Waj Ali on the Radicalization of Muslims in America

Wajahat Ali, lawyer, political commentator, and playwright is everywhere nowadays.   Waj offers his reflections on yesterday’s Congressional hearings on “Muslim American radicalization.” Here’s a section from the piece:

“As a Muslim American, and a member of America’s most diverse religious group, I can testify that we are not a monolithic entity who share a collective consciousness and are automatically alerted to the perverse inclinations of all radicalised loners. Furthermore, Muslim Americans do not have specialised knowledge or heightened awareness of extremist threats – just as Italian Americans do not have innate knowledge of the Mafia’s criminal operations. Perhaps King should invite the cast of Jersey Shore and the Sopranos to field that inquiry.”

Here is a nice interview with Waj that will soon be up on NPR. It covers the Congressional hearings, the importance of Art and Culture in today’s society, the “Muslim Cosby Show,” and other tasty stuff.

In an interview on the rise of Islamophobia in America, it’s causes, and a potential solution,  Waj talks with John Feffer of Foreign Policy in Focus. He says not to be surprised by a blitzkrieg of fear-mongering that will occur within the next 6 months. “The people who are saying “no sharia”? It’s like they’re saying, “we want no unicorns.” People get upset about the issue. They galvanize their base. They try to amend the law. And if they’re successful, they say, “See we protected America from unicorns.” Any sane person would say, “Yes, but there are no unicorns in America.”

Here’s Waj’s Studio 360 interview with Kurt Anderson.  

KJ