SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Hostile rhetoric by Republican lawmakers against the Muslim community in the wake of deadly bombings in Boston is inviting rebukes from rival Democrats for demonizing the whole minority.

“I don’t think all of this is very helpful,” Senator Diane Feinstein told Fox News.

“I think the important thing is to get the facts.”

The Democrat’s comments came in an exchange between her and Republican Representative  Peter King on last week’s attack in Boston, which killed three people.

In his comments, the Republican lawmaker called for putting the whole Muslim community under surveillance following the attacks.

“We can’t be bound by political correctness Police…have to realize that the threat is coming from the Muslim community and increase surveillance there; where the threat is coming from.

“They are getting people in our country, who are under the radar screen, who have clean records. We saw it in the Times Square bomber, the subway bomber in New York. And now we’ve seen it — it appears — in Massachusetts.

“If you know where the threat is coming from a certain community, that’s where you have to look,” he added.

But the Democrat Senator hit back, saying that King’s rhetoric was not helpful.

“Let the investigation proceed. The FBI has very good interrogators. They know what they are doing,” Feinstein said.

“I don’t think we need to go and develop some real disdain and hatred on television about it.”

US Muslims were among the first to condemn the Boston attacks, without even waiting for the suspects to be identified.

King has a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric.

In 2011, he sparked uproar by holding a hearing into what he called “radicalization” of American Muslims, accusing Muslim leaders of not cooperating with law enforcement authorities in fighting terrorism.

He has also called for stepping-up NYPD surveillance of Muslims, the program which terrified the Muslim community while failing to produce a single actionable lead or investigation.

Islamophobia

US officials have said that they were not evidence that the alleged Boston bombers had any connection with militants groups overseas.

“I am not aware of any evidence so far that the Boston suspect is part of any organized group, let alone al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or one of their affiliates,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin has written.

He was responding to allegations by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul that one of the suspects was trained by al-Qaeda during a 2012 visit to Chechnya.

"House Homeland Security Chair McCaul appears to have simply made up a theory that Tamerlan was trained by al-Qaeda, with no evidence,” Zack Beauchamp, a reporter said on his Twitter account.

McCaul’s accusations ignored the fact Islamist rebels in the Caucasus denied any connection to the Boston bombing.

“The Command of the Province of Dagestan indicates in this regard that the Caucasian Mujahideen are not fighting against the United States of America,” Wilayah Dagestan of the Caucasus Emirate said in a statement.

“We are at war with Russia, which is not only responsible for the occupation of the Caucasus, but also for heinous crimes against Muslims.”

Republicans have repeatedly used inflammatory rhetoric against US Muslims, estimated at between six to eight million, to win votes.

During his campaign to win his party nomination for the November election, former House speaker Newt Gingrich had described Islamic Shari`ah as a mortal threat to the United States.

Republican aspirant Rick Santorum had also described Islamic Shari`ah as "an existential threat" to America.

A Republican Missouri lawmaker had also described Islam as a disease like polio while another Alaska Rep. branded Muslims as ‘occupiers’ of American neighborhoods.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: On Islam

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — Calls by a Republican lawmaker for the expulsion of Muslims from the United States and hostile comments by another hopeful against the blacks are leaving the Republican Party in hot water, weeks before elections to elect a new president.

"I see no solution to the Muslim problem short of expelling all followers of the religion from the United States," Charles Fuqua of Batesville, Arkansas, who is running for a seat in the House of Representatives, writes in a book cited by Reuters.

Fuqua, an attorney, served as a state representative from 1995 to 1998 before losing a state senate race.

According to The Arkansas Times newspaper, Fuqua’s comments appeared in his e-book "God's Law: The Only Political Solution" which came out in April on Amazon.

Another Republican state Representative, Jon Hubbard, wrote that slavery might have benefited blacks.

"The institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise," Hubbard of Jonesboro, Arkansas, wrote, in a 2009 book “Letters to the Editor: Confessions of a Frustrated Conservative”.

"Wouldn't life for blacks in America today be more enjoyable and successful if they would only learn to appreciate the value of a good education?" Hubbard, a retired teacher and Vietnam veteran who was elected to the statehouse in 2010, added.

His book also says that blacks "are likely much better than they ever would have enjoyed living in sub-Saharan Africa."

The Republican Party has also been dismissive to Muslim voters over the anti-Islam campaigns played by its candidates to win votes.

During his campaign to win his party nomination for the November election, Newt Gingrich, former House speaker, has described Islamic Shari`ah as a mortal threat to the United States.

Republican aspirant Rick Santorum had also described Islamic Shari`ah as "an existential threat" to America.

Former candidate Herman Cain had also said that he would not appoint a Muslim in his administration.

Cain, who withdrew from the race for the White House, later modified his position by calling for an unconstitutional "loyalty" oath for Muslim appointees.

Recently, a Republican Missouri lawmaker described Islam as a disease like polio while another Alaska Rep. branded Muslims as ‘occupiers’ of American neighborhoods.

Although there are no official figures, the United States is believed to be home to between 6-8 million Muslims.

Embarrassment

Struggling to overcome an expected political storm ahead of the November vote, the Republican Party swiftly sought to distance itself from the two candidates.

"The reported statements made by Hubbard and Fuqua were highly offensive to many Americans and do not reflect the viewpoints of the Republican Party of Arkansas," state party chairman Doyle Webb said in a statement cited by Reuters.

Webb blamed Democrats for drawing attention to the two books, which he called "distractions."

The Democratic Party described the Republican comments as “appalling”.

"With these appalling views, Jon Hubbard cannot be trusted to represent Arkansans and set policy for our state," Candace Martin, spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of Arkansas, said.

Jay Barth, a political science professor at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, agrees.

He referred to the controversial comments as a throwback to the 1960s when Arkansas was a civil rights battleground.

"It's hard to remember a set of remarks this extreme on racial matters by an Arkansas official since the state's politics modernized in the late 1960s than that by Mr. Hubbard," he said.

Hubbard and Fuqua’s comments are not the first embarrassment to the Republican Party.

Last month, a video of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney surfaced in which he made disparaging remarks about Americans who support President Barack Obama.

The comments recorded at a private fundraiser after the primary season ended in which he described almost half of Americans as “people who pay no income tax” and are “dependent upon government.”

Those voters, he said, would probably support President Obama because they believe they are “victims” who are “entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.”— www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: On Islam