Islam and the FBI

When it comes to matters of Islam, too often we hear about American press and foreign press coming out with divergent coverage. It's neat to see them come out on the same side for once. Here's the AP story which also appeared on FOXNews (but not on the other broadcast networks. Interesting):

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Mohammad Qatanani's mosque was full of FBI agents the night before he was to find out if he would be deported.

But even though the federal government was trying to link Qatanani to foreign extremists, the agents weren't there to keep an eye on him. They wanted to show their support for a Muslim leader they considered a valued ally for the relationships he helped forge between the FBI and Muslims in the wake of 9/11.

Across the nation, such grass-roots relationships between Muslims and the federal government are in jeopardy. A coalition of Muslim groups is calling for Muslims to stop cooperating with the FBI — not on national security or safety issues but on community outreach.

Of course, the second paragraph begs the question: is there a link? Now in scenarios like this, I tend to fall on the "stop picking on religious folks" side, but this is the sort of story that comes across as one-sided because the government can't talk about their investigation. So instead, we have a story that is heavily slanted (and well written) on the side of Mohammad Qatanani, but lacks the opposing side. Because the government can't express their side.

That said, I really think the AP reporter did everything the could here. They did note that this mosque had federal agents showing sort for the imam. And that's coverage that I think would have polished the American governments image a bit in the "Daily Times" of Pakistan:

WASHINGTON: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is facing allegations that it infiltrated and put several mosques and prominent Muslims in the US under surveillance, using egregious tactics to investigate possible militant activities.

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the FBI reached out to Muslim leaders and institutions, promising to investigate a spate of hate crimes directed at Muslims, while community leaders vowed to warn of any suspicious activity. But those fragile links have frayed.

This story is of course, referring to the broader concern about FBI infiltration. There's no consensus in the FBI on this issue (which is evidenced by Mohammad Qatanani's broad support), but there's also no consensus in the Muslim community on how to respond to the FBI:

A petition that opposes FBI tactics is circulating in Muslim communities and has been gaining support, said coalition chairman Agha Saeed...A number of Muslim groups — including some of the nation's most prominent — have declined to sign the petition. Other organizations say they agree with parts of the petition but also support ongoing dialogue with law enforcement.

There hasn't been a ton of coverage on this one, but I sure appreciate more.