Syrian Refugee Crisis

This is something I found on Facebook

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Muslims Against ISIS
Sometimes lovely and well meaning friends on the page tell us:

You Muslims don't need to speak out against Isis. You don't need to defend yourselves!

Actually, we do. But not because we feel guilty by association. We don't.

But because it is our duty as Muslims to speak out against oppression.
There are a number of Hadith that tell us exactly that:

"I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, ‘When the people see an oppressor but they do not try to stop him, soon Allaah will cause all of them to suffer punishment because of him.’”
(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2168; Abu Dawood, 4338; Ibn Maajah, 4005. This hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibbaan, 1/540. )
and

'“Whoever among you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand [by taking action]; if he cannot, then with his tongue [by speaking out]; and if he cannot, then with his heart [by hating it and feeling that it is wrong] – and that is the weakest of faith” (Narrated by Muslim, 49), and his words, “Part of a person’s being a good Muslim is his leaving alone that which does not concern him” (narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2317, classed as saheeh by Ibn al-Qayyim in al-Jawaab al-Kaafi, p. 112)

So as Muslims we have been commanded by the Messenger of Allah ( CC) to try to do good, and change evil. It does not matter whether this concerns a Muslim or a Non-Muslim. So if Isis are doing evil, it is our duty to speak out.
Click to expand...

It is the first time that I have seem a Muslim speaking out about speaking out against ISIS and terrorism. I hope this encourages others to publically condemn ISIS, not because we demand it, but because in doing so they are faithfully following their religion .
 

This type of message should be picked up by our press agencies and broadcast all over the world.

Just being published as a Hadith does not get good publicity or speaking about the Hadith does not get good publicity. Those that can and believe should make sure it gets broadcast for us non believers to hear and for the Muslims to be refreshed to the guidelines of the Hadith.
 
I read the link, there is no comparison to these times & the time of Jesus. In fact I find it ludicrous.
Whether one is Christian or otherwise, not wanting to risk yourself and/or your country to the barbaric practices of the muslim extremists is commonsense, unless one wants to be a martyr.
The refugees fleeing their country is a very sorry sight, however they or anyone else cannot guarantee there is no extremists amongst them, and after the Paris attack and the many arrests being made, any qualms about allowing them in, is totally understandable.
The 'true' refugees themselves should be making it loud & clear to their Muslim brothers they don't condone their barbaric practices, but not a squeak from them, probably for obvious reasons, most want to keep their head.
 

In our newspaper today, there is a fact check area about terrorist fears. It states about Obama complaining about Republicans and stating that "Apparently they are scared of widow's and orphans coming into the United States. The Facts: Obama's mocking of Republicans worried about terrorists slipping into to the U.S. with authentic refugees masks concerns that were expressed by his own administration about that very potential before the Paris attacks.

Justice Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, told a security conference in September: "As refugee's descend on Europe, one of the obvious issues that we worry about, and in turn as we bring refugees into this country, is exactly what's in their background? We don't put it past the likes of ISIS to infiltrate operatives among those refugees. Clapper added : That is a huge concern of ours."
 
What it's like to be a Syrian refugee in the United States, more here.


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Ghussoun al Hasan, a Syrian refugee, sits at home with her daughter in Michigan.

​

Once al Hasan decided to stay in the United States, she began the lengthy, exhausting process of applying for asylum. The system required her to go before an immigration officer, where she was forced to relive the painful reasons for her flight from Syria in order to prove that she cannot return home.

This included presenting the judge with images of her dead brother, as well as video evidence of his brutal killing. Because his death was covered by news outlets such as Al Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, she was able to offer evidence of his murder, as well as additional clips posted to YouTube by Syrian protesters.

“I brought everything,” she said. “I had to give them proof and couldn’t lie. I told [them] what happened to me…They asked about my family, where I lived in Turkey, information on my parents — everything, all the details.”

The entire process took roughly three and a half months, but eventually a judge in Michigan granted her asylum status and a green card, making her a permanent resident in the U.S.
“Thank God I have … a green card,” she said.

