Good Reason for Muslims to Fear Ft. Hood Backlash
New America Media, Commentary, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Posted: Nov 10, 2009
The instant the news broke that a soldier with an Arab name shot up the base at Ft. Hood, the Council on American-Islamic Relations wasted no time and issued a loud and vigorous denunciation of the mass murders. The Council didn’t know whether Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter, was a Muslim by birth, a converted Muslim, or even a Muslim at all. The name and the horrific murder spree was enough to drive the group to quickly distance itself from the rampage. Other Muslim organizations instantly followed suit and issued their own equally strong disavowal of Hasan.
They were wise to do so. Though anti-Muslim hate crimes and anti-Muslim hysteria have leveled off somewhat since the September 11 terror attacks, Muslims still routinely get the blame for anything that even remotely smacks of a terrorist act.
Hasan’s alleged Ft. Hood bloodbath is no different. The pack of shrill rightist bloggers and talk radio chatterers jumped all over the shooting and gleefully fanned anti-Muslim passions. It didn’t take much to get the hate juices flowing. A legion of writers on web sites spewed the ritual anti-Muslim slurs, profanities, and insults at Hasan and Muslims.
President Obama saw the danger of anti-Muslim fear mongering and tried to head it off at the pass. He quickly admonished the public not to rush to judgment about the shooting and the shooter. Obama took a page from Clinton and Bush’s playbook when mob hysteria was building after the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1996 and the 9/11 attacks. Clinton and Bush cautioned the public not to finger point Muslims for the attacks.
The Oklahoma City bombing was the handiwork of Timothy McVeigh, a loose screw, red blooded American fanatic. The 9/11 attackers were mostly Saudi nationals. Yet, that still didn’t stop the murmurs, and finger pointing at and bashing of all Muslims.
That’s no surprise. American Muslims have been the repeated targets of verbal digs, physical assaults, and profiling. They are just too inviting a scapegoat for the fears and frustrations many Americans have over two failed and flawed wars, a moribund Middle East peace process, and even more frightening to many, the increasing presence of Muslims in their neighborhoods, schools, and work places, especially when wearing Muslim attire.
Obama’s admonition and the absence of self-serving anti-Muslim inflammatory antics or statements by elected officials, as well as the army brass’s bending over backward to damp down any talk that Hasan’s act was anything more than the crazed act of an over-the-edge military guy took the edge off the mob stirrings.
But that may not be enough to totally still the murmurs about alleged Muslim conspiracies and anti-American terrorist plots in the coming days. The repeated media loop of a witnesses’ claim that Hasan allegedly shouted Allahu Akbar—god is great--is prima facie proof for some of a darker Muslim conspiracy afoot. In an interview, a Palestinian cousin of Hasan’s hinted that anti-Muslim taunts may have driven him to commit carnage. While there’s not a scintilla of proof to back this charge up, it’s still more than enough to set the mindless and the gullible off to the races about the Muslim peril to America.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations then had good reason to rush out its statement denouncing Hasan’s alleged murder spree. However, even that won’t be enough to convince the hate-Muslim crowd that Hasan’s bloody assault had nothing to do with Muslim fanaticism but simply one man going off the murderous deep end. Those types we’ve learned to our sorrow come in all shapes, sizes and religions.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His forthcoming book, How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge (Middle Passage Press) will be released in January 2010.
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User Comments
Samuel Anderson on Nov 11, 2009 at 17:19:36 said:
"The world needs to hear from the moderate Islamic communities. When the blasphemy laws are applied in countries such as Pakistan and non-Muslims are killed, are those keepers of the law being good Muslims or bad ones? The world needs to hear. When freedoms are so restricted in Islamic countries that no Muslim is allowed to disbelieve in Islam with impunity, is that a good Muslim law or a bad one? The freedom to believe -- or not -- is one of the most sacred privileges of the human mind. That freedom is taken away in the name of Islam. Statistics that indicate that Islam is growing are not an accurate reflection of the hearts of the people, because they really have no choice. Until those who are not Muslims are free to practice their faith in Muslim countries -- and those who seek to become Christians or choose another faith can do so with impunity -- Islam will never be free from the fear it can engender. I pray for such a day, when one's ultimate choice in life can be made without fear of terror and hate."
