RI Islamic figure joins opposition to US congress radicalization hearing

New York, NU Online
Indonesian Moslem figure Syamsul Ali, along with hundreds of adherents of different faiths on Sunday staged a peaceful rally against the US Congress plan to hold a hearing on radicalization of the Moslem community in America.

"We should like to admit that there has been a tendency toward radicalization among several of our friends in the Moslem community. But when they (the US Congress) plans a hearing on radicalization of the Moslem community in America, they will treat us as if we are all radicals. That is something unfair to us," Syamsi said.
/>
Some 500 people including New York Grand Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and noted hip-hop musician Russell Simmons joined the rally which took place at Time Square in New York, braving rain falling on the city.

The demonstrators expressed their objections to the planned hearing saying it was unfair because it would generalize all Moslems as radical individuals and be a manifestation of islamphobia.

They also carried posters which among others read "Coalition of New York City to Stop Islamophobia", "Today I Am Also A Moslem", and "Say No To Anti-Moslem Fanaticism".

During the rally the demonstrators also listened to orations by various speakers, including figures of different faiths who were opposed to negative sentiments toward Moslems.

Syamsul said it took him nearly one month to get the support of various quarters and networks to hold the rally.

"Actually, the initial idea came from my non-Moslem friends who wanted to show support but they didn`t know how to do it. And then I told them we could do it by holding a rally," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

The plan to hold the hearing came to the surface in the middle of December 2010. The planned hearing initiated by Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee at the US House of Representatives Peter King had since sparked pros and cons.

The hearing is scheduled to take place in the middle of next week. (dar)