American Muslims 12 years after 9/11 - Page Two
NYPD declares mosques as terrorist organizations
Amid the concerted Islamophobic campaigns the America Muslim community was stunned to know that the New York Police Department (NYPD) has secretly designated mosques as “terrorist organizations.” The Associated Press reported on August 28 that the designation allowed the police to use informants to record sermons and spy on imams, even without any evidence of criminal activity. According to the AP report, designating an entire mosque as a terrorism enterprise means that anyone who attends prayer services there is a potential subject of an investigation and fair game for surveillance.
The AP report further said: “Since the 9/11 attacks, the NYPD has opened at least a dozen "terrorism enterprise investigations" into mosques...... The TEI, as it is known, is a police tool intended to help investigate terrorist cells and the like. Many TEIs stretch for years, allowing surveillance to continue even though the NYPD has never criminally charged a mosque or Islamic organization with operating as a terrorism enterprise."
It may be pointed out that in August 2011, the AP exposed the NYPD spy program, which is allegedly being conducted with the assistance of individuals linked to the CIA. The AP reported that the NYPD is using covert surveillance techniques “that would run afoul of civil liberties rules if practiced by the federal government” and “does so with unprecedented help from the CIA in a partnership that has blurred the bright line between foreign and domestic spying.”
Understandably, on June 18, 2013, civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit charging that the NYPD's Muslim Surveillance Program has imposed an unjustified badge of suspicion and stigma on hundreds of thousands of innocent New Yorkers. It was filed on behalf of religious and community leaders, mosques, and a charitable organization that were all swept up in the NYPD's dragnet surveillance of Muslim New Yorkers.
Muslims need not apply
"Muslims Need Not Apply" is the title of a report of the American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU) which revealed that a covert national security program allows the FBI and US immigration authorities the power to indefinitely delay immigration benefits to Muslims and those from Muslim countries. According to Jennie Pasquarella, the ACLU report writer, the Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program, or CARRP, secret program, relies on "deeply flawed" mechanisms such as "over-broad watch-list systems" and religious, national origin and associational profiling. "It not only catches far too many harmless applicants in its net, but it has overwhelmingly affected applicants who are Muslim or perceived to be Muslim."
The ACLU report, released on August 21, has given examples of specific cases. Application of Tarek Hamdi, an Egyptian, was rejected simply because he made his annual tithing (or a religious donation, known as zakat in Islam) to an Islamic relief aid organization, Benevolence International Foundation. The government later shuttered the charity on allegations that it supported terrorism, and prosecutors charged its leader with defrauding donors like Tarek. Nonetheless, USCIS flagged Tarek, and what should have been a six-month citizenship process took 11 years, ending only when a judge ruled in his favor (after numerous attempts by USCIS to deny his application).
Under CARRP, USCIS also delays applications based on harmless contacts. Mahdi Asgari, an Iranian, was flagged after facing questions from the FBI about his relationship with an acquaintance from graduate school -- an acquaintance with whom Mahdi has scarce contact, beyond occasional holiday greeting emails. "It shatters your belief to some extent in what America stands for," says Mahdi, a mathematics professor who was forced to wait three years before USCIS allowed him to become a citizen.
Hassan Razmara, another Iranian and practicing Muslim, is still waiting. It has been nearly six years. The reason: Hassan attended a West Covina mosque that was under FBI surveillance. The imam was later charged with several crimes, including filing false tax returns. Hassan did nothing wrong. But an FBI agent questioned him about the mosque, and asked Hassan to become an informant -- in exchange for expedited citizenship. Hassan declined. USCIS has yet to decide on his application.
Samir, a Tunisian national, practicing Muslim, and thirteen-year lawful resident of the United States, has been waiting for three years for a determination on his naturalization application. He has never been charged with or convicted of a crime. Samir is routinely subject to secondary inspection when he returns to the United States and he was once denied boarding on a U.S. flight. He is thus likely on the Terrorist Watch List.
Pasquarella, who conducted interviews with dozens of migrants, and examined CARRP policy documents obtained through litigation and Freedom of Information requests, said the investigation "only scratches the surface" because it focuses on naturalization cases. The program also covers those who apply for visas, green cards and asylum.
Civil rights and the National Security Agency (NSA)
In the post-9/11 America, all citizens have witnessed a gradual erosion of their civil rights. However, the National Security Agency (NSA) whistle blower, Edward Snowden's startling revelations of secret government surveillance has alarmed the nation that the NSA has access to your emails and Facebook accounts. It has secretly acquired the phone records of millions of Americans. Through a secret court, it has been able to bend nine US internet companies to its demands for access to their users' data. While I was writing this article it was reported on Thursday, Sept 5, that the NSA has bypassed or altogether has cracked much of the encryption used by businesses and everyday Web users.
Perhaps, Georg Orwell's worst nightmare has come true in the wake of Edward Snowden's revelations. Writing under the title, “So Are We Living in 1984?” Ian Crouch of New Yorker argued that Edward Snowden, sounded, in the Guardian interview in which he came forward, like he’d been guided by Orwell’s pen. The book aims to serve as a warning for what can happen when government overextends its powers; the term “Orwellian” has become associated with the idea of a totalitarian society. The haunting, but much-loved, book celebrated its 60th anniversary on June 6 amid the backdrop of real-life controversy that made the novel seem more prophetic than fictional.
Not surprisingly, sales of 1984 have been soaring in the wake of startling revelations of secret government surveillance. Are we living in “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, the New Yorker asked and added: The technological possibilities of surveillance and data collection and storage surely surpass what Orwell imagined.
Thanks to NSA surveillance, Americans are now more worried about civil liberties than terrorism. A Pew survey in July last finds that "a majority of Americans – 56% – say that federal courts fail to provide adequate limits on the telephone and internet data the government is collecting as part of its anti-terrorism efforts." And "an even larger percentage (70%) believes that the government uses this data for purposes other than investigating terrorism." Moreover, "63% think the government is also gathering information about the content of communications." That demonstrates a decisive rejection of the US government's three primary defenses of its secret programs: there is adequate oversight; we're not listening to the content of communication; and the spying is only used to Keep You Safe. [The Guardian - July 29, 2013]
But the most striking finding is this one: "Overall, 47% say their greater concern about government anti-terrorism policies is that they have gone too far in restricting the average person's civil liberties, while 35% say they are more concerned that policies have not gone far enough to protect the country. This is the first time in Pew Research polling that more have expressed concern over civil liberties than protection from terrorism since the question was first asked in 2004." [The Guardian - July 29, 2013]
On July 16, in San Francisco, 19 organizations including Unitarian church groups, gun ownership advocates, and a broad coalition of civil and political advocacy organizations filed suit against the National Security Agency (NSA) for violating their First Amendment right of association by illegally collecting their call records.
In another realm of surveillance — the government’s broad use of location tracking devices — the Justice Department was in federal court on August 15 defending its refusal to release memos containing information about its policies governing the use of GPS and other potentially invasive technologies. The American Civil Liberties Union had brought the lawsuit to demand that the department make the memos public. The memos were prepared after a 2012 Supreme Court ruling, United States v. Jones, which held that placement of a hidden tracking device on a suspect’s car constitutes a “search” under the Fourth Amendment. That case left lots of questions unanswered, including whether GPS tracking always requires a warrant based on probable cause, and how the Fourth Amendment applies to tracking someone 24/7 with cellphone location technology.
Read more on page 3 of 4 pages
|
