A session with too little substanceFBI Director Comey offers little to satisfy his invited audience
A couple of weeks ago I was invited, among many others, to a meeting with FBI Director James Comey in Indianapolis. I believe I was invited because of some of my community work here in Fort Wayne and because I am a 2014 FBI Citizens Academy graduate. I drove two hours each way for what ended up being about a 25-minute address by and Q&A session with the director. Comey, who is a 6-foot, 8-inch towering figure, entered the room where 20 community members representing multiple ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds and various levels of community engagement were seated. He sat at a designated chair in front of the group, welcomed us all and said he is here to talk about whatever we want to talk about. “Heck, I’ll even talk about the (Hillary) Clinton emails,” he said, and proceeded to discuss why he decided to write to Congress on Oct. 28, announcing the agency’s review of new emails relating to the case. He reasoned that it basically came down to “making a tough decision now or a tougher decision later”; basically either discuss the findings and be transparent or face questions about them later. That set the tone for us in the audience. He was here to dismiss allegations about his supposed effect on the outcome of the election. Fair enough. He is the director and his agency called the meeting, so he is certainly within his right to set the tone. Except, I was not going to let a meeting with the FBI director go without at least an attempt at making some effort toward getting answers about issues of particular concern to me. So as he was finishing up his introductory remarks about how difficult the job is (which I say without any hint of sarcasm, I do not envy him) and how he is blessed to work with strong teams across the U.S. (I can say with all honesty that our local team here has been great and very responsive), he concluded by saying he is grateful for us who are involved in our communities and who can help the FBI’s work and image. He then opened the floor for questions and I raised my hand. After introducing myself and the community I supposedly represent, I asked: “Some members of the (Muslim) community find it really hard to trust the FBI, especially with what we are hearing and reading about entrapment cases. How do you think I can bridge the two images (an FBI that is there for the people vs an FBI that sets people up)?” His answer, at least as I understood it, is that sometimes these are necessary measures that need to be taken and that at the end of the day we should all get to know each other better, build strong relationships and have open channels of communications (as various communities within a society and as citizens with the FBI). After that, other members of the audience asked a couple of questions, thanked him and the FBI profusely for the work they do and we all gathered in the lobby for a photo op. The interaction left me with more to be desired. I reached out to a friend from Indianapolis who was also at the meeting, and I asked him whether he felt an air of dismissiveness in the director’s opening remarks and in his answer to my question. My friend felt the same way and further remarked that when someone asked Comey “what keeps you up at night?,” the first thing he talked about was the “evil that you cannot see” being the “bunch of savages called Islamic State.” We all agree that ISIS is a threat but, my friend remarked, he would have thought the FBI would be more nuanced and balanced – especially knowing that, according to the global terrorism database at the University of Maryland, out of more than 200 terrorist attacks in the U.S. during 2000-14, about six were identified with or claimed by an Islamist group. I certainly appreciated the opportunity to meet with Director Comey and would do it again without hesitation. I believe in dialogue and engagement on all levels. But I walked away from that meeting with perhaps more questions than answers. Why is it that the director of the FBI would choose to address, in his opening remarks, the Clinton email issue, knowing full well that the audience he is speaking to had representatives of ethnic and religious minorities that have been the target of vicious hate crimes? Why, when asked about an issue that has shaken the trust of many citizens in his agency, did he dismiss that concern with a generic “we gotta do what we gotta do” kind of response? How am I, as a Muslim-American, supposed to ease the fears and concerns of many Muslim-Americans who have been the target of intense hate, scrutiny and distrust by some members of our society and, more importantly, by members of government agencies that are supposed to serve and protect all? What does it say about the priorities of the FBI when the answer on the tip of the tongue of its director to the question of what keeps him up at night is a concern that is disproportionate in its magnitude to the actual threat? I am a bridge-builder and will continue to work to improve the society in which we live. I am not, however, a mouthpiece who will simply parrot what I am told. I will challenge and I will question methods because that is what democracy is all about. Originally posted by the Journal Gazette on December 25th, 2016 http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/columns/A-session-with-too-little-substance-16955907
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I have read and listened to a lot of discussions about the recent elections and what the winning of Trump signifies/indicates. There are many discussions surrounding the fascistic characteristics of the Trump persona, the rise of the alt-right, white rage.....etc. one major discussion that I feel is missing however is the one with regards to what is being viewed as "elitism" and the movement against it.
