Having talked the talk of improved US-Muslim relations, Obama must now put his best foot forward and walk the walk, writes Abdus Sattar Ghazali* Change was President Barack Obama's campaign slogan. The seven-million strong American Muslim community, firmly believing in his promise, voted overwhelmingly for Obama in the 2008 presidential elections with the hope that his administration would bring an end to their humiliation and suffering faced in the Bush era under the rubric of war on terror. American Muslims were both pleased and surprised by President Obama's inclusive words in his inaugural address, on 20 January, when he said America is "a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers". Such words signalled Obama's recognition that Muslims are an important part of the American fabric. In his historic 4 June speech in Cairo, President Obama hinted to the problems facing American Muslims by saying that US rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfil their religious obligation. "That is why I am committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfil zakat." His Cairo statement coincided with a statement by Attorney-General Eric Holder: "The president's pledge for a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim community takes root here in the Justice Department where we are committed to using criminal and civil rights laws to protect Muslim Americans. A top priority of this Justice Department is a return to robust civil rights enforcement and outreach in defending religious freedoms and other fundamental rights of all of our fellow citizens in the workplace, in the housing market, in our schools and in the voting booth." Similarly, in his 2 September speech at the White House Iftar dinner, President Obama emphasised that the contributions of Muslims to the US are too long to catalogue because Muslims "are so interwoven into the fabric of our communities and our country". While noting the contributions of American Muslims, Obama also alluded to their problems when he shared the story of the Muslim sixth-grader Nashala Hearn from Oklahoma who was suspended twice last fall because school officials claimed her hijab violated dress code policy. The president said: "When her school district told her that she couldn't wear the hijab she protested that it was a part of her religion. The Department of Justice stood behind her, and she won her right to practice her faith." Not surprisingly, Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor and assistant to President Obama for public engagement and intergovernmental affairs, was the keynote speaker at the inaugural session of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Convention 2009. She paid tribute to the diligent work of Muslim Americans on behalf of their country. Citing President Obama's Cairo speech, Jarrett acknowledged the contribution of American Muslims to the overall development of American society and the strengthening of American institutions. Jarrett pointed out: "Your work here is crucial in confronting the challenges that all Americans are facing. And you help advance the new beginning between the United States and Muslim communities around the world that the president called for in Cairo." These courteous and good gestures by President Obama are accompanied by the appointment of a number of American Muslims to (albeit minor) positions in his administration. Rashad Hussein, an American Muslim lawyer, has been appointed deputy associate counsel to the president. Dalia Mogahed was appointed by President Obama to serve on the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships. And American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) National Executive Director Kareem Shora has been appointed a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. However, all these good gestures and public policy measures have little positive impact on the restoration of civil rights of American Muslims curtailed since 9/11. Profiling has been institutionalised in post-9/11 America. State and federal agencies, under the guise of fighting terror, have expanded the use of this degrading, discriminatory and dangerous practice. The damage to civil liberties has been extensive, and a lot of work remains to be done to remedy it. American Muslims and civil libertarians are particularly concerned about Justice Department guidelines implemented in the last days of the Bush administration that allow race and ethnicity to be factors in opening an investigation. Other civil rights concerns include FBI agent provocateurs sent into American mosques, citizenship delays, politicised terror trials, and misuse by the Department of Justice of the "unindicted co-conspirator" label. Today, eight years after 9/11, incidents of racial and religious profiling in the United States have increased dramatically. Soon after the 9/11 attacks, racial profiling became the norm at US airports where anyone belonging to the Arab or Muslim communities was systematically called out for questioning and sometimes even detained. Eight years hence, the 14 August 2009 detention of Indian Muslim superstar Shah Rukh Khan at Newark Airport in New Jersey is only one of scores that take place every day. COINTELPRO OPERATION AGAINST THE MUSLIMS: Last October, in the waning days of the Bush administration, FBI Director Robert Mueller signed new guidelines allowing broader FBI authority in pursuing potential threats to national security. The new guidelines allow agents to consider race or ethnicity in determining whether someone is a suspect. These guidelines, which became effective 1 December 2008, allow the