US Muslim lawmaker gets emotional at Muslim radicalization hearings

[News_Editor]

US Muslim lawmaker gets emotional at Muslim radicalization hearings

2011-03-11 03:47:03 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON (BNO NEWS) -- Representative Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, broke down on Thursday while offering testimony during a hearing on the radicalization of American Muslims sponsored by New York Republican Rep. Peter King.

The Minnesota Democrat got emotional when discussing the story of Salman Hamdani, a 23-year-old first responder who died in the World Trade Centre attacks on September 11, 2001. Ellison said the hearing scapegoats and stereotypes Muslims, and will increase suspicion of the Muslim community, in turn making all Americans less safe, ABC News reported.

"Violent extremism is a serious concern to all Americans and is the legitimate business of this committee," said Ellison, who testified at the House Committee of Homeland Security hearing today, but the approach "is contrary to the best of American values and threatens our security."

The Muslim-American community accused King of bigotry and fear he is on a witch hunt, while Democrats say the GOP leader is intentionally isolating Muslims, and is using religion to divide Americans.

King has said the goal of the hearing is not to target all Muslims but to deal with the reality of terrorism, according to ABC News.

"I remain convinced that these hearings must go forward and they will," King said in his opening statement. "To back down would be a craven surrender to political correctness and an abdication of what I believe to be the main responsibility of this committee; to protect America from a terrorist attack."

This is not the first time that a hearing in the U.S. Congress tackles the issue of violent Islamic extremism. Independent Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman chaired a series of 14 hearings on "Violent Islamic Extremism" from September 2006 to February 2011. Connecticut's Lieberman says his hearings were different in that they examined the ideology of Islamic terrorism rather than spotlighting the Muslim community, but he called King's hearings "important."

On Wednesday, King told CNN that al-Qaida is trying to influence U.S. Muslims. He said the U.S. had seen the evidence of that al Qaida-inspired radicalization in "a number of attempted attacks which could have killed hundreds if not thousands of people," such as the failed Times Square attack and New York subway bombing plan.

This week, a national group, Muslim Advocate, launched a website aimed at tracking what it calls anti-Muslim rhetoric, particularly among elected officials.

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