The US has seen several dozen arrests of American Muslims over the last year, all charged with various terrorism-related crimes. So far, those arrested have predominantly been of Somali or Pakistani origin, though several have been American-born converts to Islam, both black and white. The arrests are, of course, causing concern and comparison to the state of Muslims in Europe, particularly in states such as the UK which have seen attacks undertaken by citizens of South Asian descent.
As The Washington Post reports in this piece, the general assessment is that American Muslims are less prone to radicalization, but clearly they are not immune to it…
Arrests suggest U.S. Muslims, like those in Europe,
can be radicalized abroad
Mary Beth Sheridan and Spencer S. HsuA spike in terrorism cases involving U.S. citizens is challenging long-held assumptions that Muslims in Europe are more susceptible to radicalization than their better-assimilated counterparts in the United States.
Four investigations disclosed in the past 12 months, including the arrests of five Northern Virginia men in Pakistan this week, underscore what the Obama administration asserts is a domestic threat emanating from Americans training overseas with al-Qaeda and related terrorist groups in Pakistan. “We have apprehended extremists within our borders who were sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit new acts of terror,” President Obama said this month in announcing plans to deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
American Muslim organizations, jolted by the spate of cases, are abandoning their hesitation to speak out about the issue. While underlining that only a tiny minority has become radicalized, two major groups — the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations — said this week that they would launch counter-radicalization programs aimed at young people.
…
The Post reports, too, on the most recent arrests in Pakistan of five men from the Washington, DC suburbs:
Five from Northern Virginia had months
of contact with Taliban, officials say
Saudi Gazette carries a story based on wire reports stating that these five will not be deported back to the US until Pakistan establishes that they have not violated Pakistani law. If they have, they will face courts in that country first.
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December:12:2009 - 09:04
Hello.
I like your site and wanted to know if you would be interested in exchanging blogroll links.
Thanks in advance
December:12:2009 - 10:09
I don’t do ‘link exchanges’, but readers are invited to visit your site. More information sources are always potentially useful.
December:15:2009 - 01:29
Aren’t I filled up with these stories?!!!?!?!
Stumbled upon this website …. Like all other websites … nothing new … nothing creative … Same stories are being told over and over again … Same concepts and same prospective …
I shall go die in my own grave for that I don’t care anymore …
December:15:2009 - 07:39
Happy to help maintain your anomie stasis…
December:15:2009 - 09:07
I really enjoyed this dark little room … four walls … very comfy …
Because of you, I am think about selling this darn PC, cutting of this stupid internet connection and try to see if outside is as dead as here …
Five years of great navigation and browsing … I’m out!
Because of you.
Think of it as a favor!
Anyways, was fun visiting this … see you in the after world … if there is one to begin with!
December:15:2009 - 10:16
John,
What was that all about?
It is people like “Rant” that make life worth living. I wonder if there is a tower or cliff somewhere I can jump off of… Maybe I can get R. to hold my hand.
I may be a little bit on the negative side, but I do believe these are interesting times.
K.
December:15:2009 - 10:26
Interesting times for sure! Everywhere.
I haven’t a clue what Rant is about. The comment amused me, so I didn’t delete it. One can waste as much time as one likes in trying to figure out what’s meant by the comment, but for me, that’s very, very little time.
December:15:2009 - 11:08
This is how I would interpret Rant. Our pedestrian discussion is flat and uninspiring- and just like all the other drivel on the internet. If only there were enlightened beings using great intellect- speaking of great matters.
In other words, Rant is bored- and rather than loooking within -it’s our fault.
That’s my take on it!
December:15:2009 - 16:46
We need to make XRoads more interesting!
You know, John, there is always pictures of naked women!!!!
Think about it!
K.
December:15:2009 - 16:53
OK ……, ……….., …, …………..,
And now, having thought, I’ve moved on.
While latest scientific reports suggest that that content would draw a nearly universal male audience, it doesn’t quite fit in with what I’m trying to do here. So, I’ll leave it to Google and the imaginative mind to tread there.
December:15:2009 - 21:26
So, no naked ladies!
Well, I will not give up. There must be something we all can do to make Xroads more interesting for people like R!
How about….
2. tiger woods jokes?
3. Hollywood / Bollywood gossip?
or maybe
4. dedicate this site to a very much needed analysis of the supersymmetric aspects of the dimensionality of string physics theory, particularly the M-theory component with its 11 dimensions. If we can somehow find a way to harmonize quantum mechanics with general relativity, old R. will have to eat his words.
or, on the other hand, maybe we can find some exotic country in the middle east, modern yet ancient, powerful yet notorious, full of paradoxes and ambiguities, for you to write about.
Oh what will it be……
December:16:2009 - 00:33
Well, your #4 is awfully tempting. You might get a more solid answer than going for that exotic ME country…
December:16:2009 - 00:48
#4 would get my husband on here- that’s his idea of ‘recreation’
Jay are you suggesting that KSA is “exotic”? I suppose one could look at it that way- maybe “exotic” changes it’s meaning when you live there!
