New York Rally Condemns Congressional Hearing on Muslim Terrorism
THE GUARDIAN: Protesters say hearings planned by Congressman Peter King are unfair for singling out Muslims rather than extremists

Some 300 people gathered in Times Square in New York on Sunday to speak out against a planned congressional hearing on Muslim terrorism, criticising it as xenophobic and saying that singling out Muslims, rather than extremists, is unfair.

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and the imam who led an effort to build an Islamic centre near the World Trade Centre site were among those who addressed the crowd.

"Our real enemy is not Islam or Muslims," said the imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf. "The enemy is extremism and radicalism and radical ideology."

The chairman of the homeland security committee, Peter King, has said affiliates of al-Qaida are radicalising some American Muslims and has planned hearings, starting on Thursday, on the threat he says they pose.

King, a Republican from New York's Long Island, told CNN's State of the Union programme on Sunday that he feared Muslims in the US were becoming more radical and identifying with terrorists.

Speakers at the cold and drizzly Times Square rally said King was targeting Muslims unfairly. >>> Associated Press | Monday, March 07, 2011

Comment:

To say that our real enemy is not Islam but extremism and radicalism is like saying that a flood is caused by the water, not the heavy rainfall that brought it! In other words, we have to ask ourselves what is it that is causing all this extremism, what is the source of our problems with Islamic terrorism and Islamic extremism? What is feeding all this extremism? And of course the answer to these questions is the socio-political ideology known as Islam. It is wrapped up in a deity; but that alters nothing. Islam breeds extremism. It really is a no-brainer! Any ideology which calls for total submission and total dedication to the cause, and to the exclusion of all else, even until death, is bound to make people single-minded and obsessive. By its very nature, it is bound to breed extremism. In the case of Islam, it breeds Islamic extremism. Full stop! It’s that simple! – © Mark