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| The Weekly Rant |
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| What Is the Difference? There appears to be a big yet simple difference for the reasons of the British Government’s success in catching the London terror suspects over America's lack of success in catching homegrown terror suspects: engagement of the local Muslim communities. After 9/11, U.S. authorities went on a mass arrest spree of mostly south Asian immigrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan, the “obvious” targets. While there were more than 5,000 individuals cast in this large net, nearly all were for minor immigration violations -- technicalities – many held for months in solitude, denied contact with relatives or legal representation. These were people who lived here for years, paying taxes, worked hard to make a living and educate their children with, oh-by-the-way, zero ties to terrorism. Of the few held on actual terror charges, most of those accusations have been dropped due to lack of evidence. The American Muslim community was quick to denounce the devastating attacks on our country and many organizations, like the Muslim Public Affairs Council (http://www.mpac.org), offered their help in any way. But instead of engaging the American Muslim community for their assistance, government agencies spied, bullied and intimidated many while stating publicly that retribution against the Muslim community would not be tolerated. A mixed message at best. Apparently, the British authorities have learned from our mistakes, actively engaging the local Muslim community in a determined, focused effort to find the criminals. This has resulted in the arrests of a cadre* of individuals directly responsible for terror activities, and a better relationship between British law enforcement, local Muslims and the public at-large. While terrorism is still very much on our minds and still a very real threat both here and abroad, it’s encouraging to see a very public government engagement of reaching out to a community for help in stopping the scourge of hatred and destruction by a few misguided individuals. It’s a shame – almost a sham – that the recent “fatwa” issued by the Fiqh Council of North America, is only one of the many efforts American Muslim have given to see recognition by the media for doing something for our country. |