December:16:2009 - 00:58
Fail … that all I can read …
Seriously …. you guys have the time to analyze a non-existence character …
Now guys … that how do I spell Success!
I am really tired this day … so no ranting going on …
Till we meet again ….
December:16:2009 - 01:13
I think the KSA is plenty exotic!
December:16:2009 - 22:15
Hmmm I would have thought the topic of the radicalization of American Muslims would be plenty exciting enough. While it is something that needs to be attended to, it is certainly still a very small minority of any Muslim group. In Canada, of course, we pay CSIS plants to radicalize vulnerable teens so they can be arrested with fanfare and photo ops, in an attempt by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to win a majority government. We do have the occasional genuinely radicalized Muslim, mostly working in collaboration with their peers south of the border, as was discovered recently in exploring the network of those arrested in the States.
December:16:2009 - 22:59
If you are an Indian living in India, USA is the most exotic country, followed by Europe, Canada and Australia – in that order! KSA is no big deal; it’s an inferior version of India.
As for radicalised Muslims, I’m told by Oby the UK has built sensitisation centres for teaching the peaceful aspects of Islam to White Muslims and also to children of immigrant non-White Muslims. Others can also benefit from this campaign. The aim is to stop the White converts and others from going into extremist ways. It’s a 2 million Pounds industry.
John,
Back to our business discussion – perhaps you can get the US government to fund such sensitisation centres in the US and you can run a series of such Centres in the US, operating from an exotic US city! All religions lead to the same divine power, so instead of the usual message of love and peace from Christianity, no problem in teaching the peaceful message of Islam. That’s an innovative Christmas idea, what do you say?
December:16:2009 - 23:20
So many efforts in all the wrong places…
Any American radicalized in America is nothing short of an F-in RETARD!
December:16:2009 - 23:43
Daisy: I’m sure you’ve heard the American idiom, ‘Third Rail.’ This pertains to the current-carrying rail of electric railway systems. If you touch the third rail, you die… quickly, almost instantaneously.
Religion is a third rail issue for the US government. When the Constitution says that church and state will be separate, it means exactly that. (There are arguments about just whether the state is forbidden to promote a religion, the most usual reading, or must also push against religion, but that’s a somewhat different issue.)
This means that the US government is singularly unable to run programs like the sensitization centers you describe. Where the US gov’t to attempt to tell Muslims what Islam is, there would be uproar across the religious communities. There would also be considerable derision across the Islamic world.
The best that can be sought, I believe, would be to run programs that emphasize that civil society and democracy depend on tolerance for others and acceptance of the fact that not everyone agrees on even primal issues. This is not nearly as ‘sexy’ as something more affirmative about religious beliefs, it lacks traction. But going much further would be pushing the buttons of very many religious groups, either in anger against what they see as favoring one religion, or envy that their religion is not receiving the same attention. Those trends are already visible within American society. Look at the nonsense about ‘taking Christ out of Christmas’ or the fury that meets a high school teacher’s assigning some verses of the Quran in a cultural studies class.
In short, US government and religion do not mix. Instead, religion is seen as something individual, even individualized! The Supreme Court, for instance, has ruled that a religion is what a follower of that religion says it is, even if that follower is the only adherent the religion has. If there are disputes about orthodoxy, those are to be solved exclusively within the religious organization and courts may not play any role whatsoever.
December:17:2009 - 00:47
John,
I am familiar with the notion of separation of State from religion – that’s the basis of Indian consttution as well and the State doesn’t interfere in religious matters unless a religious group asks the State to sort out its problem. So now the Madarsas – the traditional Islamic religious schools are asking the government to provide funds and regulate the curriculum and introduce modern subjects in these schools as well and there is a debate going on within the Muslim community about this and the government is considering whether this is a viable option. Of course, the consent for the government’s involvement has to come from the Muslim community, not from the government.
The school education in India already has a strong inculcation of the idea in various ways that all religions are equal and we must not regard any religion as superior to others and we must respect each others’ practices. I think this needs to be inculcated in the school syllabus in the US. Also an equal emphasis on all religions. For example, Indians tend to participate in the festive celebrations of all religions, no matter whether it’s their religion or not. So you’ll find here non-Hindus celebrating Holi and Diwali and non-Christians celebrating Christmas and non-Muslims giving Iftar dinners etc. – and they expect to be included in each other’s festivals. I am told by the American students that this doesn’t happen in the US – everyone celebrates their own festival and they don’t celebrate festivals together. I think this kind of culture builds boundaries between communities – a feeling that this is “our” practice and that is “their” practice.
You are right, this teaching of tolerance should be there and perhaps the best way is to insert it in school education in subtle ways, not overtly. Ideas formed in childhood die hard. Perhaps ideas against extremism can also be a part of school syllabus, without mentioning any particular religion, as part of the teaching that all religions teach love and peace for humanity and violence is not a part of any religion. Without this engagement, the neo-converts and young people are likely to fall prey to the ideology of hatred being disseminated by the exremists.