Yet for all the difficultly it entailed, al Hasan’s asylum experience still pales in comparison to themeticulous immigration system set up for most refugees seeking entry into the U.S. That process usually takes 18-24 months, and mandates that applicants endure a 21-step screening procedurethat includes security checks, interviews, background investigations, and the collection of biometric data. In fact, it is arguably the most difficult way to enter the United States legally.

Welcomed by Americans, but not American politicians

An ornate green Quran hung above al Hasan as she spoke, resting on a mantle beneath a large plaque with an Arabic inscription. Al Hasan, like most Syrians, is Muslim, but her husband — who is back in Damascus and who she says is no longer in the picture — is Christian, both maintaining their respective faiths.

The Muslim faith of al Hasan of millions of other refugees has become a flashpoint in the United States, where anti-Islam sentiment is on the rise. Al Hasan and her family live in Dearborn, Michigan, one of the highest concentrations of Muslim Americans in the country.

The town is often a target for anti-Islam activists, many of whom claim that the community is a hotbed for extremists or is home to “no-go zones” where religious police enforce harsh interpretations of sharia law — none of which is true. Some have even threatened to attack the town to “send a signal to ISIS,” even though three Dearborn residents were themselves killed in the recent ISIS-affiliated bombing in Beirut, Lebanon.

Maybe they don’t know that Syrians aren’t like that. They aren’t terrorists. They’re educated and civilized.In addition, the state’s governor, Rick Snyder (R), is one of many asking the federal government to keep Syrian refugees from settling in the U.S.

Although touting himself as “the most pro-immigration governor in the country,” Snyder, like other governors, implicitly linked ISIS with the Syrian refugee crisis on Friday, telling NPR that he wants the Obama administration to “hit the pause button” on accepting Syrian refugees because of the recent ISIS-affiliated terrorist attacks in Beirut, Paris, and Egypt. (When asked to name a specific problem he had with the current refugee vetting process, Snyder couldn’t name one.)

Other politicians are more explicit about connecting Islamophobia to those fleeing Syria. Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Marco Rubio both agreed that the U.S. should turn away Syrian refugees for now, and both bandied about the possibility of closing mosques in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that could severely limit the acceptance of people fleeing from Syria and Iraq.
Asked what she thought of such actions, al Hasan argued American politicians were simply uninformed.

“My opinion is maybe they don’t know that Syrians aren’t like that,” she said. “They aren’t terrorists. They’re educated and civilized.”
Still, she expressed frustration with those who ignore the fact that the primary victims of groups such as ISIS are Syrians themselves.

“We are affected even more than the West and America,” she said. “Concerning Syria and what’s happened with the terrorists in Syria, the Syrians are more harmed than anyone else.”

She also dismissed claims that ISIS is somehow representative of Islam.
“I’m Muslim, [and] Islam is not like that,” she said. “We’re not killers, we’re friendly and our religion doesn’t say this. We — Muslims — are the most affected by this.”

Go back to Syria? No…not even if the war ends. It took my whole life.“Daesh, they corrupt our religion,” she added, using the derogatory name for the group.
Al Hasan made a distinction between American politicians and everyday Americans, however. Asked how she was received after coming to the United States, she told the story of a mother who approached her and asked her to explain to her son why she wears a headscarf.

“The person was very friendly,” she said, smiling. “We laughed and I said ‘My religion is Islam.’ She asked, ‘Do you all wear it?’ And I said ‘No, not all — there are many Muslims here, but they are friendly.’”

Al Hasan explained that her new dream is to stay in the United States and become a full-fledged citizen, to build a new life for her family here in America. When asked if she would ever wish to return to Syria, she was unequivocal.

“Go back to Syria? No,” she said firmly, her eyes narrowing with a mixture of anger and sadness. She glanced again at her daughter. “No, not even if the war ends. It took my whole life, my parents…No, I don’t think I’ll go back.”


 
More likely to be killed by a right-wing extremist than a muslim terrorist here in America. More here.


Friday afternoon, one week after elected officials all over the country tried to block Syrian refugees from entering their states in an apparent effort to fight terrorism, a white man in Colorado committed what appears to be an act of terrorism in a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Though the details of Robert Lewis Dear’s motives for killing three people in the clinic and injuring nine others are still being revealed, Dear reportedly told law enforcement “no more baby parts,” an apparent reference to heavily edited videos produced by the Center for Medical Progress, which numerous politicians have cited to falsely claim that Planned Parenthood sells “aborted baby parts.”