FBI to launch criminal investigations against anyone without any factual predicate and without approval from FBI headquarters. The guidelines are similar to COINTELPRO, an FBI programme used in the 1950s and 1960s to spy on civil rights, environmental and labour groups, with the goal of unearthing communist ties those organisations may have had. At Congressional hearings last May, FBI Director Mueller -- who continues to serve as FBI director in the Obama administration -- said the guidelines simply formalised processes the FBI had begun to use post-9/11. President Barack Obama and Attorney-General Eric Holder have not indicated whether they intend to scrap the new guidelines. Tellingly, the Obama administration has also formalised laptop seizure rules. On 27 August 2009, the Obama administration disclosed that it will carry on Bush administration policies that allowed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to seize and search international travellers' laptop computers, cellular phones, cameras and other electronic devices, even in the absence of suspicion of criminal activity. The DHS made public two directives that formalised operational practices established by the Bush administration to carry out searches of the personal digital instruments of travellers, US citizens or not, passing across US borders. According to the directives, border police "may detain electronic devices, or copies of information contained therein, for a brief, reasonable period of time to perform a thorough border search. If DHS turns up nothing incriminating, to regain the confiscated item the traveller must return to the border crossing where the item was seized, or else pay for its shipment." Although the electronic media search regulations apply to all passengers, Muslims are perhaps the main targets at present because they fall under extra scrutiny at airports and other points of entry. In April 2009, Muslim Advocates released a report, "Unreasonable Intrusions: Investigating the Politics, Faith and Finances of Americans Returning Home," documenting the systematic and widespread practice of federal agents interrogating Muslim, Arab and South-Asian Americans returning home after international travel, violating their rights to privacy and non-discrimination, among other rights. The report pointed out: "Currently, no DHS policy limits the scope of interrogations, even those that probe the religious beliefs, political views and other First Amendment- protected activities of law-abiding Americans." "For many hard-working, law-abiding Muslim Americans, questions about their political beliefs, religious practices, and charitable causes they support, as well as surrendering their business cards, credit card numbers and laptop and cell phone data, have become the price of admission when returning home to the US," says Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates. On 30 June 2009, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a report entitled, "The Persistence of Racial and Ethnic Profiling in the United States". The report said: "The Obama administration has inherited a shameful legacy of racial profiling codified in official FBI guidelines and a notorious registration programme that treats Arabs and Muslims as suspects and denies them the presumption of innocence and equal protection under the law." As a result, in 2009, with a new administration in office, the practice of racial profiling by members of law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels remains a widespread and pervasive problem throughout the United States, impacting the lives of millions of people in African American, Asian, Latino, South Asian and Arab communities. Tellingly, as a presidential candidate, Obama's campaign released a "Blueprint for Change" that stated if elected Obama and Biden would ban racial profiling. In 2005 and in 2007, then-Senator Obama cosponsored the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA), which has continued to languish in Congress since its introduction in 1997. ERPA is the key piece of federal legislation as it would compel all law enforcement agencies to ban racial profiling; create and apply sound profiling procedures; document data on stop/search/arrest activities by race and gender; and create a private right of action for victims of profiling. ISLAMOPHOBIA: Eight years after 9/11, there is a rising tide of Islamophobia, intensified by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and US government measures at home. Americans' attitudes about Islam and Muslims are fuelled mainly by political statements and media reports that focus almost solely on the negative image of Islam and Muslims. Politicians, authors and media commentators are busy in demonising Islam, Muslims and the Muslim world. Eight years after 9/11 attacking Islam and Muslims remains the fashionable sport for the radio, television and print media. A few recent incidents of illustrate. In February 2009, Republican Senator Jon Kyl hosted screening of an anti-Islam film, Fitna, at the Capitol building and invited anti-Islam far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who made the film, as his guest. Tellingly, Wilders was denied entry to London earlier that month because British authorities believed that showing his controversial film posed a threat to public order. Islamophobe Wilders, who built his political career on fear mongering, compares Islam's holy book, the Quran, to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and calls for it to be banned. Islamophobes are also teaching hatred towards Islam and Muslims to schoolchildren. On 24 August, Faith