UNITED STATES-MEDIA: Muslims Denounce Accusations of ‘Jihad’

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

NEW YORK, Nov 22 1994 (IPS) - Angry Muslims raise their fists while praying, and an announcer solemnly intones that “there is a network of Islamic extremists” operating in the United States.

He adds in a hushed tone: “Their ultimate goal is to establish an Islamic empire.”

Those theatrical pronouncements form just part of reporter Steve Emerson’s televised special on U.S. Muslims, entitled ‘Jihad in America’, which has been broadcast this week on U.S. public television.

Emerson’s expose has drawn the ire of Muslim groups here, who believe the show’s claim that the U.S. Muslim community harbours terrorist networks is both ludicrous and dangerous.

“It’s going to make Muslims feel less comfortable in this society,” spokesman George Shadaroui of the Washington-based Arab- American Institute told IPS. “There may be a backlash” against Muslims because of the show, he predicted.

The Emerson special, televised by the state-funded Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), argues that Muslim extremists — particularly those trained by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to fight in Afghanistan in the 1980s — are plotting to kill “Jews, Christians and moderate Muslims” here.

As proof, it shows videotapes of a few U.S.-based Muslims — notably religious leader Abdullah Azam, killed in 1990 in Pakistan — voicing threats against the United States.

In one video from 1988, Azam is seen telling a group, “The world today is arbitrarily ruled by Christians and Jews.” He goes on to exhort Muslims to follow the example of the Afghanistan fighters to slay their enemies.

Emerson accuses a group linked to Azam, the Alkifah Refugee Centre, of opening 38 “recruiting centres” for Muslim extremists throughout the United States.

The centrepiece of ‘Jihad in America’ lies in Emerson’s argument that a group of Muslims found guilty of bombing the World Trade Centre in 1993 formed a small faction of a larger plot to de- stabilise the United States.

Four men — all linked to Egyptian cleric Sheikh Omar Abdel- Rahman — have been imprisoned to several consecutive life sentences for the bombing while another group of alleged plotters, including the Sheikh, go on trial next January.