Rep. Peter King: Hearings or Smearings for Israel

Saturday 12 March 2011

Rep. Peter King: Hearings or Smearings for Israel

March 11, 2011 posted by Mohamed Khodr

“Fame and riches are fleeting. Stupidity is eternal”

– Don Williams, Jr

The House homeland security committee, chaired by New York Republican representative Peter King, opens hearings this week on the threat of homegrown Muslim terrorist, amid much controversy.

Mr. King must weigh the damage he may inflict on American Muslims versus the political and financial gain he may garner from his discriminatory hearings.

By Mohamed Khodr

It’s déjà vu all over again. A Catholic Congressman is holding hearings on Un-American Activities by a small American minority community he claims are being infiltrated and controlled by Radical elements that threaten the national security making them an enemy within.

This is not Senator Joe McCarthy but New York Republican Representative Peter King, currently the Chair of the House’s Committee on Homeland Security. Mr. King’s hearings this week will focus on the Radicalization of American Muslims and the threat this poses to America’s security.

Building up to such hearings Mr. King has made outrageous, bigoted, reckless, and unsubstantiated claims about the American Muslim community. Without any evidence to support his ideological and politically motivated statements, he nevertheless has purported that “there are too many mosques in America”; that “80 – 85% of mosques in this country are controlled by Islamic Fundamentalists”; and that, “No America Muslim leaders are cooperating in the war on terror.”

It’s beyond the pale of logic to comment on Mr. King’s incredulous remark that there are “too many mosques” in the U.S.   Perhaps Mr. King can inform us what’s an acceptable number of mosques given that no one, not even the Muslim community knows that figure. How many mosques, churches, synagogues, and temples constitute an acceptable number to Mr. King, a lawyer, who is surely aware of freedom of religion?
Without a known denominator of the number of mosques and the impossibility of defining or knowing how many mosques are infiltrated by “Islamic Fundamentalists”, how does Mr. King conclude that 80 -85% of mosques are infiltrated by fundamentalists?

When asked by Sean Hannity in 2004 to substantiate the claim of 80 – 85%, Mr. King responded: “I can get you the documentation on that from experts in the field. Talk to a Steve Emerson, talk to a [Daniel] Pipes, talk to any of those. They will tell you. It’s a real issue … I’ll stand by that number of 85 percent. This is an enemy living amongst us.”

Neither of these individuals have done or published any scientific evidence to substantiate their totally arbitrary claim.   However both are known for their Anti-Islamic rhetoric.

Do Muslims need to be devout and attend Mosques to hatch terrorism plans?   Not hardly. Terrorist plans can be hatched anywhere other than a mosque.

As for cooperation with Law Enforcement from the Federal to the Local level not one agency has claimed that Muslims are un-cooperative.

In fact, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) who was the previous Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee wrote an op-ed on Politico (1/27/11) in which he strongly refutes King’s assertion that Muslims are not cooperating with Law Enforcement Agencies.

Mr. King has had ample media opportunity to spew his prejudicial attitude against all American Muslims without ever being challenged to support his outrageous claims with solid evidence or facts.   One wonders if the media outlets that provide such opportunities share his demonizing campaign of all American Muslims.
Mr. King’s long history of supporting and defending the I.R.A.’s terroristic activities has been amply documented.

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According to the Daily Beast (1/10/2010), in 2002, King condemned the hearings into the I.R.A’s link to FARC as “irresponsible”. He claimed the hearings were rigged and subject to a ‘pre-ordained agenda’ despite ample evidence demonstrating that the IRA was offering bomb-making and explosives training to the FARC. The hypocrisy and double standards on this is lost on Mr. King and his determination to smear an entire minority population.

If only Mr. King did some research, as is expected from a Congressman, into the subject of Muslim extremism he would have dispelled, I think, his preconceived falsehoods on the issue. Unfortunately Mr. King has made previous decisions based on faulty and false information as was the case of his support for the devastating invasion of Iraq.

But where does President Obama stand on Peter King’s smearing hearing on the radicalization of American Muslims.

Well that depends on which of Obama’s hypocritical faces you observe over time.

Is he the President who spoke in Cairo to a Muslim audience on June 4, 2009 saying?