~Ravi Zacharias / Light in the Shadow of Jihad~
Samuel Anderson on Nov 11, 2009 at 17:13:40 said:
"The world needs to hear from the moderate Islamic communities. When the blasphemy laws are applied in countries such as Pakistan and non-Muslims are killed, are those keepers of the law being good Muslims or bad ones? The world needs to hear. When freedoms are so restricted in Islamic countries that no Muslim is allowed to disbelieve in Islam with impunity, is that a good Muslim law or a bad one? The freedom to believe -- or not -- is one of the most sacred privileges of the human mind. That freedom is taken away in the name of Islam. Statistics that indicate that Islam is growing are not an accurate reflection of the hearts of the people, because they really have no choice. Until those who are not Muslims are free to practice their faith in Muslim countries -- and those who seek to become Christians or choose another faith can do so with impunity -- Islam will never be free from the fear it can engender. I pray for such a day, when one's ultimate choice in life can be made without fear of terror and hate."
~Ravi Zacharias / Light in the Shadow of Jihad~
Samuel Anderson on Nov 11, 2009 at 16:59:06 said:
A GLANCE AT THE FUTURE:
From behind the wall of the Present I heard the hymns of humanity.
I heard the sounds of the bells announcing the beginning of the
prayer in the temple of Beauty. Bells moulded in the metal of emotion and poised above the holy altar -- the human heart.
From a glance at the Future I saw multitudes worshipping on the
bosom of Nature, their faces turned toward the East and awaiting
the inundation of the morning light -- the morning of Truth.
I saw the city in ruins and nothing remaining to tell man of the
defeat of Ignorance and the triumph of Light. I saw elders seated
under the shade of cypress and willow trees, surrounded by youths
listening to their tales of former times.
I saw the youths strumming their guitars and piping on their reeds
and the loose-tressed damsels dancing under the jasmine trees.
I saw the husbandmen harvesting the wheat, and the wives gathering the sheaves and singing mirthful songs.
I saw Friendship strengthened between man and all creatures, the
clans of birds and butterflies, confident and secure, winging toward
the brooks.
I saw no poverty; neither did I encounter excess. I saw fraternity and equality prevailing among man.
I saw not one physician, for everyone had the means and knowledge
to heal himself.
I saw no priest, for conscience had become the High Priest. Neither did I see a lawyer, for Nature had taken the place of the courts, and treaties of amity and companionship were in force.
I saw that man knew that he is the cornerstone of creation, and that he has raised himself above littleness and baseness and cast off the veil of confusion from the eyes of the soul; this soul now reads what the clouds write on the face of heaven and what the breeze draws on the surface of the water; now understands the meaning of the flower's breath and the cadence of the nightingale.
From behind the wall of the Present, upon the stage of coming ages, I saw Beauty as a groom and Spirit as a bride, and Life as the ceremonial Night of the Kedre.*
~Kahlil Gibran of Lebanon~
* A night during the Moslem Lent when God is said to grant the wishes of the devout.
kiki rodriguez on Nov 11, 2009 at 09:06:43 said:
This is not allowed in Islam. Not supposed to betray people after you give an oath to them. Nidal Hasan acted from himself, not from Islam.
This has everything to do with Nidal Hasan, is not from Islam.
KiKi on Nov 11, 2009 at 08:21:43 said:
'However, even that won’t be enough to convince the hate-Muslim crowd that Hasan’s bloody assault had nothing to do with Muslim fanaticism but simply one man going off the murderous deep end.'
What kind of BullShit are you peddling here? It had everything to do with Muslim fanaticism. Have you picked up a newspaper and read it within the last few days? I thought this was supposed to be a news site? Why aren't you keeping up with the latest FACTS?
nader paul kucinich gravel on Nov 10, 2009 at 19:05:03 said:
Homeland Gestapo Police State
-->Likud Joe Lieberman and Bibi
Backlash Neocon AIPAC
Projection much?