Slate, along with its sister publication the Washington Post, is featuring a series of articles on the lives and prospects of Muslims in America. One writer, Moushumi Khan, warns against trends that may ultimately serve to alienate American Muslims to the point of alienation European Muslims find themselves.
This includes wiretapping mosques, planting informants, profiling, and other activities that plainly make its targets feel set aside in the society they belong to.
These practices are problematic to begin with, and only in our Bushic world are people so complacent about them.
But even as Khan writes this, he/she notes that moderate Muslim organizations (however one defines "moderate,' I suppose) have little credibility in Europe and the US. One can envision Daniel Pipes in the background, thanking Khan for making the point. Khan goes on to say that Muslims are starting to feel that they are under suspicion for their political views, including, of course, "Palestine."
One common characteristic of bigotry and xenophobia is the premise that the others can be tolerated, provided they know their place by conforming as required and not complaining too much. It's the in-group that sets the rules for the out-group, thinking this is all fair and reasonable. Without a doubt, American and European Muslims feel this all the time. Don't dress to exotically or eat foods that smell too strongly. Learn the language, but don't presume to act like a native. Participate in our customs but don't expect us to acknowledge yours much. Etc.
But I suppose this is where Khan deserves to have th tables turned. To be sure the larger American and European society does not have the right to dictate the terms for accepting Muslim communities into its fabric. But they are allowed to ask questions, the first one being "what role do you want to play here? What rules do you subscribe to?"
For example, people can not on the one hand deny Israel's right to exist but claim immunity against having such a position criticized and condemned. Nor can they support Hamas without being asked pointed questions about their view of terrorism. In other words, we can not hold people and organizations responsible for acting consistently with our point of view, but we can certainly ask that they act in compliance with their own.
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