“I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”

Or is he the Obama represented by Dennis McDonough, Deputy National Security Advisor to the President who called Rep. Peter King expressing the White House’s support for the hearings: According to Peter king McDonough called him and said:

“No, you should go ahead with the hearings. We favor congressional involvement.”…A White House spokesman doesn’t dispute King’s version of the phone call, and adds: “As for Rep. King’s hearings specifically, we welcome congressional interest.” (The Daily Beast, “Peter King’s Unlikely Ally”, March 9, 2011)

Or is Obama’s second face represented by Dennis McDonough when he gave a speech to a Muslim audience saying?

“When it comes to preventing violent extremism and terrorism in the United States, Muslim Americans are not part of the problem, they’re part of the solution….We must resolve that, in our determination to protect our nation, we will not stigmatize or demonize entire communities because of the actions of a few,” (W.H.: Don’t ‘demonize’ Islam”, Politico.com; March 7, 2011)

Obama’s administration has been characterized by a constant metamorphosis of retracted and changing policies. This is a man who obviously is spineless and fearful of his standing and his chances for reelection. He was brought into office by Jewish money both personal and from Wall Street and is intimidated by an Israeli lobby that has forced him to abandon the MidEast Peace process and join them in the demonizing and stigmatizing of the entire American Muslim community.

He’s been decimated by the Israeli lobby and right wing attacks that he’s a Muslim and Anti-Israel. He’s determined to prove them wrong.

Here are some factual reports that should embarrass Mr. King given his outlandish statements and crusade against American Muslims.

F.B.I. Report: Terrorist Incidents 2002 -2005

–Chronological Summary of Terrorist Incidents in the United States 1980-2005
According to this FBI Database: Only SIX percent of terrorist incidents during that time were committed by Muslims, thereby 94% of such incidents were committed by Non-Muslims
–23 of the 24 recorded terrorist incidents (2002-2005) were perpetrated by domestic terrorists. With the exception of a white supremacist’s firebombing of a synagogue in Oklahoma City, all of the domestic terrorist incidents were committed by special interest extremists active in the animal rights and environmental movements.

RAND Corporation Report:

–[Of the] 83 terrorist attacks in the United States between 9/11 and the end of 2009, only three…were clearly connected with the jihadist cause. (3.6% of total)

–There are more than 3 million Muslims in the United States, and few more than 100 have joined jihad—about one out of every 30,000—suggesting an American Muslim population that remains hostile to jihadist ideology and its exhortations

– There is no evidence that America’s Muslim community is becoming more radical.

–Many of the jihadist recruits in the United States began their journey on the Internet. (Not in Mosques)
–The homegrown jihadist threat in America today consists of tiny conspiracies, lone gunmen, and one-off attacks.

–A mistrust of American Muslims by other Americans seems misplaced.

Europol Reports 2006, 2007, 2008:

–A total of 1,571 terrorist attacks occurred in the E.U. from 2006-2008 of which only 6 were committed by Islamist terrorists which translates to less than 0.4% of all attacks, which means 99.6% of all attacks were committed by Non-Muslims.

Europol Report 2010:

–Separatist terrorism continues to be the type of terrorism which affects the EU most in terms of the number of attacks carried out.

–Islamist terrorist activities are increasingly being perpetrated by self-radicalized and often self-instructed individuals, acting alone instead of in groups. (Not in Mosques)

Tragically in America society where many have surrendered their intellectual curiosity and analysis of issues to the media, especially to Fox News, its easy to understand the enormous fear and perception that Muslims are the biggest threat to our security when far greater dangers emanate from Right Wing Extremists, Militias, White Supremacists, Neo Nazis, Eco-Terrorists, Anti-Government and Anti-Tax citizens, Anti-Abortion groups, the Hutaree “Christian Warrior” militias intent on killing law enforcement agents, the Army of God (Hezbollah), widespread drug and youth gangs, the Mexican and Colombian Drug Cartels, the Mafia, and White Crimes in financial institutions, and so much more.

Rep. King is uninformed, driven by a single obsession and focus on American Muslims and is unaware that his hearings will only be counterproductive and may result in further violence against an already besieged American Muslim community. We must not scapegoat an entire community for the many psycho-social and violent ills in our society. We need not create a new enemy for every generation.

Mr. King must weigh the damage he may inflict on American Muslims versus the political and financial gain he may garner from his discriminatory hearings.

About the Author: Mohamed Khodr is an American Muslim born in the Middle East. He is political activist who frequently writes on the plight of Palestinians living under the brutal occupation of Israel, U.S. Foreign Policy, Islam, and Arab politics.
Press TV (Interview with Zead Ramadan)