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MPAC Bulletin – April 5, 2007
Hearing of House Homeland Security
Sub-committee on intelligence, info sharing
& terrorism risk assessment
Los Angeles – April 5, 2007 - MPAC Southern California Government Relations Director, Sireen Sawaf, testified today at the Torrance City Council Chambers about the phenomena of radicalization and the critical role of the Muslim American community in protecting the country in a House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing entitled, "Radicalization, Information Sharing and Community Outreach: Protecting the Homeland from Homegrown Terror".
The five-member Congressional panel, including Chairwoman Jane Harman (D-CA), Congressman Norman D. Dicks (D-WA), Congressman David Reichert (R-WA), Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Congressman Dan Lungren (R-CA), heard from two separate panels about topics including cases of prison radicalization, the potential for youth radicalization, and potential preventative measures.
The first panel -- consisting of LAPD Chief of Police William Bratton, Torrance Police Department Chief of Police John J. Neu, and FBI Special Agent Jan Fedarczyk and Sergeant Larry Mead of the Los Angeles Sheriff Department -- addressed the threat of radicalization in the United States with a particular focus on prison radicalization. Chief Neu shared an example of successful intra-agency communication between local and federal law enforcement, and Chief Bratton emphasized the importance of "speaking the same language" in trainings and when different agencies approach topics like radicalization. Special Agent Fedarczyk highlighted the importance of working groups like the Multi-Cultural Advisory Committee, an FBI-initiated working group designed to outreach to and address the concerns of American Muslim, Sikh, Bahai, South Asian, Arab, Armenian, Coptic Christian and Iranian groups. Sergeant Mead discussed radicalization of Muslims and non-Muslims in prison, including the White Supremacist movements, and highlighted the Muslim American Homeland Security Congress, a community-constructed initiative founded by Sheriff Leroy Baca and MPAC Senior Advisor Dr. Maher Hathout.
In the second panel, MPAC's Sireen Sawaf was joined by Brian Jenkins, a Senior Advisor for the RAND Corporation, and David Gersten, Director of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Programs in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Sawaf critiqued present discussions on youth radicalization as void of thoughtful analyses, and urged for the discourse on radicalization to consider key factors, such as identity, social and political alienation, the definition of a moderate vs. an extremist, and Islamophobia as a root cause of alienation and possible radicalization, citing MPAC's soon-to-be-released special report on supporting Muslim American youth's efforts to counter extremism.
RAND's Jenkins emphasized that while seeking solutions to counter the threat of radicalization, "strict oversight and a good defense" were necessary to ensure effective counterterrorism. DHS's Gersten defined radicalization according to DHS as "the process of adopting an extremist belief system, including the willingness to use, support or facilitate violence, as a method to effect societal change." Gersten also highlighted recent DHS initiatives such as meeting with American Muslim, Sikh, Bahai, South Asian, Arab, Coptic Christian and Iranian groups, and engaging Muslim American youth in a roundtable discussion, as the Department recognized the importance of engaging constructive Muslim Americans to understand and address their concerns to the best of the Department's abilities.
Sawaf highlighted the challenges, such as federal bureaucracy inhibiting partnership, and opportunities in current partnership models between the Muslim American community and local and federal law enforcement, while emphasizing the need for a more systematic and organized approach for cooperation supported by Congressional funding. The significant role government officials and other decision-makers and opinion-shapers play in preventing radicalization was also acknowledged.
"The theological battle against extremism and radicalization is and should solely be shouldered by the Muslim American community, but you too have a role," Sawaf emphasized. "Government, media, political analysts, opinion-shapers and other contributors to the discourse share the responsibility of using responsible language by separating Islam or noble Islamic concepts that are embraced by Muslims worldwide, such as jihad, from criminal activities such as radicalization. The use of terminology such as 'jihadist radicalism' lends legitimacy to the extremists who are using Islam to galvanize support for their criminal agendas."
The Congressional panel was very interested in learning more about engaging the youth and preventing radicalization. RAND's Jenkins discussed the Internet as an area where little oversight, due to the first amendment, yet much potential for radicalization exists. Sawaf emphasized the importance of analyzing the roots of radicalization, such as the marginalization of youth and the loss of confidence in government due to the perceived politicization of cases, more than the mere avenues for it, such as the Internet and other outlets.
"A few things can be done to engage the youth," Sawaf said. "Rather than talk about youth, we must learn to talk to them... and when high profile cases make their way to mainstream media and are presented as national security cases but later turn out to be otherwise, it is the responsibility of the authorities to communicate this loud and clear and to take corrective measures in order to restore the communities confidence in government."
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