CNN: A Muslim lobby as a counterattack to Fear Inc.

Note: This is one of my 30 Blogs, this particular blog contains only my writings or writings about me. Engy Fouda has quoted me in this write up.

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A Muslim lobby as a counterattack to Fear Inc.

CNN: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1281975

Recommended to visit CNN site, for colorful graphics on the subject matter.

By Engy Fouda (@engyfoda)

According to a recent report and investigation by the Center for American Progress (CAP), Fear Inc. is a $57 million fund network acting with the goal of spreading Islamophobia and hatred against Muslim minorities. It makes money out of what CAP describes as a “hate” business. A number of American Muslim organizations formed a coalition to launch what they described as a Muslim lobby to counter the increasing influence of Islamophobia.

The network funds misinformation from the so-called experts, who exploit a larger network of politicians, media outlets and organizations. “The name Fear Inc. is an analogy [to suggest] that a relative small group of people are pushing [towards] these ideas. They are similar to a corporation because they are making large amounts of money [by] spreading hateful messages,” said Ken Gude, senior fellow with the national security team at CAP and a member of the crew who developed Fear Inc. reports.

A coalition of leading national and local American Muslim organizations coalesced to form a Muslim lobby, also known as The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO). USCMO hosted the first National Muslim Advocacy Day in Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on April 13, 2015. However, still at its inception, the Muslim lobby faces significant challenges in reaching media and influencing legislation.

Media

One of the main goals of the Muslim lobby is to pushback against the daily stereotyping of Muslims in the media. Moustafa Elhusseiny, broadcaster in Al Jazeera network, expressed his frustration with prevalent stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs saying: “Americans who do not have Muslims in their social circles, carry the stereotype of the Muslim as a terrorist and an Arab as a potential threat. Some people cringe when they hear my name!”

The Fear Inc. and Islamophobia can be demonstrated by the polls resuts -shown in the pictures above- that were conducted in September 29, 2015 by the Public Policy Polling in North Carolina.

Gude added that the current Muslim lobby is doing well, but it is not enough. There is a need of more organizations to spread out. Anyone who is counterattacking Islamophobia should focus on having more communication with the media and the reporters covering the presidential campaigns. For example, on Trump’s campaign, the media focused most on “Obama is Muslim” as a smear. It is a smear but the response should not have been directed to that only. The response should have been to push back on the whole notion.  The media should get educated on how to talk about such issues.

As a reaction to Ben Carson’s Islamophobic attacks during his presidential campaign, Mike Ghouse co-founded the American Muslim Institution. “Bigoted people might not change their minds but when we talk in media on a daily basis, stand out and respond. This push back will make them hesitate to say any false statement again. After two or three years, they will not do it”, said Ghouse.

Education and Social diffusion

The Muslim lobby is faced with several challenges on both the Muslim and non-Muslim fronts. On the one hand, very few American Muslims know about the new coalition. “The Muslim community in the Unites States is self-enclosed. Even the organizations and Sheiks do not show up in the advocacy and human rights events. They neither interact with the American society nor support any persecuted minority groups from Latinos, and Blacks,” Elhusseiny said.

On the other hand, the wider public still harbors significant prejudices against Islam and Muslims. In 2014, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey about positive thinking towards Muslims; Republicans ratings were 33%, and Democrats ratings were 47%.

The FBI crime rate reported on their website stated that Anti-Muslim cases have slightly increased from 2012 to 2014. The Southern Poverty Law Center stated that Islamophobia in the United States goes into overdrive following France attacks. In 2015,  crimes such as Chapel Hill shooting, the discrimination incidents such as Ahmed Mohamed’s arrest in Dallas, and the latest anti-Muslim statements made by the Republican presidential candidates.

“It is highly required to found a new educational organization to train new cadres to represent Muslims. The education can be done through conferences and workshops,” Hesham El-Meligy, 2013 NYC comptroller candidate, co-founder of Muslims for Liberty (M4L), added.

El-Meligy added that M4L is making conferences to correct people’s misinformation about Islam through the American Constitution. The audience is from the Tea Party. M4L is arranging a conference to counter Carson’s false claims with three of his campaign managers.

El-Meligy and Elhusseiny both emphasized that Muslims should be keener to vote. Muslims’ population should show up in: the voting base, the city council and the senate candidates.

