How can the US ask that Muslims speak out against extremism when they are arbitrarily denied travel to our country on the obvious basis of their religion? The Mahmood family’s ordeal at Gatwick airport in London,where the Disneyland-bound group of 11 UK citizens was pulled out of the boarding line by American officials and had their tickets cancelled, speaks to more than just the obvious institutional prejudices of the American government’s security measures. Also laid bare are the paradoxes of the fight over Islamophobia here at home. How can we ask Muslim communities the world over – including in the US – to forcefully reject the extremists among them and, and more onerously,reveal themselves as the peace-fond people they are when at the same time we fail to treat them this way at our borders? Related: The 'No Fly List' operates in secret, and its power to exclude is huge | Jeffrey Kahn denying the fact that an extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities. This is a real problem that Muslims must confront, and without excuse. Muslim leaders here and around the globe have to continue working with us to decisively and unequivocally reject the hateful ideology that groups like [the Islamic State] and al-Qaida promote; to speak out against not just acts of violence,but also those interpretations of Islam that are incompatible with the values of devout tolerance, mutual respect and human dignity. Related: The US is stopping British citizens going on holiday – we can’t leer the other way | Stella Creasy Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com