The Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) has lashed out at GOP Rep. Peter King's comments in which he said his
congressional hearing is not against "Islam as a religion."
King said Wednesday he's
moving ahead with the controversial congressional hearing Thursday on the
"extent of radicalization" of American Muslims. The
"This has nothing to do with Islam as a
religion," King said. Fox News
The comment prompted Press TV's U.S. Desk to
contact CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor from
"I think that congressman King has a long
history of anti-Muslim statements," Saylor said.
"If he wants to show the
American Muslim community that he is sincere he needs to stop making false
allegations against the community," he added.
"He needs to admit that he has no
evidentiary basis for searching 88% of American mosques for extremists," Saylor
told Press TV's U.S. Desk on Wednesday, adding that "we have proven that to be
false and yet he keeps repeating it." King made headlines by calling for the
hearing, which many have described as an instance of intolerance, stereotyping
or even racism. Many civil rights groups
and Democrats, however, are skeptical. Rep. Jackie Speier of On March 6, Thousands of Americans took to
the streets in "You can say things, about
this particular religion, which you cannot say about any other religion in the
Ahmed said the hearings could either
encourage, or defuse, a growing sense of suspicion aimed at Muslims: "We were
blind to it. And now that it's surfaced, and it's out there, I think we're at a
very dangerous moment in The hearings begin just as Political
Research Associates has released an 80-page report documenting lax oversight of
$1.67 million in funding for states' counterterrorism programs.
publiceye.org "America faces very real threats of violent
terrorism, yet, trainers from the organizations in our study draw from a variety
of anti-Islamic frames to teach public servants conspiracy theories about
stealth infiltration of America that echo the shameful witch hunts of
McCarthyism," says Thom Cincotta, author of the report.
publiceye.org "In the process," he adds, "they may put
millions of Americans at risk both in terms of security and in terms of
protecting their constitutional rights." publiceye.org In the Although Muslims make up
around 2 percent of the Forty-six
In fall of 2010, opponents
of a mosque planned for Robert Putnam and David
Campbell, authors of American Grace, a book on Civil liberties groups say
It alleges that the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection agency, or CBP, has been questioning Muslims or
people that appear to be Muslim about their religious and political beliefs,
associations and activities. These findings come at a time when a
comprehensive examination on religion and public life shows that the number of
U.S. Muslims will more than double in the next 20 years. Pewforum MMN/SM/MMN