There is a strong "anti elitism" sentiment that I believe underlies a lot of what has led to the election of Trump. Elitism here is not being defined in the traditional/classical sense (i.e a group of people with a certain ancestry, certain supposed quality, worth, or wealth) but rather elitism is being used, as far as I can see, to refer to those who have achieved a higher educational level and flex a bit of intellectual prowess. For example, Obama's a Columbia education and Harvard law degree have become a point against him. His oratory skills and use of big words (like oratory) and the air of sophistication in which he presents himself have all pinned him as an elitist in the eyes' of many people. His education, instead of making him a role model and a success story, has put him far away from regular, everyday folks. (Also being black doesn't help, but that's aside from this particular point) Contrast that to the Trump image; The oxymoronic Blue Collar Billionaire. He is the epitome of elitism. But his "successful" business ventures and the "bar talk", "shoot from the hip", "speak my mind" style of communication has made him the American ideal of the "average guy" (Also being white helps tremendously with shaping that image but that's besides this particular point). You don't hear much discussion about Trump's Ivy League education. That's intentional. He doesn't weigh in on philosophical/hypothetical/scientific/legal matters. That's also intentional. Trump has figured out that there is, among many other things, this resentment of educational accomplishments. Too cleaned up of an image to jive with the "pull yourself up from the bootstraps good old American". It doesn't quite mesh with the good old days of being compensated by the amount of elbow grease you put into something. This fluffy education, especially the liberal kind, has lost us our ways. He has figured out this growing public opinion wave of "useless education" that doesn't "put food on your table" that is exacerbated by the rising costs of higher education; the perceived schism that is developing between classroom and application (meaning, no straight one-to-one correlation between subject A and job skill B; the "I never used calculus ever again so I don't need to learn it in the first place" mentality) and coupled with an air of superiority that comes from some of those who achieved a little bit of a higher level of education. You know, the ones that laugh at the "simple folks and their simple ways" the "uncultured" and "backwards" amongst us. Trump is capitalizing on a sentiment that needs to be addressed at the very roots of our society. We need to have conversations about how we all play a role in our society. That each one of us is an essential piece of the puzzle. That education is not a means for getting a job but rather an enlightenment that helps you become a better you. Education is not a step in the societal ladder but a building block in the societal structure. Market dynamics should not be the main or only factor in your educational decision making. Educational cost should not be an impediment. If we don't break this cycle then unfortunately I don't think we will ever bridge this ever growing divide. We need to talk about the role of education in our lives. What are your thoughts? Dear Congressman Jim Banks,
Congratulations on your well deserved election to congress. I want you to know that I voted for you. That I looked at who you are and who you are trying to become and voted for you. That I believed the conversations we had, while you were campaigning, when you said that we are all Hoosier and that you will represent us all the same regardless of what faith we ascribe to or where we hail from. In your victory announcement you said that your campaign "have focused on a positive, solution-oriented agenda to address the challenges our country faces" and Now that you are elected I ask you, will you address my challenges? Will you help my wife feel safe again? Heather, whom you've met, was born and raised here. Yet for the very first time in her life she feels unsafe in her own country. Will you consider her challenge and the challenge of many women and men who bravely and proudly show a faith that is different than the professed faith of our president? Will you address her challenge in Trump's America? What about my daughter and two sons, who are of the same age as your two daughters, will you address the challenges to their childhood? What about the children of my Black, Sudanese, Chadian, Mexican, Bosnian, Burmese and Arab friends? Will you uphold the trust their parents put in you by voting for you? Will you address their challenge in Trump's America? What about me? A person you shook hands with, looked straight in the eye and promised a change. Will you address my challenge when I come back from visiting my family in the Middle East in January? What if I tell you that on the same trip I plan on going to Mecca to perform a mini pilgrimage, will you address my challenge at the borders in Trump's America? Will you address my challenge and the challenge of many immigrants who chose to make America home, who toil day in and day out to keep it great, who appreciate, respect and uphold the values that make it the sanctuary they chose, will you address our challenges in Trump's America? I ask because I put my trust in you by giving you my vote. I ask because I need to know that the person I chose to represent me will address my challenges with the same commitment and fervor he/she would give to any other challenge. I will pray for your success as you face the many challenges ahead. Sincerely, An immigrant, Muslim, American husband and father in Trump's America Trump won, fair and square so accept it and let's move on.
