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US Muslims face rising discrimination, hearing told
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
The US senate hearing was called to discuss protecting the civil rights of American Muslims
WASHINGTON (Agencies)
Muslims in the United States face ongoing discrimination and violence in actions that threaten basic freedoms in the nation, a U.S. Senate hearing was told Tuesday.Democratic Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, who called the hearing, said a "backlash" which began after the attacks of September 11, 2001, continues against "innocent Muslims, Arabs, south Asians and Sikhs."
"We continue to solicit and receive the support of many Muslim Americans who love this nation and work with our government to protect it," said Durbin, who chaired the proceedings.
"At the same time, many law-abiding Muslim Americans face discrimination and charges that they're not real Americans simply because of their religion."
The hearing was called to discuss protecting the civil rights of American Muslims, just weeks after another panel hotly debated the threat posed by homegrown Islamists.
"American Muslims are entitled to the same constitutional protections as other Americans," said Durbin, adding that this is an issue of "not just free exercise of religion but freedom of speech."
The hearing quickly took on a partisan edge when Durbin responded to criticism from Republican Peter King, chairman of a House of Representatives panel widely criticized for a hearing on radicalization in the U.S. Muslim community less than three weeks ago.
King said on Monday that the civil rights discussion would "perpetuate the myth that there is a serious anti-Islam issue in this country."
But at the start of the session Durbin shot back: "Inflammatory speech from prominent public leaders creates a fertile climate for discrimination."
"All of us, especially those of us in public life, have a responsibility to choose our words carefully. We must condemn anti-Muslim bigotry and make it clear that we won't tolerate religious discrimination."
Senator Lindsey Graham, the panel's top Republican, sounded a more hawkish tone, saying he supported Muslim rights but calling on Muslim Americans to do more to protect the United States from attack.
"Freedom of speech means we can disagree," Graham said, while adding that "there are efforts to recruit radical Muslims that must be dealt with."
Graham added, "To the American Muslim community I stand with you. But you're going to have to help your country. I'm asking you to get in this fight."
King said on Monday that the civil rights discussion would "perpetuate the myth that there is a serious anti-Islam issue in this country."
But at the start of the session Durbin shot back: "Inflammatory speech from prominent public leaders creates a fertile climate for discrimination."
"All of us, especially those of us in public life, have a responsibility to choose our words carefully. We must condemn anti-Muslim bigotry and make it clear that we won't tolerate religious discrimination."
Senator Lindsey Graham, the panel's top Republican, sounded a more hawkish tone, saying he supported Muslim rights but calling on Muslim Americans to do more to protect the United States from attack.
"Freedom of speech means we can disagree," Graham said, while adding that "there are efforts to recruit radical Muslims that must be dealt with."
Graham added, "To the American Muslim community I stand with you. But you're going to have to help your country. I'm asking you to get in this fight."
Surge in mosque opposition
The Justice Department has begun 14 such cases since May 2010, around the time when plans for a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center attack in New York seized media headlines and ignited a national political uproar.
Before last May, the government had pursued only 10 land-use discrimination cases over a decade.
"In each city and town where I have met with (Muslim) leaders, I have been struck by the fear that pervades their lives," Perez told the panel.
Muslims have also witnessed a fierce debate over a Florida minister's threat to burn a Koran, as well as efforts in half a dozen U.S. states to ban the use of Muslim religious law on the pretext of a threat to the American judicial system.
Evidence of growing anti-Muslim bigotry, aired at the Senate Judiciary hearing, poses a challenge for President Barack Obama as his administration works to foster good relations with American Muslims at a time when the United States is threatened by home-grown terrorism.
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