Prelude to a Witch Hunt

America’s “Muslim Radicalization” Hearings

This Thursday is when the Homeland Security Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives will hold hearings on “the extent of radicalization in America’s Muslim community.” It is intended to be a prelude to a series of further hearings on the same subject. It won’t be only America’s Muslim community that will find these hearings reminiscent of Joseph McCarthy’s “House Un-American Activities Committee” hearings, which became a wild, anti-communist witch hunt in the 1950s.

The initiator of this latest propaganda event is Republican Homeland Security Committee Chairman, Peter King. This politician with Irish roots, who previously sought to justify terrorist acts perpetrated by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), has left open the question of how many additional hearings he intends to hold. His first hearing will focus on the “radicalization efforts in American prisons” and “the influence of foreign money in American mosques.” King responds to those critics who accuse him of defaming a specific group by alleging that Islamic terrorism is a unique threat to American public security, more dangerous than right-wing extremists who threaten violence against the supposedly socialistic Obama administration. King says the majority of Muslims are good Americans, but he simultaneously accuses them of failing to cooperate sufficiently with the FBI and police in denouncing terrorism.

King receives strong support from groups like “Act! For America” that openly support anti-Muslim crusades. Right-wing Christian extremists get together on its website with aggressive Zionists to give unconditional support to Israeli occupation and settlement expansion policies. The founder and president of ACT, the Lebanese Christian Brigitte Gabriel, hosts a talk show on which Peter King was a recent guest.

King also receives encouragement from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the highest-ranking Jew in the House of Representatives and a leading supporter of the pro-Israel lobby. Cantor said that the highest priority of U.S. security policy was to halt the spread of radical Islam. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, on the other hand, announced he was “deeply concerned about these hearings, which demonize law-abiding American Muslims.”

Information on whether Islam-motivated terrorism is, in fact, the greatest threat to U.S. security may be found in the U.S. criminal statistics. In all of 2009, a total of 21 people were accused of terrorist activity. From January to August 2010, 20 people were accused. The majority of these cases involved little more than alleged plans of terrorist acts that were part of FBI sting operations. The number of Americans who were actual victims of Islamic terrorism since 2001 falls into the single-digit range. In contrast, the statistics show more than 15,000 homicides in the United States in 2009 alone.