There are an estimated 250,000,000 eligible voters in the US. Trump got 59,701,573 of those votes or 24% of eligible voters and Hillary had almost the same exact numbers. So Trump managed to win with a quarter of eligible voters. I will give many of those voters the benefit of the doubt and NOT assume that everyone of them is a xenophobe, a misogynist,or a racist like the person they voted for and go with the thought that it was economic reasons that compelled them to vote for him. This means a few things for me - The hate that exists in the hearts and minds of a big chunk of our society has now been exposed. It was always there but now it is out in the open and to a large extent sanctioned by the election of Trump. The question we need to ask ourselves with regards to that is why? Why do these people still feel that way? Racism and hate are not genetic. They are taught. Why have we not disrupted that cycle? - Those who were economically compelled to vote for Trump and overlooked his flaws were driven by a fear that was not addressed by the DNC candidate. That further exacerbated the feeling that elitism rules Washington and that the divide between "us" and "them" cannot be reconciled by one of "them". Trump, with all his flaws, was a straight shooter that didn't dinck around and was able to have the "bar" talks with them. They are not "dumb" or "idiots" or "uneducated", they are people with real concerns that were not addressed and I think were exploited by a cunning candidate. - Having said all that I believe that the biggest failure of this election is that of the DNC. This election was the DNC to lose and they lost it big time. Think about that for a moment. Half the eligible voters did not vote. I do believe many believed in Hillary and supported her and her platform but a big chunk of those who voted for Hillary voted for her out of fear of the alternative. They voted for the "lesser of two evils". Now think about those voters who are now completely disenfranchised by the electoral process, what will they do next election cycle? They will sit it out and instead of looking at half of eligible voters not voting we may be looking at three quarters of them and the number of people who determine the election outcomes become smaller and smaller. The DNC has failed miserably and I hope they learn their lesson. The DNC needs to clean house. The RNC needs some soul searching. We the people need to see the humanity in each other, understand what concerns us and work towards it. We need to wake up from the dream of a one person, a president, being able to solve our problems. Shake off the complacency and get to work. To everyone who is tired, I'm right here with you. To everyone who is angry, I'm right here with you. To everyone who is scared, anxious, disappointed, heartbroken, I am right here with you. I'm not going to pretend like I know how you feel. I'm not going to deny or try and pacify how you feel. All I ask is that while you're working through all of it, or when you have worked through all of it, to remember that I.am.here.right.here.with.you. I always have been and I always will be. We stand together. We hold our heads up high, keep our sleeves rolled up and our hands in the muck. It is people like us who saw an end to sanctioned slavery. It is people like us who took the first steps towards civil liberty. It is people like us who secured the right for women to vote. It is people like us who saw the first black president win office twice in a row. And it is people like us who will see this country through the upcoming, dark tunnel. Peace, love and everything good #Hope This post was originally published in The Journal Gazette under the title "Stamping Out Labels"
http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/sunday-centerpiece/STAMPING-OUT-LABELS-15596960 "In the infamous bowl of Skittles, I would be a brown one. You know, Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, born and raised in the Mideast, all the qualifiers that would land me smack dab in the middle of the brown category. Of course, to the discerning mind, my shade of brown is not to be confused with South American brown, North African brown or Indian brown (of course, India Indians, not Red Indians). And for the geographically astute who know that Palestine is in Asia, the yellow of my Asian origin does not supersede the brownness of all my other attributes. Of course, I’d be remiss if I do not mention the recent advancements our society has made in racial terminology. As an Arab-American or Muslim-American, I am, of course, a minority – further subcategorized as an immigrant. The label is firmly established when you hear that ever-slight accent that still pops up every now and again even after 20 years of living in the Western world. My parents sought refuge in Qatar in the early ’60s due to the continued military expansionism of Israel on their homeland of Palestine. My father, a businessman, and my mother, a teacher, helped build Qatar. But Qatar, like the majority of Arab countries, does not naturalize you even if you were born and raised there. Due to my parents’ dedication to providing a better life for