Posted on 12/02/2006 12:10:44 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters)- When radio host Jerry Klein suggested that all Muslims in the United States should be identified with a crescent-shape tattoo or a distinctive arm band, the phone lines jammed instantly.
The first caller to the station in Washington said that Klein must be "off his rocker." The second congratulated him and added: "Not only do you tattoo them in the middle of their forehead but you ship them out of this country ... they are here to kill us."
Another said that tattoos, armbands and other identifying markers such as crescent marks on driver's licenses, passports and birth certificates did not go far enough. "What good is identifying them?" he asked. "You have to set up encampments like during World War Two with the Japanese and Germans."
At the end of the one-hour show, rich with arguments on why visual identification of "the threat in our midst" would alleviate the public's fears, Klein revealed that he had staged a hoax. It drew out reactions that are not uncommon in post-9/11 America.
"I can't believe any of you are sick enough to have agreed for one second with anything I said," he told his audience on the AM station 630 WMAL (http://www.wmal.com/), which covers Washington, Northern Virginia and Maryland
"For me to suggest to tattoo marks on people's bodies, have them wear armbands, put a crescent moon on their driver's license on their passport or birth certificate is disgusting. It's beyond disgusting.
"Because basically what you just did was show me how the German people allowed what happened to the Jews to happen ... We need to separate them, we need to tattoo their arms, we need to make them wear the yellow Star of David, we need to put them in concentration camps, we basically just need to kill them all because they are dangerous."
The show aired on November 26, the Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday, and Klein said in an interview afterwards he had been surprised by the response.
"The switchboard went from empty to totally jammed within minutes," said Klein. "There were plenty of callers angry with me, but there were plenty who agreed."
POLLS SHOW WIDESPREAD ANTI-MUSLIM SENTIMENT
Those in agreement are not a fringe minority: A Gallup poll this summer of more than 1,000 Americans showed that 39 percent were in favor of requiring Muslims in the United States, including American citizens, to carry special identification.
Roughly a quarter of those polled said they would not want to live next door to a Muslim and a third thought that Muslims in the United States sympathized with al Qaeda, the extremist group behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
A poll carried out by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group, found that for one in three Americans, the word Islam triggers negative connotations such as "war," "hatred" and "terrorist." The war in Iraq has contributed to such perceptions.
Klein's show followed a week of heated discussions on talk radio, including his own, and online forums over an incident on November 22 involving six Muslim clerics. They were handcuffed and taken off a US Airways flight after passengers reported "suspicious behavior" that included praying in the departure gate area.
The clerics, on their way to a meeting of the North American Imams Federation, were detained in a holding cell, questioned by police and FBI agents, and released. Muslim community leaders saw the incident as yet more evidence of anti-Muslim prejudice.
IGNORANCE SEEN AS KEY PROBLEM
Several American Muslims interviewed on the subject of prejudice over the past few weeks said ignorance was at the core of the problem.
"The level of knowledge is very, very low," said Mohamed Esa, a U.S. Muslim of Arab descent who teaches a course on Islam at McDaniel College in Maryland. "There are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world and some people think they are all terrorists."
Hossam Ahmed, a retired Air Force Reserve colonel who occasionally leads prayer meetings for the small Muslim congregation at the Pentagon, agreed. "Ignorance is the number one problem. Education is of the essence."
There are no hard figures on how many Muslims have been subject to harassment or prejudice and community leaders say that ugly incidents can prompt spontaneous expressions of support. Such as the e-mail a Minneapolis woman sent to CAIR after the imams were taken off their flight.
"I would like to ... help," the e-mail said. "While I cannot offer plane tickets, I would be happy to drive at least 2 or 3 of them. My car is small, but at least some of our hearts in this land of the free are large."
And optimists saw signs of change in the November 4 election of the first Muslim to the U.S. House of Representatives, which has 435 members.
Democrat Keith Ellison, a 43-year-old African-American lawyer, did not stress his religion during his campaign for a Minnesota seat, but said his victory would "signal to people who are not Muslims that Muslims have a lot to offer to the United States and the improvement of our country."
b4l8r
Just finished reading "Rivers of Blood". That had to be a
popular speech at the time / sarc. Though I just heard of
Powell (through your tag line), he is/was a prophet or at
least a "see-er".
Another modern prophet whom I respect (Y2K and all), is
Chuck Misler. He predicted the fall of Europe and Britain
to Islam 25 years ago. He predicted Kosovo and ethnic
cleansing as well. Misler isn't mystical, he's just observant
and keeps his eye on trends and paradigms that are rooted
in Biblical future history ... er ... prophecy.
Guy in lower left corner has no head WTF!!!
Guy in lower left corner has no head WTF!!!
That's what bothers me most about "moderate" Muslims. They respond to Islamic terrorism by....proselytizing, trying to win converts among American Christians. They use their co-religionists' atrocities as an opportunity to win converts. Which is despicable.
Ignorance IS at the core of the problem, but it 'ain't ours. It's theirs. They ALL worship the same god and the Koran tells them to kill us. I'm NOT ignorant of that fact. Are you? We aren't the ones who killed a bunch of them in a cowardly attack. They should all go back to the Middle East to live. That would solve their problem and ours. They won't have to worry about us being prejudiced towards them any more, and we wouldn't have to worry about attacks from within.
I agree. It's a death cult, plain and simple.
Did you miss the part where we had to admit that the internment camps were illegal, unconstituional and we paid mucho dinero in reperations?
Did you miss the part where we had to admit that the internment camps were illegal, unconstituional and we paid mucho dinero in reperations?
I have two corner stores in my neighborhood, both run by muzzies. Last week I walked into one store and noticed that the guy was watching muzzie TV (on satellite). An imam on the TV was screaming in Arabic: "...USA!..." I gritted my teeth and continued shopping. I said to myself, if it ever happened again, I would walk out. Well, today it happened with the other store. As soon as I walked in and heard that the guy was playing muzzie TV, I turned around and walked out. He saw me walk out, but I have no idea, nor do I care, what he thought. It took me 45 minutes extra to find another store and finish my shopping, but it was worth it.
I take it you haven't seen the photos of the Muslims with the placards reading "Death to those who insult Islam".
Since I never heard one stand up against any terrorist act, I don't trust any of them.
DuncanWaring wrote: "That (good police work) certainly worked well with Mohammad Atta and his Merrie Band, didn't it?"
No, it didn't. But, good police work is what we need to take down the violent Muslims in the US. What you are advocating (the identification and incarceration of millions of law-abiding citizens solely for their religious affiliation) is illegal, immoral, counterproductive, and impractical. If you can't see that, I'm wasting my time even discussing it.
And to the other FReeper who mentioned our incarceration of hundreds of thousands of Japanese in WWII--that was reprehensible, too. Those poor Japanese were wrongly held for something they had absolutely no control over--their ethnic heritage.
"Since I never heard one stand up against any terrorist act, I don't trust any of them."
Trust, of course, must be earned.
"All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal."
Powell (Rivers of Blood)
It was not only illegal, and unconstitutional, but it was unamerican as well. I can't believe we've sunk to the point where this rot is being defended. Words fail to describe my utter disgust at my countrymen these days.
"All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal."
Many derided statesmen saw World War II coming too....
The "leadership" at the time ignored them and dishonored themselves and their nations with foolish appeasement.
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