Dear’s actions, in other words, appear to be an act of politically motivated terrorism directed against an institution widely reviled by conservatives.

Though terrorism perpetrated by Muslims receives a disproportionate amount of attention from politicians and reporters, the reality is that right-wing extremists pose a much greater threat to people in the United States than terrorists connected to ISIS or similar organizations.

As UNC Professor Charles Kurzman and Duke Professor David Schanzer explained last June in the New York Times, Islam-inspired terror attacks “accounted for 50 fatalities over the past 13 and a half years.”

Meanwhile, “right-wing extremists averaged 337 attacks per year in the decade after 9/11, causing a total of 254 fatalities.”

Kurzman and Schanzer’s methodology, moreover, may underestimate the degree to which domestic terrorists in the United States are motivated by right-wing views. As they describe the term in their New York Times piece, the term “right-wing extremist” primarily encompasses anti-government extremists such as members of the sovereign citizen movement, although it also includes racist right-wing groups such as neo-Nazis.

Thus, it is not yet clear whether Dear, who made anti-abortion remarks but also reportedly referenced President Obama, was motivated in part by the kind of anti-government views that are the focus of Kurzman and Schanzer’s inquiry.

Kurzman and Schanzer also surveyed hundreds of law enforcement agencies regarding their assessment of various threats. Of the 382 agencies they spoke with, “74 percent reported anti-government extremism as one of the top three terrorist threats in their jurisdiction,” while only “39 percent listed extremism connected with Al Qaeda or like-minded terrorist organizations.”

Meanwhile, the percentage of refugees that are connected to terrorist plots is vanishingly small.
 
Shalimar said:
SB, why do you think this misperception around the level of danger exists?
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If I may take a crack at it.. It exists because one political party is fear mongering in a attempt to portray themselves as stronger on defense and more able to "keep America safe" from Radical Islam, than the other political party. They are fueling fear on purpose... to get votes in hopes of being elected.

Conversely, they are downplaying the level of fear about right wing extremists and the easy access to guns at the request of the NRA and the fact that many sympathize with the views of these people.
 
I will disagree with that attempt to define the problem. For one, it is a Democrat Congressperson, Dianne Feinstein, that wants tighter control on the immigration of folks. I am sure the Republicans will agree with that decision.

The second part is that it is part of our Constitution and until there is enough interest in changing our Constitution the ability and right to own a gun will remain. Even our Democrat leader Harry Reid is a gun lover as well as other Democrats.
 
Why Don’t We Know Much About Right-Wing Terrorists? Conservatives Fired The Guy Studying Them

JAMESON PARKER
AddictingInfo, JUNE 18, 2015 4:41 PM

After a mass shooting at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, left nine people dead and a right-wing white supremacist arrested, the country once again faces the uneasy question of just how many so-called “home-grown” terrorists are out there – heavily armed, ideologically driven, and violent.

It’s a good question, but it may be tough to answer because for reasons that are astoundingly dimwitted, the Department of Homeland Security pushed out the guy who was in charge of watching them, and dismantled his team all the way back in 2009.

The beleaguered hero of this story is Daryl Johnson, a top government counterterrorism analyst working at Homeland Security who spent six years with the agency amassing a wealth of data on far-right extremist groups that posed various degrees of threat to citizens in the United States. In 2009, in the months after President Obama assumed office, he watched as these groups veered even further right, and began to fear that America’s first African-American president could be the catalyst of a major uptick in hate crimes and anti-government attacks.

In a landmark report released just months into Obama’s term, and now looks downright clairvoyant, Johnson made the case that radical Islam is only a small piece of the terrorism pie:

“Do not overlook other types of terrorist groups,” the report warned, noting that five purely domestic groups had considered using weapons of mass destruction in that period. Similar warnings have been issued by the two principal non-government groups that track domestic terrorism: the New York-based Anti-Defamation League and the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center.

