Fri Jul 29, 2011 5:38PM GMT
A slide show used by the FBI for training new agents told them that Islam "transforms [a] country's culture into seventh century Arabian ways" and is "hard for westerners to understand." It said that Muslims were swayed "more by ideas than facts."
The 62-page document, which was released under freedom of information laws, was designed to help agents perform "successful interviews/interrogations with individuals from the Middle East." The Telegraph
HIGHLIGHTS
The document concluded with a recommended reading list of eight books, which included "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam." The Telegraph
Among the most provocative aspects of the presentation is its recommended reading list. One book offered ...by Robert Spencer. Spencer is one of the ringleaders of the protest against the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" and the co-founder of Stop the Islamicization of America, which "promotes a conspiratorial anti-Muslim agenda," in the view of the Anti-Defamation League. A manifesto written by the Norwegian terror suspect Anders Behring Breivik cited Spencer 64 times. Huffington Post
The briefing presents much information that has nothing to do with crime and everything to do with constitutionally-protected religious practice and social behavior, such as estimating the number of mosques in America and listing the states with the largest Muslim populations. wired.com
"Based on this presentation, it is easy to see why so many in law enforcement and the FBI view American Muslims with ignorance and suspicion," says Farhana Khera, the executive director of Muslim Advocates, a legal aid group. "The presentation appears to treat all Muslims with one broad brush and makes no distinction between lawful religious practice and beliefs and unlawful activities." wired.com
A grainy copy of the PowerPoint was obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union's Northern California chapter and the Asian Law Caucus, a San Francisco-based civil rights group, and provided to Danger Room. The two groups filed a Freedom of Information Act request last year inquiring about government surveillance of American Muslim communities. wired.com
"In order for FBI training to be effective it has to present useful, factual and unbiased information. This material fails on all three criteria," said Mike German, a former FBI agent who now works for the ACLU. "Factually flawed and biased law enforcement training programs only expand the risk that innocent Muslim and Arab Americans will be unfairly targeted for investigation and prosecution, and stigmatized in their communities." It is unclear when the FBI stopped using the PowerPoint. wired.com
Among the most provocative aspects of the presentation is its recommended reading list. wired.com
A book cited is The Arab Mind, by Raphael Patai. The volume was briefly infamous in 2004, after Seymour Hersh reported its influence among certain Iraq war hawks in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal. According to Hersh, the takeaway of Patai's book is that "Arabs only understand force" and are susceptible to "shame and humiliation." wired.com
"It's like asking law enforcement to learn 'the facts' about the African American experience by reading a book by the grand wizard of the KKK," says Khera. "It is deplorable and offensive that the nation's top law enforcement agency would promote such hateful so-called 'experts' on Islam." wired.com
"These characterizations of Islam and of Arab and Muslim people are not just disheartening - they are frightening," says Veena Dubal, an attorney with the Asian Law Caucus. "Degrading and inaccurate characterizations of Islam and of the 'Arab mind' don't help individual agents fight terrorism. Rather, they imbue law enforcement with an extremely biased view of a diverse community." wired.com
FACTS & FIGURES
In the United States, 73 percent of young people aged 18 to 29 say Muslims are the most discriminated against. washingtontimes.com
Although Muslims make up around 2 percent of the U.S. population, they account for about one-quarter of the 3,386 religious discrimination claims filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2010. startribune.com
Forty-six U.S. states do not ban racial profiling based on religion or religious appearance. amnestyusa.org
In fall of 2010, opponents of a mosque planned for Murfreesboro, Tenn., tried unsuccessfully in court to claim that Islam was not a religion entitled to constitutional protections. americangrace.org
Robert Putnam and David Campbell, authors of American Grace, a book on U.S. religious diversity, found that among all the faith groups, "Muslims were a stand out for unpopularity." USAToday
Civil liberties groups say U.S. border officials are violating the constitutional rights of American Muslims by asking about their religious beliefs and practices on their return from trips abroad. Voanews
It alleges that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, or CBP, has been questioning Muslims or people that appear to be Muslim about their religious and political beliefs, associations and activities.
