Muslim journalist defends surveillance by NYPD, says some Muslims 'use religion as cover'
By Catherine Herridge
Published March 13, 2012 | FoxNews.com
EXCERPT:
The New York Police Department has faced criticism for its surveillance of the Muslim community, but one prominent Muslim journalist defended the department in an interview with Fox News.
“We use religion as a cover,” said Asra Nomani, a 46-year-old journalist whose work has been published by the Wall Street Journal and The Daily Beast. Nomani, a native of India, says radical ideology is very real -- and damaging to all Muslims.
“We're saying that you can't go into our mosques, you can't look at our Muslim organizations, you can't even look at Muslims because that's to target us," she told Fox News during an interview in suburban Washington. "But the truth is, we do have a problem in our Muslim community.”
Nomani showed Fox News a Koran from a mosque in West Virginia. She says the Koran’s Saudi publisher added negative language about Jews and Christians. This interpretation of Islam, Nomani says, is part of a larger problem.
“I think that there is a movement in America right now to claim this concept of Islamophobia, to say that people are hating on Islam," she said. "Let's be honest, there are people that do hate on Islam. But I think that (Police Commissioner) Ray Kelly and the New York Police Department have been targeted in this larger campaign to try to show that people are picking on Muslims.”
The New York Police Department's controversial surveillance program involved efforts to infiltrate mosques and Muslim communities on college campuses to gather intelligence on potential threat. News of the secret program has sparked strong reactions, both negative and positive.
Nomani said the Muslim community should take charge: “I think we would be better served by being more proactive rather than defensive.”
By Catherine Herridge
Published March 13, 2012 | FoxNews.com
EXCERPT:
The New York Police Department has faced criticism for its surveillance of the Muslim community, but one prominent Muslim journalist defended the department in an interview with Fox News.
“We use religion as a cover,” said Asra Nomani, a 46-year-old journalist whose work has been published by the Wall Street Journal and The Daily Beast. Nomani, a native of India, says radical ideology is very real -- and damaging to all Muslims.
“We're saying that you can't go into our mosques, you can't look at our Muslim organizations, you can't even look at Muslims because that's to target us," she told Fox News during an interview in suburban Washington. "But the truth is, we do have a problem in our Muslim community.”
Nomani showed Fox News a Koran from a mosque in West Virginia. She says the Koran’s Saudi publisher added negative language about Jews and Christians. This interpretation of Islam, Nomani says, is part of a larger problem.
“I think that there is a movement in America right now to claim this concept of Islamophobia, to say that people are hating on Islam," she said. "Let's be honest, there are people that do hate on Islam. But I think that (Police Commissioner) Ray Kelly and the New York Police Department have been targeted in this larger campaign to try to show that people are picking on Muslims.”
The New York Police Department's controversial surveillance program involved efforts to infiltrate mosques and Muslim communities on college campuses to gather intelligence on potential threat. News of the secret program has sparked strong reactions, both negative and positive.
Nomani said the Muslim community should take charge: “I think we would be better served by being more proactive rather than defensive.”
END EXCERPT
This just in: Some water is wet
If an abortion clinic were blown up today, and the bombers were all members of the Baptist church, the FBI would be in every Baptist church, Sunday school, and Ice Cream social in the state...
This just in: Some water is wet
If an abortion clinic were blown up today, and the bombers were all members of the Baptist church, the FBI would be in every Baptist church, Sunday school, and Ice Cream social in the state...
