ThE MuSlIM “VEIl” PoST-9/11 - Institute for Social Policy and ...

NOVEMBER 2012POLICY BRIEFof self-labeled terrorism experts hired to train lawenforcement officers nationwide on how to combatterrorism. 69 The trainers admit that their objective is towarn state and local police officers of the threat posed byIslam in the United States. For example, Ramon Montijotells law enforcement officials in Alabama, Colorado,Vermont, California (viz., Los Angeles), Texas, Missouri,and other states that most Muslims in the United Stateswant to impose sharia law upon all Americans. He states,“They want to make this world Islamic. The Islamic flagwill fly over the White House—not on my watch! My jobis to wake up the public, and first, the first responders.” 70Another purported terrorism expert, Walid Shoebet,advises local police to “look at the entire pool of Muslimsin a community.” 71 At the first annual South Dakota FusionCenter Conference in June 2010, he advised the policeto monitor Muslim student groups and local mosques,as well as to tap their phones to find out about theirplans to impose sharia. 72 These views have become soprevalent that neo-conservative Washington DC-basedthink tanks are publishing reports on “stealth jihad” 73that lawmakers rely upon while developing policies on“homegrown terrorism” and anti-sharia legislation. 74Anti-black bias thinly veiled in anti-MuslimslursShortly before the Ground Zero controversy, a Pew pollfound that two years after President Barack Obama’selection, one in five Americans still believed that he wasa closeted Muslim. 75 These same allegations, intendedas derogatory racial slurs, were hurled against him inthe 2008 presidential election cycle. 76 The accusationssay less about the veracity of Obama’s religious beliefsand more about the affiliation with Islam as a politicalliability. Calling the President a Muslim is a pejorativelabel aimed at a President whose drop in the polls isdue more to an economic recession and controversialhealth care reform—both of which have nothing to do withMuslims per se. Yet, tellingly, some voice their displeasurewith his governance through derogatory accusations ofObama being a Muslim. This speaks volumes about thepositioning of the “Muslim” as among the most distrustedminority group in America despite repeated efforts byMuslim communities to prove their fidelity to the nation. 77Thus, when two American Muslim headscarved womensought to sit in a special section behind the podiumduring one of Obama’s presidential campaign speeches,a campaign volunteer quickly ushered them away fromthe cameras. 78 They later admitted, “Because of thepolitical climate and what’s going on in the world andwhat’s going on with American Muslims, it’s not goodfor [the Muslim woman] to be seen on TV or associatedwith Obama.” 79 This rejection by staffers of an African-American presidential candidate shows that Muslims,racialized as the terrorist “other”, have secured a placeat the bottom of the racial hierarchy. 80Using electoral politics to recast religiousaccommodation as Islamic imperialismIn October 2010, 70 percent of Oklahoma’s votersapproved the “Save Our State” amendment to thestate constitution, thereby prohibiting state courts fromconsidering Islamic law when deciding cases. 81 Thediscourse surrounding the amendment further evincesIslam’s recasting as a political ideology.Political pundits framed the issue as, “Sharia law, inshort, is a comprehensive, theo-political law system,” 82and lawmakers adopted it wholesale into the legislativerecord. The author of the bill, Representative Rex Duncan(R-OK), proclaimed that sharia was a “cancer” and that hisbill would “constitute a pre-emptive strike against Shariah[sic] law coming to Oklahoma.” 83 He believes that Muslimscome to the United States to take away “liberties andfreedom from our children.... This is a war for the survivalof America. It’s a cultural war.” 84 Similarly, co-authorSenator Anthony Sykes (R-OK) stated, “Shariah [sic]law coming to the U.S. is a scary concept. Hopefully thepassage of this constitutional amendment will prevent it inOklahoma.” 85 At least seven other states are consideringsimilar legislation prohibiting judges from consideringISPUTerrorizing the Muslim “Veil”