Folks, we all knew this was coming. There was going to be some commentator who would not only say that we have a gun problem in America, but that terrorism really isn’t an “epidemic” with the Muslim community. Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist, reiterated those points on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris Perry’s show last weekend, including the notion that more people have been killed by white supremacist groups than by “jihadis, or whatever they [I’m assuming the Obama administration, media, or any rational being] want to call them,” she said.
Sarsour also took umbrage at The New York Times for showing in their front-page story about the San Bernardino shooters items that all Muslims have in their house. Sarsour added that she has these items in her home, and that this doesn’t “tell you a story about what terrorism looks like.”
Harris-Perry agreed with Sarsour’s double standard the media reportedly shows when reporting on Islamic extremism, saying, “I mean that image, and then also right next to it an image of the shooting suspect there in hijab. And the idea of this is what terrorism looks like–for me that is a difference…this happens only for a specific community.”
Okay–for starters, these shooters weren’t the Amish. Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik were both Muslim; they were radicalized; and as Christine reported earlier today, they had given into extremism two years prior to even meeting each other online. There are also reports that Syed Farook might have planned other attacks, besides the horrific one the couple executed last week in San Bernardino. Moreover, other evidence recovered suggests that Farook might have been conspiring to commit an attack with another person as early as 2012.
Yes, the vast majority of Muslims don’t support ISIS, but the terror group has cobbled together tens of millions of people who view them favorably, according to Pew Research. When you compare the percentage of those who view ISIS favorably in countries with “significant Muslim populations” to the rest of the populations of the nations featured in the Pew poll, you’ll see that 60-65 million Muslims support ISIS. More disconcerting in the poll is that 62 percent of Pakistanis aren’t sure about their feelings towards this terrorist organization.
Why aren’t nations with significant Christian populations being polled regarding terror groups that use their faith when carrying out their violent agendas? It’s because they’re not the problem. Radical Christian groups, whether they are the Ku Klux Klan or other Christian Identity groups, didn’t fly planes into the Twin Towers, their operatives didn’t try to blow up an airliner by igniting their underwear, and they didn’t slaughter scores of people in Paris for insulting Jesus Christ and intervening in Syria, among other things. It was the work of radical Islamic terrorists. We can’t face the threat, unless we know what it is–and be honest about it.
Of course, this shouldn’t be used to make blanket statements about Muslims. Then again, it’s ridiculous to compare the terrorist acts of radical Christians and Muslims and say that they’re somewhat comparable.
Gun control isn’t the issue, as this is a federal terrorism investigation–and the notion that terrorists would abide by new gun regulations is laughable. As for the terrorist watch list, despite their radical histories, neither Farook nor Malik were on it, so they would have been able to buy their guns in any scenario. Not to mention that these lists are an overall constitutional mess that would prevent Americans from buying firearms based on mere suspicion of being terrorist-y. We have due process in this country before any rights are curtailed on our citizens.
Recently, Sarsour was quoted in a piece on National Public Radio’s site, voicing her displeasure at President Obama’s call on Muslim-Americans to help “root out” Muslim extremists within her community. Yes, that apparently was a problem:
President Obama's request that Muslim Americans help "root out" and confront extremist ideology in their communities is getting mixed reactions. Muslim leaders say they want to help, but some are not happy that they are being singled out."We would never ask any other faith community to stand up and condemn acts of violence committed by people within their groups," said Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour, who has worked extensively with the Black Lives Matter movement and other minority groups. "The fact that this is only directed at the Muslim community is something that I personally can't accept."
Some other Muslim-Americans agreed with her sentiment, but others were more accommodating:
Ahmed Hahsy, an immigrant from Afghanistan now operating a kebab restaurant in South Philadelphia, agrees he has a duty to confront extremism when he sees it, but not because he's a Muslim."It's everybody's duty," he said, "not Muslim or Christian. As Americans, it's our duty. I just told my wife, 'You're not Afghan anymore.' I've been living in this country for 25 years. We are first American, then Afghan. This is our duty, to protect this country."
[…]
Bob Marro, chairman of the government relations committee at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society in Northern Virginia, said his fellow Muslims may need to do more to help identify anybody with violent or extremist tendencies.
"We see these people close up," he said at the meeting with Johnson. "If [we] see something a little bit out of character, maybe the time has now come to say something to somebody else."
Oh, and in case you missed it, French police raided and closed three mosques, according to Jazz Shaw over at Hot Air. In addition, police have searched 2,235 homes, with 232 people taken into custody. They found assault rifles and terrorist propaganda over the course of these raids. Moreover, the French Interior Ministry projected that 100-160 more mosques will be closed because they aren’t properly licensed and they espouse hatred.
Last Note: Turkey, a moderate Muslim country, is allegedly turning a “blind eye” to ISIS’ operations in the region. Also, 13 percent of Syrian refugees have positive feelings towards ISIS.