their children, they sought refuge again in Canada after I, the youngest of five kids, finished high school in 1996. After earning my bachelor of science in biology and receiving my Canadian citizenship in 2000, I moved to the United States in pursuit of further education and have been calling the U.S. home since. During this time, I have earned a doctoral degree in pharmacy, worked in the health care field, built a business with my wife and helped establish two new pharmacy programs in two different states. I am the husband of a beautiful nurse in the making, the proud father of three young children with unlimited potential and the friend, colleague and neighbor of countless beautiful souls. Yet the national discourse around me, and many more like me, strips me down to a label: • A label that erases the human behind it and serves as a shortcut to conclusions that can be crafted and manipulated by media and politicians to serve as a convenient, easy answer to complex questions. • A label that can be or is, as the situation is currently, blamed for everything from lack of jobs to terrorist activities. A label that completely blinds you to the flesh and bones that carry it and carry with it real concerns, emotions and aspirations. Some might argue that labeling and categorizing is simply a human trait. After all, science tells us that we subconsciously gather clues from our environment, process data and deduce action without much conscious thought of all the steps involved as an efficient way of utilizing energy. In many instances, this process can prove to be an effective survival mechanism as well. For example, when you see a snake, you recognize a snake and assume danger within a few short seconds. You then proceed either to walk or run away to protect yourself or remove/kill the snake to protect yourself and your surroundings. The same can be said of many things that we do in our lives without much thought (think of walking, driving your car or even breathing). We as humans, however, cannot simply be reactive to a primal instinct in our dealings with one another. When we extend this behavior to our human interaction, especially with those who do not “look like us” and do not go beyond the superficiality of a label, we lose the main distinguishing factor that makes us human. We lose our ability to think, choose and make conscious decisions. We lose sight of the beauty that exists in our vastly different shapes, sizes, colors and in our philosophies, beliefs and outlooks on life. The existential threat that we face as Americans today is our own biases fueled by ignorance. Our lack of understanding of one another. Our lack of appreciation of the value of the life of the “other.” It’s time to take a deeper look at ourselves. It’s time to address the politics of fearmongering and hate. It’s time to look beyond the convenience of a label." Honored to share the stage with Rev. John P. Gardner of Plymouth Congregational Church and deliver tonight's Allen County Democrats dinner's opening invocation. John P. -- O God of all ages, Creator of heaven and earth, of all we see and worlds we have yet to discover; Ahmed –
O God of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar; of Moses and Miriam, Mary and Jesus; of Mohammed the Prophet: you are the most bounteous and most merciful; all praise and thanks are due to You, the most merciful and wise. John P. -- We thank you for this evening’s gathering; for those who have planned the program, for those who have prepared the food, and who serve at table; you nourish our bodies, no less than our dreams and visions, and we are grateful. Ahmed – We thank you for those in our midst running for state and national office; keep them strong in the face of adversity, and humble with any measure of accomplishment; give them stamina during the day, rest at night; grant them wisdom and courage to lead and guide in this contentious age. John P. -- Working together may we fashion a future worthy of our children: where young and old are secure; where the racial divides of the past are overcome; where water is drinkable and the rivers swimmable; and the air is fit to breath and harness for energy; where no child designed as different is diminished or denied their dignity. Ahmed – Waken us to the urgency of the hour; open our eyes to see right and follow it; working together may we boldly advance a better day for our city and state and nation, that all Hoosiers, regardless of class or creed or color, may attain the blessings of liberty and peace. John P. – We pray in the name of all that is beautiful and excellent and true. Ahmed - We pray in the name of all that is merciful, just, and kind. John P. and Ahmed -- Amen. Fifteen years ago today, I was a pharmacy student in Big Rapids, Michigan. I was in the office of one of my professors, having a general conversation, when his phone rang. He became visibly shook and looked pale as he hung up the phone. "My wife says planes crashed into the world trade center" he managed to mutter and, to be honest, it did not register with me. I thought it was an accident; A small engine plane that lost its course and hit one of the buildings.
