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WASHINGTON — A prominent Muslim physician plans to tell Congress tomorrow that many imams in the Muslim-American community promote a “culture of lack of cooperation and lack of assimilation” that nurtures Islamist radicalization.
The misguided imams are “telling Muslims with brochures at mosques, ‘Do not talk to the FBI unless you have an attorney’ — basically conditioning and indoctrinating Muslims that the FBI, the government, the military is against you,” M. Zuhdi Jasser said.
“All of this propaganda is being disseminated at many mosques, and we have to address that,” he said. “They are not advocating for violence, but they are feeding into that ideology.”
Jasser gave this preview of his bombshell testimony to The New York Post in advance of tomorrow’s hearing on “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community’s Response.”
His remarks are bound to sting Muslim-American leaders, but he said he hoped it provoked some long-overdue “self-reflection.”
“The problem is not Muslims, but the problem is the ideology that feeds into that radicalism,” Jasser said. “That ideology is Islamism — political Islam, that separatism that gives Muslim youths an identity that doesn’t make them feel that this is their country.
“The root cause of radicalization is an inability of some Muslim youth to identify with Western society. They don’t view it as Islamic or righteous.”
The hearings, organized by Rep. Peter King (R-LI), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, have sparked protests by Muslim-American leaders and civil rights advocates.
King has been accused of being a “bigot” and an “Islamophobe.” He’s also been the target of threats, prompting Capitol Police to enhance his security detail.
A group of about 50 left-leaning and government-watchdog organizations, including People for the American Way and Common Cause, sent King a letter this week urging him to call off hearings that target one group.
The letter called the hearings a “show trial,” and voiced concern it would “further promote the demonization and scapegoating of millions of American Muslims.”
King yesterday vowed not to back down.
“I will not back down whatsoever in these hearings. They are absolutely essential,” King told Fox News Channel. “I don’t care what they say or what they accuse me of — I’m going ahead with the hearings.”