An annual tally by the latter group of what it calls “Terror From the Right” listed 13 major incidents and arrests last year, nearly double the annual number in previous years; the group also reported the number of hate groups had topped 1,000 in 2010, for the first time in at least two decades.
​

In response to that report, Johnson was destroyed. It wasn’t his integrity or claims that got him in trouble, his facts were solid. Instead, it was the inconvenient truth that much of the threat comes from right-wing conservatives, and even more awkwardly, radical right-wing conservatives who say and think a lot of the same things mainstream right-wing conservatives say and think.


CONTINUED w/links...

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/0...ts-conservatives-fired-the-guy-studying-them/
 
[h=3]Homeland Security Department curtails home-grown terror analysis[/h]
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post, June 7, 2011

The Department of Homeland Security has stepped back for the past two years from conducting its own intelligence and analysis of home-grown extremism, according to current and former department officials, even though law enforcement and civil rights experts have warned of rising extremist threats.

The department has cut the number of personnel studying domestic terrorism unrelated to Islam, canceled numerous state and local law enforcement briefings, and held up dissemination of nearly a dozen reports on extremist groups, the officials and others said.

The decision to reduce the department’s role was provoked by conservative criticism of an intelligence report on “Rightwing Extremism” issued four months into the Obama administration, the officials said. The report warned that the poor economy and Obama’s election could stir “violent radicalization,” but it was pilloried as an attack on conservative ideologies, including opponents of abortion and immigration.

In the two years since, the officials said, the analytical unit that produced that report has been effectively eviscerated. Much of its work — including a digest of domestic terror incidents and the distribution of definitions for terms such as “white supremacist” and “Christian Identity” — has been blocked.

Multiple current and former law enforcement officials who have regularly viewed DHS analyses said the department had not reported in depth on any domestic extremist groups since 2009.

“Strategic bulletins have been minimal, since that incident,” said Mike Sena, an intelligence official in California who presides over the National Fusion Center Association, a group of 72 federally chartered institutions in which state, local and federal officials share sensitive information. “Having analytical staff, to educate line officers on the extremists, is critical.…This is definitely one area” where more effort is warranted by DHS.

CONTINUED...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/homeland-security-department-curtails-home-grown-terror-
 
rom http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/08/07/645421/right-wing-extremism/

“Republicans Blasted Obama Administration For Warning About Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism BY ANNIE-ROSE STRASSER, AUGUST 7, 2012 “The gunman in the shooting at a Sikh temple over the weekend has been labeled a potential domestic terrorist — defined as one who incites politically-motivated violence against his or her own country. In Wade Michael Page’s case, that political motivation was likely white supremacy, a growing problem in the United States. But when, in 2009, the Department of Homeland Security reported that white supremacy is the US’s biggest threat for domestic terror, it was met with harsh criticism. Conservatives blasted the department for defining terror threats too broadly, instead of focusing on potential Islamic terrorists.
 
Some good news from the Syrian front for a change I think. I was just reading that after a meeting in Moscow, Putin and Kerry have come to an agreement that the requirement that Assad leave his office is no longer an issue. And that whether he goes or stays must be decided by the people of Syria! Further, Joe Biden called the Turkish Prime Minister and told him that the Turkish military that invaded Iraq must get out and that no one (not even Turkey) could enter another country without being asked.


And if it's no longer necessary to get Assad out....then I'd think that it's no longer necessary to support the fighters that have been fighting against the government. Maybe if there aren't multiple goals going on in Syria, then the focus can be shifted entirely to ISIS. And it seems to me that in that case, it should become easier to deal with those monstrous people. What do you think? Do you think maybe in a year, many Syrian people will be able to return home?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-...biden-calls-turkey-withdraw-its-troops-turkey

Keep your fingers crossed or if you're the praying sort..........
 
not multiple goals. Exactly. Common goals equal a reformation of an actual nation state and not a cluster of religous & political factions.
 
I'm more inclined to think 'multiple goals' because the USA wants to get Assad out (so they've been funding and training the guys fighting against Assad and are thus supporting a coupe) as well as a bit (from what I've been reading) of bombing against ISIS and including the efforts of the other countries.

Russia has taken the perspective that if it looks like a terrorist (ISIS or ?) they get bombed and Russia is insisting that only the Syrian people can vote out Assad. Multiple goals wouldn't you say with some points of convergence but other areas of difference.
 

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