Sunday, May 10, 2009

Former CAIR chief: Muslims disproportionate "victims" of the Terrorist Watch List

Jihad Watch

Parvez Ahmed is the former Board Chairman of the unindicted co-conspirator Council on American-Islamic Relations. He is mystified that Americans might have a negative view of Islam, despite the many terrorist attacks perpetrated by Muslims around the world and justified by them with reference to Islamic texts and teachings No, we will be waiting till doomsday for Parvez Ahmed to acknowledge that that might have anything to do with these negative views. For him, it is all about "Islamophobia," as manifested by the many Muslims on the Terrorist Watch List.

Has it ever occurred to you, Mr. Ahmed, that maybe there are so many Muslims on the Terrorist Watch List because, uh, so many Muslims are terrorists?

And in any case, the Terrorist Watch List is not a matter of "victimization." I myself am on it -- or rather, Robert Spencer is on it. Every time I fly, which is just about every week, I have to go through delays while they check to see if I am that Robert Spencer. It would be annoying if I missed a flight because of it, but I know it this delay is going to happen, and factor it into my schedule. Protest? Whine? Nope. I am not going to do that, and Parvez Ahmed shouldn't either. Any American who doesn't want to see another 9/11 on American soil should be willing to put up with some inconvenience to that end. Right, Mr. Ahmed?

"Muslims Disproportionate Victims of Flawed Terrorist Watch List," by Parvez Ahmed at the Huffington Post, May 8 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

...Eight years into the so called war on terror, profiling of Muslims remains quite in vogue. Prejudices against Muslims remain real and progressively worsening. A recent ABC News/Post Poll finds that "Americans by 48-41 percent hold an unfavorable opinion of Islam -- its highest unfavorable rating in ABC/Post polls since 2001. And 29 percent express the belief that mainstream Islam encourages violence against non-Muslims -- down slightly from its peak, but double what it was early in 2002."

Once again a vulnerable minority in America is being treated with unwarranted suspicion. Such suspicion only provides illusions of security because they yield no suspects plotting to harm Americans. Moreover, they alienate an entire community whose cooperation is critical in keeping our homeland safe and upholding our image as a nation respecting due process. It is time for America to reclaim its true legal tradition of judging a person by their actions, not on the basis of their color or practices of their faith or merely on the basis of their names....

I'm all for judging people by their actions. Let's factor Islamic terrorism and the preaching of Islamic supremacism in mosques in the U.S. and around the world into that equation also, shall we?

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