The people associated with a Muslim extremist group pose a threat to America and must be hunted out among the masses. The Irish Republican Army is a band of freedom fighters and never meant to kill British citizens. The citizens just got in the way.
If this sounds wrong to you, then you wouldn’t be alone. But this is what Rep. Peter King of New York wants us to think. King has opened a series of inquiries investigating Muslims for extremist activity in the last few months. Sparked by what King calls an unwillingness of Muslim leaders to curb the growth of homegrown Islamic extremism. King has his supporters, some of whom gave emotional testimony during the hearings.
Melvin Bledsoe, a Memphis businessman, said “our children are in danger.” His son converted to Islam during college and traveled to Yemen where he was “trained and programmed” to kill by a terrorist group. He returned to the United States and opened fire at a military recruitment center in Little Rock, killing a soldier and wounding another.
Rep. Keith Ellison, also of New York, criticized King’s hearing. He recounted the story of Salman Hamdani, a New York City paramedic and first responder on September 11.
Hamdani died while trying to save people when the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. Ellison, who happens to be the first Muslim member of Congress, broke down in tears saying that Hamdani’s reputation was smeared because of his religious beliefs in the days following the attack. “His life should not be identified as just a member of a religion,” Ellison said. “But as an American who gave everything for his fellow Americans.”
Emotional aspects highlighted the trial. But King’s own hypocrisy overshadows his already flawed cause; he was an ardent supporter of the IRA during the 1980s. This group is also classified as a terrorist organization and has a history of attacks on British citizens. King seemed to take these attacks with great apathy. “If civilians are killed in an attack on a military installation, it is certainly regrettable,” King said, “but I will not morally blame the IRA for it.”
His support for the group ended when the Irish public opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. King still rejects comparisons between the IRA and al-Qaeda. “I understand why people who are misinformed might see a parallel,” King said. “The fact is the IRA never attacked the United States, and my loyalty is to the United States.”
Islamaphobia has made a comeback in the last year and it waves in the ocean that is America this year. The Koran-burning pastor in Florida has finally followed through with his plan, putting many Americans in the Middle East in danger. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and as the date grows nearer the anti-Muslim sentiment is sure to either grow or recede.
Unfortunately these hearings take America back to the days of McCarthyism and the Red Scare. To the days where Japanese along the West Coast were put into camps because of fear that they were loyal to the Axis powers. To the days of 1600’s Salem, when witches ran rampant. Investigations like this have happened before, always under the guise of a trial to simply root out a threat to the country.
But they only feed into the paranoia that weakens us instead of unifying us. Let’s not forget the fact that before 9/11, the most notorious terrorist group to attack on U.S. soil was the Ku Klux Klan; I don’t recall there ever being a show trial to root them out of society.
I acknowledge the fact that extremists like al-Qaeda and the Taliban use the religion of Islam to promote and carry out violent acts. But the IRA used Catholicism as a motive to terrorize. King may think that he is doing a great service to the country by having a huge hearing on Muslim extremism, but his ideals on who is a terrorist and who is freed om fighter creates a huge stain on his argument that takes more than a convincing politician to clear up.