Legislation

Gude declared that, from the legislative perspective, most of the Muslim organizations are playing defense. None tried to issue a law specific to Muslims, as this is not the target. It should be for all religions not only Muslims. The organizations are mainly concerned to stop the NYPD surveillance programs and the anti-Sharia bill.

Mapping the anti-Sharia bill shown in the pictures above.

USCMO announced on their website that the domestic priorities of the American Muslim community, includes: “Calling on Congress to urge the U.S. Department of Justice to amend its racial profiling guidance for federal law enforcement by removing any existing loopholes that continue to permit profiling in the name of national security, domestic surveillance and policing the border. Many of these programs have disproportionately targeted Latinos, Muslims and other minorities, and raise serious due process concerns.”

Gude declared that stigmatization and training of law enforcement to profile Muslims and monitor every mosque as a counter-terrorism strategy had negative consequences and lead to many false alarms. Moreover, he said that there should be no aligning based on practicing any religion, the society should stand out against Anti-Muslim, Anti-Jew, Anti-Christian, and Anti-Atheist.

Nevertheless, Ghouse added, “Muslims are safe in the United States, it is better than any other country in the world. It is a good country, it supports free speech and I am blessed to be here.”

Gude concluded that here is no big Fear Inc. report yet, but they intend to monitor and comment on the direction of the media, shed some light on respectful Muslims to recognize them and push back Islamophobia during the presidential campaign. Probably they will produce shorter videos to combat the negative Muslims’ stereotyping.

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Yomna Ali and Michael Fitzgerald for their editing.

Miss Nada Al-Ahdal - a new Malala in the Arab world

Thank God for the display of courage by Nada Al-Ahdal, an eleven year old girl who refused to get married or sold off to some old fart against her will. Thanks to the CNN and western media for bringing Nada Al-Ahdal story to the fore. This is my reactionary note, and I hope the Muslim world wakes up and restores the liberation Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) brought to women to be free, to be educated and to determine their own future and be herself. Full CNN video and my op-ed at: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/07/here-is-another-malala-in-yemen-nada-al.html

Video: http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2013/07/31/dnt-jamjoom-nada-story-yemen.cnn.html

I sincerely hope the conservatives among us will speak up against this non-sense of child marriage, and getting one's daughter married instead of sending her to the school.

The good news is the child protective agency took a stand and I hope they continue to do the good work. It was good to see the little girl signing the settlement agreement. 

Big stories came out of Hyderabad India, where the rich old men from Middle East and Africa went there, and bought the girls from the parents, and a month later, abandoned her and fly back.  Indeed for a long time Vietnamese, Filipino, Czech, Russian and other women were in a similar situation.

This is a reactionary note, and I hope the Muslim world wakes up and restores the liberation Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) brought to women.

 When Malala spoke up for the rights of girls education, the conservatives among us made every effort to destroy the good by cooking up stories that she was an agent of CIA or she was an agent of the west. Where the heck were the conservatives when she was prevented from going to school and shot in the head? Malala is not alone, a lot many girls are being harassed, but the conservative big mouths remain silent and no one would have known about it, had it not for the western media. They are God sent to bring the issues to fore, so the moderate Muslims can start speaking up.

Let me be clear selling daughters is not a Muslim thing; it is practiced in most communities including Hindu, Sikh and others in Asia and Africa. In India in the state of Haryana and Gujarat there is a severe shortage of women due to the ugly practice of killing the girl babies,  and the boys end up sharing one woman by his friends or even brothers for money. Google it out and learn yourselves first hand.

As a Moderate Muslim, I condemn this practice and urge the useless 57 member Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) to take steps to bring in legal changes in each one of the member nations, which will lead to social changes over a period of time. It takes guts to drive any thing in life, they need to get rid of their executive director and get someone who can get things done. I will be happy to do that. 

We need to restore the work of Prophet Muhammad. 1400 years ago he liberated women from the traditional slavery to men – she was free to marry, divorce, own the property and business, and she was not a chattel any more. Not only that she did not have to obey her husband if he was a hurdle in practice of her beliefs.


Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer committed to building cohesive societies, and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More details at www.MikeGhouse.net

Aljazeera will straighten American Media

You may disagree with me but a majority of American Media personnel have un-neutralized themselves for a long time. During the Iraq’s shameless shock-n-awe war, the CNN, FOX and other media were truly ‘embedded’ with our government; they became mouth pieces for the government.

