Twenty-Five Islamic Groups Urge FBI to Be Sensitive
A large flock of Islamic organizations has descended on the FBI, following reports that they’re going to pay special attention to Hizballah supporters: Muslims fret over FBI’s Hizbullah probe.
Leaders of American Muslim and Arab groups urged the FBI on Wednesday to be sensitive when scrutinizing activities by the Hizbullah on US soil.
Twenty-five groups, including the Islamic Society of North America and the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, urged FBI Director Robert Mueller in a letter to instruct field offices and agents to avoid unwarranted profiling and to respect legal protections during questioning.
“We want the FBI, obviously, to protect our nation from those who do us harm, but we want them to focus on actual credible evidence of wrongdoing and not target people based on their ethnicity or religion or … political expression,” said Farhana Khera, head of Muslim Advocates, the lead drafter of the letter.
“We want to avert any kind of raw fishing expedition-type initiative,” he said.
Khera, whose group is the charitable arm of the 500-plus-member National Association of Muslim Lawyers, said activists decided to send the letter after learning that the FBI has increased its focus on the worldwide activities of Hizbullah after the group’s kidnapping of two IDF soldiers and subsequent Mideast fighting.
It looks like they don’t need to be too worried.
On Wednesday, Mueller told reporters that there was now no indication of the group planning an attack in the United States or on US interests abroad.
FBI spokesman Stephen Kodak said the agency planned to reach out to the groups that sent the letter. He said there were no plans to launch large-scale interviews regarding Hezbollah.
“We are sensitive to the cultural differences in dealing with the Muslim community,” Kodak said. “Whether or not there’s going to be special, additional guidance, that I don’t know at this time.”



