Propagating hate sells books and can even win elections. NY Congressman Peter King's obsession with "Islamic homegrown terrorism' will again beget another round of congressional hearings. Politico reports his determination to replicate another investigation of American Muslims' radicalization. Peter King is a Long Island Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. As the three before it, the planned hearing will be another futile effort that will not render our country safe, nor will it factually address the multifaceted issue of extremism. Astoundingly, his announcement came out despite the release of an important report that documents the number of Muslim extremist arrested for terrorism has steadily declined since 1991.

Last year, Peter King held the controversial hearings, bearing the title "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response." Opponents such as Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said the hearings dredged up the dark days of McCarthyism and only served to perpetuate the hateful messages about fellow American Muslims.

King's decision to pursue another round of hearings in 2012 is his response to a new study reported by the NY Times. It is titled 'Muslim-American Terrorism in the Decade Since 9/11.". The conclusion of the study proclaims that the alleged phenomenon of Muslim-American terror is largely concocted from the fevered, belabored imagination of Muslim haters.

Charles Kurzman, author of the report for the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, called terrorism by Muslim Americans "a minuscule threat to public safety." Of about 14,000 murders in the United States last year, not even one resulted from Islamic extremism, said Mr. Kurzman, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina. A feared wave of homegrown terrorism by radicalized Muslim Americans has not materialized, with plots and arrests dropping sharply over the two years since an unusual peak in 2009, according to a new study by a North Carolina research group.

The study found that 20 Muslim Americans were charged in violent plots or attacks in 2011, down from 26 in 2010 and a spike of 47 in 2009.

The report also notes that the number of American Muslims charged with terrorism since 9/11 has topped out at the whopping 193. Of all the thousands of such cases, only 193 were perpetrated by Muslims in the past 11 years! Nevertheless, I expect our distracters will continue spewing their hate. And anti-Muslim haters like Yerushalmi will continue their financially lucrative campaign of peddling anti-Sharia laws for state governments. And on this point, I just learned of a first term Assemblyperson in New Jersey who is introducing their own copy- and- paste version of such absurd bills to provide a solution in search of a nonexistent problem. (More in a future column)

There is no question in my mind that the focus on one ethnic group fuels bigotry and paranoia. We have recently learned of a massive multi-year spying campaign by the NYPD on American Muslim citizens simply because they are Muslims and not because of any credible evidence or even suspicion of potential crime or terrorism activity. Despite the public exposure by the Associated Press and our strong protest to demand an investigation of these illegal actions, we are yet to hear of a public condemnation of these blatantly illegal and warrantless activities.

Admittedly, as someone who is keenly involved in confronting Islamophobia, I find confirmation in my gut feeling when I read the research results about our besieged community. Prior studies only serve to confirm the recent one by Kurzman. They all proclaim our Muslim community is peacefully assimilating and integrating into our larger society. And their experience is no different from other immigrant or religious communities in America's past. Last September, the Pew Research Center's survey on Muslim attitudes found that despite constant targeting by government anti-terrorism programs—some of which act on outsize suspicions about Muslims, such as those in an ultra-slanted film that the New York City Police Department was using in training until recently—Muslim Americans are not angry or alienated. The majority has an unfavorable view of al-Qaeda, decry all violence in the name of their religion, rate their communities as excellent places to live and increasingly believe U.S. anti-terrorism policies are "sincere." A month before that, a Gallup poll found that the Muslim-American community is more enthused and optimistic about its country than any other religious group—and without question, Muslims are loyal to America.

Some, of course, will never be swayed. Peter King persists in his demagoguery, ignorance, and manufactured xenophobia. In December 2011, a Florida fundamentalist Christian group got Lowe's to withdraw its sponsorship of the reality-TV show "All-American Muslim" because it argued the show is "propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda's clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values."



We do not expect the Islamophobes to close up shop any time soon. We recognize their hysterical invective is linked to an organized movement with a budget of more than $40 million and sophisticated lobbying efforts in all 50 states. But we are also committed to ensure this plague does not capture the heart of America. We have many friends from other faiths and ethnicities who are sane and reasonable people who have closed their ears to the ignorant voices. Brendan Patrick Keane who wrote in Irish Central, "Americans don't do that to Americans, but New Yorkers especially not, unless you're just stupid. Americans don't target an ethnic or religious group for suspicion. They don't do that unless they expect and want to become a shameful footnote from history. They don't unless they want to become the example of that time in American life when we went Muslim-hunting and succeeded for a time to bring intolerance back in vogue in America."



American Muslims are loyal citizens. Of course, we want America to be safe and free. We want America to remain vigilant against all voices and acts of extremism. The litmus test is where to draw the line between our perceived need for security and the violation of the civil and religious rights of citizens. We say it out and loudly American Muslims love America unconditionally.

Dr. Aref Assaf, president of American Arab Forum, a think-tank specializing in Arab and Muslim American affairs.

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