Thomas Jefferson made a strong statement about the role of media in a democracy when he noted, “If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

Describing the role of the press, George A. Krimsky, the former head of news for the Associated Press’ World Services and co-author of Hold the Press, writes, “In the wake of America’s successful revolution, it was decided there should indeed be government, but only if it were accountable to the people. The people, in turn, could only hold the government accountable if they knew what it was doing and could intercede as necessary, using their ballot, for example. This role of public ‘watchdog’ was thus assumed by a citizen press, and as a consequence, the government in the United States has been kept out of the news business.”

The US Congress, the Senate and the Media all acted like sycophants of our President during the Afghan and Iraq wars.  I am glad the then Senators Obama, Paul and late congressman Murtha had the guts to speak their minds while others sheepishly following the pied piper.

Could the Iraq war have been prevented had our media asked the right questions? We could have saved the lives of our soldiers; we did not have to carry the guilt of massacring the innocent Iraqis and Afghans – for one Bin Laden?  Would the American families have suffered had we not had the budget deficits resulting from the wars?

Our cavalier attitude towards the administration, the senate, congress and the press was shameful.  Enough is written and talked about the collective guilt and I hope the future generations forgive us.

Thank God we have the NPR, PBS and BBC to give us a semblance of another point of view. I am looking forward to Aljazeera to set the new standards in journalism by asking dare devil questions that most of the American reporters dare not ask and risk their jobs.  What are you afraid of?

The Aljazeera Show “Empire” gathered Carl Bernstein, Amy Woodman and a few other media stalwarts about the role of media.  The questions the facilitator asked were incredible! He said “the American media acted as the mouth piece of government” and indeed we sounded like the state television of Gaddafi. 

The essence of democracy is the ability to question everything without worrying about censure against such inquiry. How many journalists from the mainstream media have failed this test in recent times?

I have seen Anderson Cooper grill a few right wingers a few times, more of it is needed. We should question every damn politician if we want our freedom to prevail over their interests and I am glad he still has his job unlike Helen Thomas.

I welcome Aljazeera to pave the way to American Journalists or hire them to regenerate their guts to report the facts and not what Rupert wants them to say in critical matters.  We must cherish, nourish and fight from freedom, nothing is more valuable than freedom.

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A note to Aljazeera: Please show the names of the anchors or reporters. I still did not get the name of the news anchor and the host of the Empire.

Mike Ghouse is committed to offer pluralistic solutions and work towards building a cohesive America. His work is listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Glen Beck barks in the dark,

 When you shoot in the dark, it is likely to hit some one.

Glen Beck apologizes for comparing reformed Judaism to radical Islam. That is how much the man knows about Judaism, Islam or anything.  

An idiot randomly says things that may suit one at a given time, but that should not encourage the one to support the idiot, in the long run; he will nail every one unintentionally.

I am glad the Jewish groups took action; actually we all need to join hands together against stupidity. Muslims should join them and vice versa.

http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/joannabrooks/4299/glenn_beck_apologizes_for_comparing_reform_judaism_to_%E2%80%9Cradical_islam%E2%80%9D/

Gaddafi and beyond; a challenge for the Neocons and Muslims alike

Beyond Gaddafi; a challenge for the neocons and muslims alike
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/gaddafi-and-beyond-challenge-for.html

When I went on Fox’s Sean Hannity Show last week, we were to talk about Gaddafi’s call to Muslims to rise against the White people, here were my talking points.

Gaddaffi knew he has got a few days left, and as usual he wanted to fool the Muslims across the world to rise up by manufacturing an enemy that was not there. Who was he fooling? All the damned dictators and fascist live in a shielded bunker, their cohorts keep giving them false advise that they are in control, as if they are God eternal.

Gaddafi is deflecting the issue to take the pressure off, he is delusional.  If the SOB thinks he can get away from shooting his people, he is in for a treat; he will have to disgracefully run from his country. He simply needs to announce that he will bring genuine democracy where ever a Libyan has a choice to support who she or he wants to support freely. Qur’aan adds, there is no compulsion in the matters of faith, in this case faith in those who can provide them just governance. 

There are 12 nations that carry an Islamic label and are about to fall, one after the other from the hands of corrupt men in to the hands of people and through non-violence, civil disobedience and other peaceful means. The Right wingers have highlighted the actions of the few and push Muslims into a cage they did not belong. Muslims are freeing themselves from such imposed cages.

