Ending one of the most controversial hearings in US Congress, Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison left the House of Representative in tears in protest at a congressional hearing on Muslim “radicalization” for stigmatizing the whole Muslim community in the United States.
“These are individuals, not entire communities,” Ellison, a Democrat Representative in Minnesota, said, reported the USA Today on Friday, March 11.
“When you assign their violent actions to the entire community, you assign collective blame to a whole group.
“This is the very heart of stereotyping and scapegoating.”
The House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee opened a hearing on Thursday into the so-called “radicalization” of US Muslims.
The hearing is championed by Rep. Peter King, who has claimed that US Muslims are being radicalized by Al-Qaeda operatives.
The Republican representative has also accused Muslim leaders of not cooperating with law enforcement authorities in fighting terrorism.
“As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks, we cannot allow the memories of that tragic day to fade away,” King told the committee.
“Today, we must be fully aware that homegrown radicalization is part of al Qaeda's strategy to continue attacking the United States.”
But the hearing has drawn fire from US officials and Muslims for stigmatizing the whole Muslim community in the country.
Giving his testimony before the committee, Ellison said the hearing unjustly targets the Muslim-American community for the acts of a few extremists.
He concluded his remarks with the story of 23-year-old Mohammed Salman Hamdani, a paramedic who died trying to save lives in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
“Mr. Hamdani bravely sacrificed his life to try and help others on 9/11. After the tragedy some people tried to smear his character solely because of his Islamic faith,” Ellison said in breaking voice.
“Some people spread false rumors and speculated that he was in league with the attackers only because he was Muslim. It was only when his remains were identified that these lies were fully exposed.
“His life should not be defined as a member of an ethnic group or a member of a religion, but as an American who gave everything for his fellow citizens.”
McCarthyism
The anti-Muslim hearing was also slammed by US Congressmen for fueling evils of McCarthyism.
“Singling out one religious group and blaming the actions of individuals on an entire community is not only unfair, it is unwise,” US Rep. John Dingell, a Democrat whose district is based in Dearborn, which has a large Arab-American community, said in a letter signed by many representatives.
The hearing “must not be permitted to recall the evils of McCarthyism and the divisiveness and ill will it created.”
Rep. Hansen Clarke was also critical of the hearing.
“The committee must make decisions based on reliable intelligence -- not based on anecdote, profiling or stereotyping, which could fuel bigotry and hate,” he said.
Rep. Sheila Jackson of Texas launched a fierce attack on the anti-Muslim hearing.
Branding proceedings an “outrage,” Lee said that the hearing’s demonization of “a whole broad base of human beings” was the perfect recruiting tool for terror groups.
“This hearing today is playing into Al-Qaeda right now around the world,” she said.
Testifying before the committee, Sheriff Leroy Baca of the Los Angeles County sheriff's office defied King’s claims that Muslim leaders do not cooperate with law enforcement authorities in fighting terrorism.
The sheriff praised the Muslim community for helping root out potentially dangerous elements in Los Angeles.
“Evidence clearly indicates a general rise of violent extremism across ideologies,” he said.
“Therefore, we should be examining radicalization as an issue that affects all groups regardless of religion.”
Since 9/11, US Muslims, estimated between six to seven million, have become sensitized to an erosion of their civil rights, with a prevailing belief that America was stigmatizing their faith.
Anti-Muslim frenzy has grown recently over plans to build a mosque near the 9/11 site in New York, resulting in attacks on Muslims and property.