I excused myself from the office of my visibly distraught professor and walked down to my lecture room. It was approximately 30 minutes before the start of class, and as I walked in, the footage of the plane crashing into the world trade center was on full display on the big screens. My heart sank, for many reasons, as I watched the details start to unfold. A few minutes later, I noticed students were starting to trickle in and I immediately went to the main door of our college and waited for the handful of Muslim/Arab students to make their way to class. I told each of them as they came by to turn around and go home. I recall specifically saying "If someone yells at you, screams at you or even spits in your face....Don't do anything. Just keep walking and get to your home." The world has changed. On that particular day, the entire world turned and stared at me. On that particular day, I became THE representative of the Islamic faith. I now speak for the entirety of Islam and am expected to answer for any and all actions of those who claim it as their faith. I am now the measuring stick. I am now it. I have always been somewhat active in raising general awareness/education about my Muslim faith, my Arab culture and my people's struggle for justice in Palestine. But on that particular day, I realized that trying to be an agent of positive change, peace and coexistence is a full time duty rather than a service to be done on my free time. On that particular day I was both disoriented and focused, panicked yet calm, afraid yet full of courage. On that particular day I came to understand how I can be surrounded by many yet feel completely alone, Have many thoughts yet be unable to speak, Have many emotions yet not be allowed to grieve. On that particular day I realized the full meaning of "other" and to this day I don't take a second of my life for granted and use every bit of me to be an agent of change Is the glass half full or half empty? People on either side are arguing their point about the glass. A supposed optimism vs pessimism about a current situation. But the question being debated is wrong. The question should be who poured the glass and got people locked in a subjective, perhaps fruitless, debate? Allow me to explain. Apply this concept to let's say the current "war" on ISIS. Currently the majority of the world is locked in a heated debate on how to curtail and destroy ISIS. Fervent debates about military strategy; where to bomb when and how exact revenge (at least in the current American political rhetoric it is revenge we are seeking and not justice). Some are saying we're making great progress and let's keep the current bombing campaign while others are saying the civilized world is on verge of inevitable destruction and the threat cannot be eliminated so we need to bomb some more. People are caught up in that bombing debate. Bomb more or bomb less (or at least sustain the current bombing). While a few are the ones who are taking a step back and asking "who poured the glass"? You're being ushered into a debate where the thinking paradigm has already been set for you. Debating within that paradigm will not get us anywhere. The word ملأ is often mentioned in the Quran when discussing people who surround an oppressive/unjust person (think pharaoh). It's translated as "the eminent ones" or you can understand it in the sense of those who surround the owner of authority; advisors, confidants, close friends....etc.
When thinking of such a group, the word enablers come to mind. Those who encourage a person's behavior/action and embolden their deviance. For example: Holy Quran 7:127 ------------------ وَقَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ مِن قَوْمِ فِرْعَوْنَ أَتَذَرُ مُوسَىٰ وَقَوْمَهُۥ لِيُفْسِدُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَيَذَرَكَ وَءَالِهَتَكَ ۚ قَالَ سَنُقَتِّلُ أَبْنَآءَهُمْ وَنَسْتَحْىِۦ نِسَآءَهُمْ وَإِنَّا فَوْقَهُمْ قَٰهِرُونَ And the eminent among the people of Pharaoh said," Will you leave Moses and his people to cause corruption in the land and abandon you and your gods?" [Pharaoh] said, "We will kill their sons and keep their women alive; and indeed, we are subjugators over them." The "enablers" did not say to pharaoh "go ahead and kill Moses and his people" rather they planted a seed of fear in the mind of someone who is capable of doing great harm and then let things unfold. My point is, while in many of our discourses and discussions about an oppressor's rise to power (think Trump) or a person's abuse of power (think police officers disproportionately shooting black people) or a person's disregard for the sanctity of life of others (think of anyone who murdered someone) we often neglect the enablers who surround them. We need to look at the environment and who is in it and what role have they played that may have led to the situation at hand. Another point is for us to stop looking at such situations as isolated from us. We're baffled by these happenings yet we don't take a close and thorough look at ourselves and end up, inadvertently and at the very least, being enablers. You can enable by encouraging, but you can also enable by being silent when truth needs to be spoken, by being complacent, by shirking your responsibility as a citizen of your community. Change won't happen unless we change the environment that allows negative enablers to dominate and that change has to come from within. |
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