No doubt there will be chaos, but people can handle their own affairs well and out of chaos will emerge a fledgling governance of the people by the people for the people.  It is sheer arrogance to believe that they cannot, they said the same thing about India, Indonesia and several other nations.

It is a testing time for the right wingers in America, UK and Israel to open up and show if they really want democracies around or were they simply faking it and misleading the public through the American TV networks. The same goes to the monarchs and dictators.

I wish the Mossad and CIA were reliable intelligence agencies; they have cooked up and lied to please the bosses and the public. It gave me hopes that even Sean Hannity saw acknowledged that in one of our interviews.

Have they come with anything reliable from Iran to Afghanistan to Iraq and Egypt? They will be wrong again on the other nations and eventually on Pakistan. People can take only so much shit; they will revolt and those of us in America need to stand firmly and prepare the right-wingers to support the people movements; else, we are going to lose many of those nations to Russia or Iran. Militarily, we cannot fight in every nook and corner and go through another budget deficit and ruin our own country in attempting to ruin others. Our own interests should be a priority.

As a Muslim, I am thrilled to see an end to dictatorships and theocracies. Here is a challenge for Muslims; Prophet Muhammad did not have an Islamic Government during his time, it was more like pluralistic governance where the Jews, Christians and others were signatories to the Madinah pact, he has repeatedly said and demonstrated to treat all the people of the book (meaning following written guidelines) with respect and the Qur’aan says whether you are a Jew, Christian or other God will. We need to find the original document where the prophet may have signed it as Muhammad bin Abdullah as opposed to Muhammad Rasool Allah, as he had done in another peace treaty with Meccans.  

Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer, speaker, futurist and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Co-existence, Peace and Islam. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is reflected at three websites and 21 Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Terrorizing the Terrorists

The general public knows how to handle a difficult one, the governments don’t, but the mothers do it every day. As long as our governments succumb to special interests we will not handle Terrorism in the long haul. There is a Chinese saying, if you want enemy no more, make friends with them.

Push the Brother...hood or Hamas to the corner with no choices; they have no choice left but to hurt us. We cannot be secure if we keep threatening others; bullying throws our own sense of security out the door.

We should seek ways to work with them and understand them. I am sure a few generations down the road will research out that we could have dealt with Hitler, Bin Laden and others.

Thanks to Obama and Clinton, they are reviving what a good diplomacy is all about; create a win-win for all. We the Republicans need to purge our right wingers and understand diplomacy and not bullying, in the long sustainable run, our strength comes from our goodness and freedom and not the gun powder.

Mike Ghouse offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a speaker, writer, thinker and a commentator in the media; his work is listed at www.MikeGhouse.net

American Media cannot do it

Is there any one in American Media except NPR and perhaps MSNBC who can do an interview of this kind without risking their jobs? What is amazing is it happens in Israel, the Israeli media  questions the Israeli Government policies, whereas the American Media risks the wrath.

We need to grow up and be fair in our dealings - we need to support Israel's security but should not be unjust to the Palestinians, its a burden on our conscience.

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/rizkhan/2011/02/2011289482599902.html

Obama throws me off compeletely

Advise to Obama on Egypt.

 http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/obama-throws-me-off-compeletely.html

What throws me off completely is that every time I write about Obama, within a week he uses similar words in his speech. It's happened time and again. I feel certain that he will speak similar words within a day or two, I just want to register with you before it happens. The article is pasted below.

Ever since I read Obama's speech to the Illinois senate, I have followed him and have written over a dozen articles about him, despite being a Republican, I have voted for him and held two rallies in Carrollton in support of him. He is the right man to bring cohesiveness to America and influence the world with the ideas of inclusivism.

Oddly, unasked, I was considered for two positions with his admin, the last one was special envoy to the OIC. I was told that the state department and particularly Hilary Clinton reads my write ups, whether she does or not, I am thrilled to share the same with you.

This will appear in Dallas Morning News today;

The President must remain focused on aspirations of the people and facilitate a sustainable change with grace and dignity, rather than leaning on individuals. 

We must not forget that the basis of our relationship is between “the People of the United States,” and “the people of Egypt,” and not between Mubarak and Obama.

I would advise the President to have a five fold agenda to develop a sustainable outcome.