These findings come at a time when a comprehensive examination on religion and public life shows that the number of U.S. Muslims will more than double in the next 20 years. Pewforum
A slide show used by the FBI for training new agents told them that Islam "transforms [a] country's culture into seventh century Arabian ways" and is "hard for westerners to understand." It said that Muslims were swayed "more by ideas than facts."
The 62-page document, which was released under freedom of information laws, was designed to help agents perform "successful interviews/interrogations with individuals from the Middle East." The Telegraph
HIGHLIGHTS
The document concluded with a recommended reading list of eight books, which included "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam." The Telegraph
Among the most provocative aspects of the presentation is its recommended reading list. One book offered ...by Robert Spencer. Spencer is one of the ringleaders of the protest against the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" and the co-founder of Stop the Islamicization of America, which "promotes a conspiratorial anti-Muslim agenda," in the view of the Anti-Defamation League. A manifesto written by the Norwegian terror suspect Anders Behring Breivik cited Spencer 64 times. Huffington Post
The briefing presents much information that has nothing to do with crime and everything to do with constitutionally-protected religious practice and social behavior, such as estimating the number of mosques in America and listing the states with the largest Muslim populations. wired.com
"Based on this presentation, it is easy to see why so many in law enforcement and the FBI view American Muslims with ignorance and suspicion," says Farhana Khera, the executive director of Muslim Advocates, a legal aid group. "The presentation appears to treat all Muslims with one broad brush and makes no distinction between lawful religious practice and beliefs and unlawful activities." wired.com
A grainy copy of the PowerPoint was obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union's Northern California chapter and the Asian Law Caucus, a San Francisco-based civil rights group, and provided to Danger Room. The two groups filed a Freedom of Information Act request last year inquiring about government surveillance of American Muslim communities. wired.com
"In order for FBI training to be effective it has to present useful, factual and unbiased information. This material fails on all three criteria," said Mike German, a former FBI agent who now works for the ACLU. "Factually flawed and biased law enforcement training programs only expand the risk that innocent Muslim and Arab Americans will be unfairly targeted for investigation and prosecution, and stigmatized in their communities." It is unclear when the FBI stopped using the PowerPoint. wired.com
Among the most provocative aspects of the presentation is its recommended reading list. wired.com
A book cited is The Arab Mind, by Raphael Patai. The volume was briefly infamous in 2004, after Seymour Hersh reported its influence among certain Iraq war hawks in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal. According to Hersh, the takeaway of Patai's book is that "Arabs only understand force" and are susceptible to "shame and humiliation." wired.com
"It's like asking law enforcement to learn 'the facts' about the African American experience by reading a book by the grand wizard of the KKK," says Khera. "It is deplorable and offensive that the nation's top law enforcement agency would promote such hateful so-called 'experts' on Islam." wired.com
"These characterizations of Islam and of Arab and Muslim people are not just disheartening - they are frightening," says Veena Dubal, an attorney with the Asian Law Caucus. "Degrading and inaccurate characterizations of Islam and of the 'Arab mind' don't help individual agents fight terrorism. Rather, they imbue law enforcement with an extremely biased view of a diverse community." wired.com
FACTS & FIGURES
In the United States, 73 percent of young people aged 18 to 29 say Muslims are the most discriminated against. washingtontimes.com
Although Muslims make up around 2 percent of the U.S. population, they account for about one-quarter of the 3,386 religious discrimination claims filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2010. startribune.com
Forty-six U.S. states do not ban racial profiling based on religion or religious appearance. amnestyusa.org
In fall of 2010, opponents of a mosque planned for Murfreesboro, Tenn., tried unsuccessfully in court to claim that Islam was not a religion entitled to constitutional protections. americangrace.org
Robert Putnam and David Campbell, authors of American Grace, a book on U.S. religious diversity, found that among all the faith groups, "Muslims were a stand out for unpopularity." USAToday
Civil liberties groups say U.S. border officials are violating the constitutional rights of American Muslims by asking about their religious beliefs and practices on their return from trips abroad. Voanews
It alleges that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, or CBP, has been questioning Muslims or people that appear to be Muslim about their religious and political beliefs, associations and activities.
These findings come at a time when a comprehensive examination on religion and public life shows that the number of U.S. Muslims will more than double in the next 20 years. Pewforum
