.
During 2005, the American Muslim community faces an uphill task of defending its faith and protecting its rapidly shrinking civil rights as evidenced by the fingerprinting incident of American Muslims.
Another important development witnessed by the American Muslim community in 2004 was the formation of Progressive Muslim Union (PMU) to promote “moderate Islam” in North America as envisaged by the two special reports of the Washington-based think-tank, the Rand Corporation. On March 18, 2004, the Rand corporation issued a study, titled “Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies,” that called for revamping Islam by selectively ignoring or rejecting elements of the original religious doctrine of Islam. The study recommended support of the Muslim modernists who believe that Islam is responsible for the underdevelopment of the Muslims.
On December 15, 2004, the RAND Corporation issued another study — titled “The Muslim World After 9/11” that among other things called on the United States and its allies to support efforts in Muslim nations to create a strong and vocal network to unite the fractured voices of moderate Muslims and introduce mosque reforms.
The same moderate Muslim group launched the American Muslim Group on Policy Planning (AMGPP) on December 13, 2004 in Washington to play a pivotal role in helping build bridges of confidence, trust and communication between the US and the Muslim World. The AMGPP formation conference at the Brookings Saban Center for Middle East Policy was co-sponsored by one of the Board members of the Progressive Muslim Union, Dr. Muqtedar Khan and attended by the PMU Executive Director Mr. Ahmed Nassef.
It cannot be predicted what will be the impact of the Rand studies on the practice of Islam on the 1.3 billion Muslims around the world? However it may not be too harsh a judgment to say that the American Muslim community in the long run is likely to see intensive pressure to modify practice of Islam in the light of the Rand recommendations. The formation of the Progressive Muslim Union and the American Muslim Group on Policy Planning can be viewed in this perspective.
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