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Jihadists In America

Jihadists In America

Wednesday, June 06, 2007 12:03 AM

Muslim Extremism in America: A Suggested Agenda for Congressional Hearings

by Jerry Gordon

The New English Review
Last summer during his successful re-election campaign in Connecticut as an Independent, Senator Joe Lieberman read Bruce Bawer‘s book, While Europe Slept. He was shocked at what he learned about the looming Islamization occurring in what many have taken to call Eurabia-after Islamic scholar Bat Ye’or’s book of the same name. This topic emerged during his campaign speeches on foreign policy and homeland security keyed off of the Senator’s role as a co-sponsor of the 9/11 review Commission. As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC), the Senator and his staff have scheduled a series of ‘exploratory hearings’ on this vital and important topic. Three hearings has been held to date and broadcast on C-SPAN:

The Threat of Islamic Radicalism to the Homeland on March 14^th;
The Internet; A portal to Violent Islamic Extremism on May 3^rd; and,
Violent Islamist Extremism: Government Efforts to Defeat It on May 10th

Committee staff informs us that a series of follow up hearings will be held over the summer culminating in a report in the fall to complete this important agenda.

Earlier this year Brigitte Gabriel, bestselling author of Because They Hate, founder and President of American Congress for Truth, and I met with the HSGAC staff and exchanged background information that hopefully will be of use in scheduling additional hearings and selecting witnesses.

We have suggested to the Committee a number of issues for possible investigation. While they are by no means exhaustive, they are indicative of compelling matters that should be explored by the Committee. We have no expectations as to whether any of these might be considered for inclusion on the Committee’s agenda. That would be presumptuous on our part.

Nevertheless, in the wake of a number of news events here in the U.S following the first three hearings by HSGAC., the issues we raise are relevant to the hearing topic: Muslim Extremism in America.

Here are suggested issues for the HSGAC and other Congressional Committees to consider in the conduct of exploratory hearings on Muslim Extremism in America:

• Why is Muslim Extremism so prone to espousing violence, terror and demonizing of the “Other” which make adherents so shockingly unassimilated in Western societies and contemptuous of our civil and human rights laws and standards here in America?
  

• Why is there a ‘cognitive disconnect’ when Muslim advocates ‘brand’ Islam as a ‘religion of peace’ while espousing the imperative of Jihad against the unbelievers by the ‘ummah‘-the Muslim community of believers? Does this Muslim Extremism arise from Islamic canons-the Qu’ran, Hadiths, Sira, etc.?
  

• What documentation is available to focus on these issues; e.g., Dr. Andrew Bostom’s two volumes on The Legacy of Jihad, and the forthcoming The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism , Bat Ye’or’s several books on Dhimmis and Dhimmitude culminating in Eurabia, the several published works by Bob Spencer, and the unpublished papers by Stephen Coughlin, Islamic Law specialist at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in DoD.
  

• Why did 26 % of American Muslim youths surveyed by the Pew Research Center support suicide attacks? Why did the New Jersey Fort Dix Six become Jihadis? Why did a young U.S. Muslim captured in Saudi Arabia threaten our President’s life?
  

• What is occurring in Madrasses and Mosques here in the U.S. that gives rise to Muslim Extremism? What evidence is available from current and immediate past reports about the content of books, pamphlets and Friday sermons that foster such incitement to violence and hatred? Some resources include the Freedom House reports, MEMRI translations and videos, and Investigative Project reports.
  

• What sources-both domestic and foreign- are providing funding , training Imams and supplying textual materials for religious instruction of Muslim youth and believers? Is it the American ummah itself, or foreign governments, e.g., Saudi Arabia?
  

• Why aren‘t there reformist movements in Islam akin to the reformation of Christianity and the enlightenment movement in Judaism that would reduce xenophobic and violence tendencies in Islam? Why are ‘moderate and secular Muslims’ rejected, trivialized, threatened with Fatwas and lacking in support by normative Muslims here in America?
  

• Why is normative Islam the ‘fastest growing religion’ in our nation’s correctional systems, especially among disaffected minorities, and who is supporting Muslims Chaplains and Imams in espousing xenophobic and violence doctrines? Is it our federal, state and local governments? What Muslim sects and doctrines supply chaplains in our prison system? What are the underlying factors propelling the dramatic growth in Muslim converts among minority convicted felons in our nation’s prison systems?
  

• What Islamic organizations are behind the creation and operations of 14 Muslim paramilitary training camps in America whose ‘graduates’ consist largely of former prison converts to Islam? How many have been processed by these para military training camps? What is the rational and purposes of their operations? Where is the financial support coming from for these camps?
  

• If there are an estimated 4 to 12,000 Muslims members of our Armed Forces do they have a higher allegiance to the ummah - the Muslim community of believers? Who is training Military Muslim chaplains and how do we assure that they are maintaining the loyalty of Muslim soldiers to our government and Commander in Chief?
  

• Why is our national security and intelligence apparatus so lacking in linguistic, cross cultural and Islamic law and doctrine training to develop effective counter terrorism programs? How should this lack of knowledge about Muslim fundamentalist doctrine be corrected?
  

• Have our federal humanitarian and refugee resettlement laws and programs been unwitting factors in planting Muslim extremists in our nation’s heartlands since the 1990′s in such locations at Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Fort Wayne? Have we inadvertently permitted such groups in our midst to manipulate other federal minority preference assistance programs for nefarious ends? If so, how can we correct these defects and not lose the original humanitarian intent of such laws and programs?
  

• Why are our national security and law enforcement agencies biased against the hiring of qualified non-Muslims linguists, translators and analysts in critical languages? How do we remove barriers for the employment of these qualified non-Muslims in important intelligence and national security activities?
  

• What lies behind the spate of defamation suits brought by Muslim Advocacy groups like CAIR, MPAC and others in state courts? Best examples being the flying Imams ‘ John and Jane Doe’ case, the now resolved CAIR -Anti-CAIR Virginia law suit and the Islamic Society of Boston litigation in the Massachusetts courts? Is it to redress legitimate anti-Islamic matters of discrimination or is it an attempt to use our civil courts to stifle free speech and First Amendment Rights?
  

• What prospects are there for Muslim assimilation to American standards of civil and human rights vis a vis the legal status and treatment of Muslim women in America?

• What can our government do to create constructive programs of community dialogue, and education that might ameliorate Muslim Extremism in America?

Jerry Gordon is a member of the board of American Congress for Truth, a former intelligence officer for the US military and Middle East Affairs Analyst.