“We see this in many parts of the world, with growing pockets of intolerance and anti-immigrant sentiment. This has included instances of unacceptable rhetoric against Muslims, including in the United States, and particularly during this Presidential campaign season.”
Verma here echoes the common Leftist/mainstream media conflation of concern about jihad terrorists coming into the country with “anti-immigration sentiment” and “unacceptable rhetoric against Muslims.” No advocate of the massive migrant influx has ever addressed the problem that Trump (who is clearly Verma’s target) is trying to address: how to keep jihad terrorists from entering the country from among peaceful refugees. They just say they will “vet” the migrants, when that vetting has been shown to be deeply flawed and ineffective. To call the concern over jihadis entering the country “anti-immigrant sentiment” is patently dishonest: no one — no one — is concerned about Hindu or Buddhist or atheist or any other kind of migrants. There is only concern over one group, and it isn’t because they’re “brown,” it’s because many of them are lethal.
Verma also conflates this concern over jihadis with “unacceptable rhetoric against Muslims.” Once again, this is unfair and untrue. Neither Trump nor anyone else of substance has engaged in any rhetoric denigrating Muslims as a whole. The concern is about jihad terrorism. If the Muslim community would actually work against jihad terrorism in an honest, transparent manner, there would be no problem. Instead, the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has more than once advised Muslims not to cooperate with law enforcement. In January 2011, its San Francisco chapter featured on its website a poster that read, “Build A Wall of Resistance / Don’t Talk to the FBI.” In November 2014, CAIR-Florida’s “14th Annual Banquet Rooted in Faith” in Tampa distributed pamphlets entitled “What to do if the FBI comes for you” and featuring a graphic of a person holding a finger to his lips in the “shhh” signal.
Another CAIR pamphlet, entitled “Know Your Rights: Defending Rights, Defeating Intolerance” featured a graphic of the Statue of Liberty likewise making the “shhh” symbol. Cyrus McGoldrick, a former official of Hamas-linked CAIR’s New York chapter, even threatened informants, tweeting with brutal succinctness: “Snitches get stitches.” Zahra Billoo of CAIR-San Francisco regularly tweets that Muslims have no obligation to talk to the FBI, and should contact Hamas-linked CAIR if the FBI asks to talk to them.
Is that “unacceptable rhetoric,” or can such rhetoric only be uttered by foes of jihad terror? Hamas-linked CAIR and its allies routinely tar any discussion of how jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and make recruits among peaceful Muslims as “hate speech” against Muslims as a whole. Verma is just repeating their talking points, heedless of the fact that his rhetoric is directed toward silencing all opposition to jihad terror, as all such opposition has been characterized as “hateful” by these Islamic supremacist groups.
No U.S. official, moreover, should ever denounce “unacceptable rhetoric.” The message of the First Amendment is that any rhetoric that isn’t advocating violence or criminal activity is acceptable. But this administration is, of course, on record against the First Amendment in numerous ways.
“US Ambassador to India Richard Verma denounces ‘unacceptable rhetoric’ against Muslims,” PTI, November 1, 2016:
NEW DELHI: US Ambassador to India Richard Verma today reached out to Muslims here, denouncing “unacceptable rhetoric” against the community, particularly during the ongoing Presidential campaign in US, and in pockets of “intolerance”.
Verma said that any form of discrimination was “unjustifiable” and stressed on the need to embrace diversity, which he said was the real promise in the shared values of India and the United States.
Delivering a lecture at the Jamia Millia Islamia University, Verma said Indo-US relation was at the central level, crediting the leaderships at New Delhi and Washington for the upswing in ties, which he said will continue “well into the future”.
“Strains to the international order, compounded by globalization and economic inequality, are also bringing to the fore voices who seek to exploit our fears and build barriers to cooperation.
“We see this in many parts of the world, with growing pockets of intolerance and anti-immigrant sentiment. This has included instances of unacceptable rhetoric against Muslims, including in the United States, and particularly during this Presidential campaign season,” Verma said.
Responding to a question on the anti-Islam sentiments in US, Verma said no explanation can justify discrimination against any individual, while underlining that a broad swathe of the population was not discriminatory.
He called for the coming together of “like-minded partners” to overcome challenges like terrorism and asymmetrical warfare, cyber threats, environmental degradation and climate change in the 21st century.
Describing India and US as “melting pots” that celebrate diversity, respect minority rights, freedom of religion, protect free speech, the Indian-origin diplomat said Maulana Azad’s message of diversity and knowledge holds more importance than ever….