President Obama must boldly support the aspirations of the Egyptian people and laud them for breaking the cycle of violence.  We must admire them for giving life to one of the most civilized forms of a political change; non-violence. It is a new experience for the Arab world and due encouragement will pave the way for others with similar aspirations. 

To Mubarak, he could say, “Mr. President you have dutifully served the interests of your people by relinquishing them from wars, anxiety and disruption of their lives through the peace accord with Israel, and now I urge you to honor the wishes of people and earn their respect and live a dignified life as a proud civilian, it is good for you and your people in every imaginable way.”

The legitimate fears of Israel are to be addressed. While assuring our support, we need to ask them to trust the Egyptians and support their aspirations for self determination.

The less we alienate the people the better off we would be, and it would be wise to give room to the Brotherhood to re-align themselves with new realities of the region instead of pushing them to dig in their heels, a Hamas mistake we must not repeat.

The security of region hinges on partnerships rather than aggravations, whether it is the Israelis or the Egyptians, people in distress remember and stick with those who will stand by them.

President Obama is blessed with this Golden opportunity to become a catalyst in shaping the world of democracy particularly in the Arab world. He should not miss a beat in nurturing our relationship with the people; it gives permanency to our policy.

He must reward them for becoming the pioneers of change and offer them a forum to map out their future.

11 Other members of the Texas Faith Panel have shared their opinions as well  at Dallas Morning news - http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/texas-faith-how-would-you-advi.html

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer. He runs the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress.

Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Civil Societies, and Peace & Justice at your place of worship, school, work place, seminars or conferences.  He is a media commentator offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. 

Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.MikeGhouse.net/

Richard Dreyfus' War on Terrororism

Richard Dreyfus on War on Terrorism

I just happened to see Richard Dreyfus interview and simply enjoyed listening to him- he has understood that framing the war on Terrorism is downright stupid. I was thrilled to see some one using literally the same words that I wrote on March 27, 2008. By stereotyping terrorism with the use of the world “Islamic Terrorism” we are alienating a bunch of people.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/11/29/exp.ps.dreyfuss.terrorism.cnn?hpt=C2

Throw me in the ditch for the crimes I commit, inflict the punishment I deserve, but please do not unleash your fury on my family, my parents, my town or my religion. I should be responsible for my acts, and no one else. This should be a common principle and norm, we should abide by.

This essay explores the mistakes our Administration has made in not facing the terrorist squarely; and instead acting out like cranky babies. The world communities will be with us, with their hearts and minds in fighting the menace of terrorism, if we go after the individuals responsible for the crimes and not their families, their nation or their religion. We will achieve far greater success, if we learn to laser bark at the criminals, instead of barking at the universe. Full Article at:

http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2008/03/laser-barking-at-terrorists.html

Remember Dreyfus?

He was silenced by the AIPAC some 20 years ago when he said the right things about going about finding peace in the Middle East.

Mike Ghouse runs the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and has dedicated his life to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress. He is a regular commentator on the TV, Radio and Print media offering pluralistic solutions to the issues of the day. He is a speaker, thinker, writer and a peace activist. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/  

TEXAS FAITH: Does firing Juan Williams improve our understanding of religious diversity?

That's this week's question: Are we better off by forbidding some views, some beliefs - however ill-expressed - in an honest discussion of America's view of Islam?

If you wish this article is worth reading, please feel free to comment at the end of the link, you can do thumbs up or down and recommend the article on top of the article

No, we are not better off forbidding any view however ill-expressed in an honest discussion of America's view of Islam. Neither God nor religion should be free from any critical study including Islam and Quraan. Yes, I am a Muslim, and like most Muslims I will defend that freedom to the core – Mike Ghouse

13 VIEWS ON THE TOPIC including mine - http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/10/does-the-firing-of-juan-willia.html

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, India and Civil Societies. He heads the Foundation for Pluralism and World Muslim Congress and offers Pluralistic solutions to the media and the public on issues of the day.  He is available to speak at your school, work or place of worship. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Unity Day USA - 6th Annual Event

We are pleased to invite you to Unity Day USA; a purposeful event to bring Americans together. The idea for Unity Day USA was first conceived on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 and took its current form on Sunday, September 11, 2005. We cannot let things happen and drift into the abyss of incoherence. It is an initiative to come together to stand up for the safety, security and cohesiveness of America.

Continued: http://911unitydayusa.blogspot.com/
Mike Ghouse