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MSNBC - Dec. 17, 2004 U.S. views on Muslim-Americans: ITHACA, N.Y. – (Associated Press) Nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim-Americans, according to a nationwide poll. The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims’ civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious. Researchers also found that respondents who paid more attention to television news were more likely to fear terrorist attacks and support limiting the rights of Muslim-Americans. “It’s sad news. It’s disturbing news. But it’s not unpredictable,” said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society. “The nation is at war, even if it’s not a traditional war. We just have to remain vigilant and continue to interface.” The survey found 44 percent favored at least some restrictions on the civil liberties of Muslim Americans. Forty-eight percent said liberties should not be restricted in any way. The survey showed that 27 percent of respondents supported requiring all Muslim-Americans to register where they lived with the federal government. Twenty-two percent favored racial profiling to identify potential terrorist threats. And 29 percent thought undercover agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations to keep tabs on their activities and fund-raising. Cornell student researchers questioned 715 people in the nationwide telephone poll conducted this fall… http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6729916/ CAIR says officials need to address WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2004/PRNewswire/ -- The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, today called on elected representatives and government officials to address the rising level of Islamophobia in America. The CAIR issued that call following today's release of a survey by the Media and Society Research Group in Cornell University's Department of Communication indicating that 44 percent of Americans believe the government should curtail the civil rights of American Muslims in some manner. A Cornell University news release on the report states: "About 27 percent of respondents said that all Muslim Americans should be required to register their location with the federal government, and 26 percent said they think that mosques should be closely monitored by U.S. law enforcement agencies ... About 22 percent said the federal government should profile citizens as potential threats based on the fact that they are Muslim or have Middle Eastern heritage. In all, about 44 percent said they believe that some curtailment of civil liberties is necessary for Muslim Americans." "Elected representatives, government officials and other opinion leaders must finally recognize that Islamophobia is a growing phenomenon in American society that must be urgently addressed," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "Our nation and its values are diminished whenever any faith or ethnicgroup is viewed with such suspicion and hostility." Awad said the Cornell study confirms the results of a CAIR survey released in October indicating that 1-in-4 Americans believes anti-Muslim stereotypes. Read CAIR Report: "Poll: 1-in-4 Americans Holds Anti-Muslim Views" Read: Cornell University press release: To view the entire study, go to: Daily South Town - December 22, 2004 Can a nation at war afford civil liberties? By Phil Kadner When a news story reports that a recent poll shows that nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim-Americans, people ought to take notice. The survey, conducted by Cornell University, found that 44 percent of the 715 people questioned favored at least some restriction on the civil liberties of Muslim Americans. The good news, I suppose, is that 48 percent said liberties should not be restricted in any way. Asked if "we need to outlaw some un-American actions, even if they're constitutionally protected," 36 percent of the people surveyed agreed. One-third of the people in the survey said that the news media should not cover anti-war protests during a time of war or crisis and 31 percent said the news media should not report the comments of individuals who criticize the government during such times. While those numbers may be surprising to some people, I think it's important to point out once again that the vast majority of the people surveyed said that the news media should cover protest demonstrations and report comments critical of the government. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, I've been telling people that I fear the reaction of my fellow Americans should another terrorist attack occur on U.S. soil. And there are hints in this poll that my fears are well-founded. Even now, 27 percent of the population believes Muslim-Americans should be required to register their whereabouts with the federal government, according to the poll. About a quarter of the population believes that mosques should be closely monitored and surveilled by U.S. law enforcement agencies. According to the survey, 29 percent of the people surveyed believe Muslim civic and volunteer organizations should be infiltrated by undercover law enforcement agents to keep watch on their activities and fundraising. And 22 percent of the respondents said that U.S. government agencies should profile citizens as potential threats based on being Muslim or having Middle Eastern heritage. James Shanahan, a Cornell professor in the Department of Communications, which conducted the survey, said one of its purposes was to begin a public dialogue about the importance of civil liberties before another crisis occurs. Shanahan said that he's received several calls and e-mails from people accusing him of being a "radical" for even conducting such a survey. The south suburban region has a large population of Muslim-Americans and although several churches and civic organizations have begun discussion groups between people of different faiths, it seems to me that most Americans still know far too little about Islam. Oddly, they tend to generalize in ways that would seem obviously absurd if applied to Christians. Christians come in all sizes, from different parts of the world, with different sets of religious beliefs. Muslims also come from different countries and there are a number of different sects. There's no doubt that the terrorist threat raises security concerns that may trump any need for civil liberties in the minds of many Americans. But how far are we willing to go to protect our security? How many Americans are willing to risk their lives, or those of their children, to protect the First Amendment of the Constitution? It's one thing to pledge allegiance to the country and all that it stands for when there's nothing on the line and it's quite another to say those words when there's a price to pay. I don't mean to read a lot into this poll. My guess is that on any given day if you asked Americans if they supported freedom of the press, freedom of speech or freedom to protest, a significant percentage would say "No." Over the years I've heard people complain at public meetings that folks representing a minority view are given too much input into government decisions and even heard people say, "This is a democracy. The majority rules." In fact, most of the freedoms guaranteed by the constitution are put there to protect the rights of the minority against the will of the majority. The Founding Fathers knew, quite well, that the majority of people would never tolerate the religious beliefs or political views of others if they could oppress them. That's why they wrote laws saying that the government, elected by the majority, still could not take away the constitutional rights of the minority…. http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/columns/kadner/x22-pkd1.htm |