Protest in NYC Against Congressional Hearings on Threat of Homegrown Islamic Terrorism

A coalition of interfaith organizations called "Today I Am a Muslim Too" rallied against the upcoming Congressional hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims

A coalition of interfaith organizations called "Today I Am a Muslim Too" rallied in Times Square against the upcoming congressional hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims. (Photo: Mohsin Zaheer)

This is an excerpt of a post by Feet in Two Worlds journalist Aswini Anburajan on The American Prospect blog. The video was produced by Fi2W’s Mohsin Zaheer.

Despite rain that poured down on Times Square, hundreds of interfaith activists gathered on Sunday to protest Rep. Peter King’s (R-NY) plan to hold for congressional hearings on radicalization within the Muslim community this week. The protest, titled, “Today I am A Muslim Too” was led by hip-hop artist Russell Simmons ,who was joined by with a coterie of religious and political leaders, including the only two Muslim members of Congress.

Representative Mike Honda of California compared the steps that King was taking to the political failures that lead to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Over the weekend, the White House also sent an advisor, Denis McDonough, to an interfaith gathering of Muslims. “In the United States we don’t practice guild by association,” the The New York Times reported McDonough saying…

Read Anburajan’s whole post at The American Prospect.

At the rally, mothers of victims of the 9/11 attacks expressed solidarity with Muslim Americans. Watch the video:

Imam Feisal Rauf and Daisy Khan, supporters of the Park51 Islamic Cultural Center and mosque in lower Manhattan also addressed the demonstrators. Watch their speeches here.

Mohsin Zaheer is the editor of Sada-e-Pakistan, an Urdu-language weekly in New York. His reporting for Feet in Two Worlds is supported by the New York Community Trust, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and with additional support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation.

AboutFeet in Two Worlds
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