Local leaders in Minnesota call for standing against Islamophobia

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR-MN. Image from sctimes

Minnesota, (IINA) - A diverse group of leaders representing American civil rights and religious organizations on Tuesday called on Minnesotans to stand against Islamophobia and oppose a federal anti-terror program, Minnesota Public Radio News reported.
The leaders, who met at the State office building for an event organized by the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said they are concerned about recent anti-Muslim comments from presidential candidates and the "negative impact" that the federal government's Countering Violence Extremism program might have on the Muslim community.
"The current climate of Islamophobia, which is creating scapegoating anti-Muslim bigotry, underscores this concern," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR-MN.
The CVE program is being used "as a vehicle for systematic and large scale profiling" that plays into hands of "our enemies," Hussein said. He pointed to a comment by a Fox News host who suggested looking into "taking some liberties" from Somali-Americans in Minnesota.
"We cannot allow our own government to engage and fuel Islamophobia by treating and targeting Muslims as a community of suspect which the CVE program does," Hussein added.
Andrew Luger, U.S. attorney for Minnesota who launched the local version of the CVE called Building Community Resilience, told NPR that the program "could lift up this community and help it fight terror recruiting."
However, several civil rights leaders at the CAIR event said the program puts the Muslim community in the spotlight.
"With the climate that we're living right now, it's really unacceptable for me to accept as a citizen, that the federal government will institute such a program dealing with young men that may be radicalized," said Nathaniel Khaliq, former president of the St. Paul chapter of the NAACP.
SM/IINA

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