Sapp, a 10-year-old daughter of Wayne Sapp, pastor of the controversial church, the Dove World Outreach Centre, in Gainesville Florida, was sent home for wearing a t-shirt with the words "Islam is of the Devil" printed on it. The next day three more students were sent home for wearing the anti-Islam t-shirts. On their front, the t-shirts had a verse from the Gospel of John: "Jesus answered I am the way and the truth and the life; no one goes to the Father except through me." The message "Islam is of the Devil" was on the back of the shirt. The Dove World Outreach Centre's anti-Islam t-shirts episode came a month after the church displayed a series of hand-painted anti-Islam signs. In the latest incident of Islamophobia, Clarksville, Tennessee Mayor Johnny Piper, on 4 September, sent an e-mail to every City Council member, every department head, and numerous other city employees, friends and family members, to protest a US Postal Service stamp commemorating two Islamic holidays of Eid. The e-mail falsely claims that the stamp is new, its creation ordered by President Barack Obama. In fact, the stamp was first issued in 2001 and was reissued in 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Not surprisingly, Islamophobia has created an atmosphere of suspicion among Americans towards Muslims. In this charged Islamophobic atmosphere, it is not surprising that 48 per cent of Americans have an unfavourable view of Islam according to a 2009 poll by The Washington Post /ABC News. Nearly three in 10 (29 per cent) said they see mainstream Islam as advocating violence against non- Muslims. Unfortunately, what most Americans continue to see on television and read in newspapers since 9/11 are examples of Muslims and Arabs responsible for terror attacks, the repression of women and riots. Eight years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, American Muslims and Arabs continue to suffer a severe wave of backlash violence. Hate crimes include murder, beatings, arson, attacks on mosques, shootings, vehicle assaults and verbal threats. Recent hate crimes include an attack on a Muslim woman and child in Seattle by a self-proclaimed white supremacist, vandalism of mosques in California, Florida and North Carolina, an anti-Islam sign outside a Florida church, racist fireworks sold in Wisconsin, the beating of a Muslim student in New York, and the death of a California Muslim leader in a suspicious fire. Last month, in Islandia, New York, a man threatened to kill a Muslim woman and her 20-year-old daughter as he tried to run them down with his car at a gas station. The victim, 49, and her daughter were dressed in an abaya, a traditional Muslim garment that completely covered their bodies and face, except for their eyes. FBI INFILTRATION OF SOUTH CALIFORNIA MOSQUES: In February 2009, the American Muslim community was shocked at the revelation that the FBI has been infiltrating a number of mosques in Southern California. The Orange County Register reported that the FBI sent a convicted criminal, Craig Monteilh, to pose as an agent provocateur in several of California's mosques. In April, Monteilh told The Los Angeles Times that he posed as a Muslim convert at the request of the FBI to gather intelligence that might aid anti-terrorism investigators. Monteilh said he was instructed to lure mosque members to work out with him at local gyms. FBI agents later would obtain security camera footage from the gyms and ask him to identify the people on tape and to provide additional information about them. He was told that agents then conducted background checks on the men, looking for anything that could be used to pressure them to become informants. Then, in April 2009, the Council of Islamic Organisations of Michigan (CIOM) asked Attorney- General Eric Holder to launch an investigation into complaints that Michigan Muslims were being approached by the FBI to spy on the activities of Muslim congregations. Through coercion of certain congregation members, the FBI is reportedly promoting the entrapment of innocent, law-abiding citizens in otherwise peaceful houses of worship, said a CIOM statement. CIOM is an umbrella organisation of mosques and Islamic organisations within the State of Michigan. The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is a CIOM member, had received complaints that the FBI approached Michigan Muslims, asking them to spy on unsuspecting worshippers, including monitoring their legitimate charitable donations. MUSLIM CHARITIES: Eight years after 9/11, Muslim charity organisations remain under pressure. In June 2009, ACLU released an extensive report about how US terrorism finance laws and policies were unfairly preventing the seven-million- strong American Muslim community from practising their religion through charitable giving. The 164-page report, "Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity", is the first comprehensive report that documents the serious effects of Bush administration terrorism finance laws on Muslim communities across the nation. The core of the report is about how Muslims are being scared away from making zakat (a religious obligation of giving to the less fortunate) to Muslim charities. US terrorism finance laws and policies also create a climate of fear and distrust in law enforcement and undermine America's diplomatic efforts in Muslim countries, the report said. Since December 2001, ACLU reports that the government seized the assets of three Muslim charities, closed seven others and conducted raids of more. The stated purpose was to cut off money that supposedly was heading from Muslim charities to groups that support or carry out terrorism. "Without notice and through the use of secret evidence and opaque procedures, the Treasury Department has effectively closed down seven US-based Muslim charities, including several of the nation's largest Muslim charities," said Jennifer Turner, a researcher with the ACLU Human Rights Programme and author of the ACLU report. "While terrorism financing laws are meant to make us safer, policies that give the appearance of a war on Islam only serve to undermine America's diplomatic efforts just as President Obama reaches out to the Muslim world. These counter-productive practices alienate American Muslims who are key allies and chill legitimate humanitarian aid in parts of the world where charities' good works could be most effective in winning hearts and minds," Turner added. In May 2009, after a series of legal twists, secret evidence and the questionable witness of Israeli intelligence agents, five former officials of the Holy Land Foundation, once a leading American Muslim charitable organisation, were sentenced to up to 65 years' imprisonment on charges related to humanitarian aid given to Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. The defendants said they were engaged in legitimate relief work, while the government claimed that work benefited terrorists. During the trial, defence attorneys accused the government of bending to Israeli pressure to prosecute the charity, and of relying on old evidence. The five were never accused of supporting violence and were convicted for funding charities that aided needy Palestinians. To borrow from OMB Watch, a watchdog focussed on the activities of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Holy Land Foundation trial sends a chilling message to US charities. It is virtually impossible for charities to determine what foreign organisations they can legally partner with. At the trial, Robert McBrien from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control testified that it could be illegal to deal with groups that have not been designated as supporters of terrorism and placed on government watch lists. He said that keeping up with front groups "is a task beyond the wise use of resources". As a result, charities now have to guess about whether or not any local charity or community leader may be considered a supporter of terrorism, said OMB Watch. "Ramadan, Giving Wisely and With No Fear" is the title of an article about zakat that reflects the dilemma of Muslims to fulfil their religious obligations, usually during the month of Ramadan. Government crackdowns on Muslim charities have caused tremendous fear and anxiety among Muslims, with many still scared that a simple act of charity could lead to federal agents knocking at their door. Unfortunately Obama's pledge to work with American Muslims to resolve the problem has so far done little to assure them. In July, Muslim organisations joined other non-profit organisations in signing a letter urging President Obama to follow up on his Cairo commitment to revise rules on charitable giving. On 26 August, the Treasury Department issued a statement about charity giving in Ramadan. "As Ramadan begins, the US Department of the Treasury recognises the particular importance of charitable giving throughout the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims in America and around the world. Charitable giving is a fundamental characteristic of many faiths, and zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a sacred obligation for Muslims." However, the Treasury has failed to provide a safe list of charity organisations so that Muslims can donate without fear. In short, eight years after 9/11 Muslims in America remain at the receiving end of an assault on their civil rights and their faith. Muslims are the prime targets of the post-9/11 reconfiguration of US laws, policies, and priorities that have not been changed under the Obama administration; defending civil rights remains the single most important challenge before the seven million-strong American Muslim community. It is not ill judged to say that eight years after 9/ 11 American Muslims remain under siege. Despite healing words from President Obama about bridging the divide between the Muslim world and the West, America's Muslim community is subject to pervasive and persistent attacks by the federal government, many spearheaded by the Joint Terrorism Task Forces. As President Barack Obama made his public appearance with Turkish President Abdullah Gul on 6 April 2009, as part of his first trip to a Muslim country, US federal agents were preparing to arrest Youssef Megahed, a student from Egypt, in Tampa, Florida. Just three days earlier, a jury in a US federal district court had acquitted him of charges of illegally transporting explosives and possession of an explosive device. Megahed was held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement authority for deportation. The charges levelled were the same ones of which he was acquitted. Surprisingly, in August he was released when an immigration judge refused to deport him, ruling the DHS had failed to prove terrorism charges. Many people believed that after Bush had left the White House, rampant arrogance combined with stunning hypocrisy had also gone. Events have so far proven otherwise. Although Obama is able to give a more compassionate and intelligent speech than was possible by Bush, the essence of their policies is identical. To borrow from Ted Rall: Obama doesn't talk like Bush; he just acts like him? * The writer is executive editor of the online magazine American Muslim Perspective (www.amperspective.com).
