Alwaght- The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is facing mounting criticism for seeking to enroll students in counter terrorism operations by creating a games website which foments Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims.
The website, called Don't Be a Puppet aims to teach children signs to watch for that may indicate someone is falling deeper into extremist behavior. As players answer questions correctly, a pair of scissors cut the puppet's strings until it is set free.
“The FBI is developing a website designed to provide awareness about the dangers of violent extremist predators on the Internet with input from students, educators and community leaders,” an FBI spokeswoman told The New York Times on Sunday.
"The quiz asked students: What would be activities that would concern the FBI?" the Post reported.
Some of the options included a youth posting on Facebook that she intended to attend a political protest, a young person posting about feeling emotional about something or a youth with a stereotypically Muslim-sounding name who 'posted that he’s going overseas on a mission [and] does anyone want to chat?'" Hoda Hawa, director of policy and advocacy for Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), told the Post.
"All our hands went up, like: What’s with this?” Hawa added.
MPAC and other Muslim, Arab, Yemeni and Sikh advocacy groups were briefed on the site by the FBI last month. “The one that should be involved is the Department of Education. The FBI is overreaching its mission,” Ayoub told the Post. “This kind of thing should come from professionals who create educational curriculum. You don’t just have a law enforcement agency get it out to students without thinking about the ramifications on students in schools.”
The groups at the meeting said the program fails to address issues relating to the common occurrence of school shootings in the US, with most of the emphasis on extremism relating to Muslim or Arab communities.
Domestic extremists, such as white supremacists and right-wing groups, have been responsible for twice as many murders in the US since 2001 as "individuals motivated by Jihadist ideology,"according to a June report by the New America Foundation.
The program was scheduled to be launched on Monday but was temporarily put on hold and is likely to proceed despite concerns that the program will lead to further bullying of Arab and Muslim students.
Some Muslim leaders are skeptical of efforts they see as disproportionately focused on Muslims and wrongly leaning on them to connect law enforcement to people who may simply be criticizing US foreign policy.
“Teachers in classrooms should not become an extension of law enforcement,” said Arjun S. Sethi, an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center who specializes in counter-terrorism and law enforcement.
Recently a Sudanese Muslim student in Texas was arrested and suspended for bringing to school his homemade clock.
Ahmed Mohamed, who is the son of a Muslim immigrant from Sudan, was arrested earlier after his clock was inexplicably mistaken for a bomb by a teacher at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas. This has been cited as a recent example of how Muslims are discriminated and unfairly targeted in the so called war on terror in the US
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In Focus
Ansarullah
A Zaidi Shiite movement operating in Yemen. It seeks to establish a democratic government in Yemen.
Shiite
represents the second largest denomination of Islam. Shiites believe Ali (peace be upon him) to be prophet"s successor in the Caliphate.
Resistance
Axis of Resistances refers to countries and movements with common political goal, i.e., resisting against Zionist regime, America and other western powers. Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Palestine are considered as the Axis of Resistance.
Persian Gulf Cooperation Council
A regional political u n i o n consisting of Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except for Iraq.
Taliban
Taliban is a Sunni fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan. It was founded by Mohammed Omar in 1994.
Wahhabism & Extremism
Wahhabism is an extremist pseudo-Sunni movement, which labels non-Wahhabi Muslims as apostates thus paving the way for their bloodshed.
Kurds
Kurds are an ethnic group in the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region, which spans adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They are an Iranian people and speak the Kurdish languages, which form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian branch of Iranian languages.
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949.
Islamic Awakening
Refers to a revival of the Islam throughout the world, that began in 1979 by Iranian Revolution that established an Islamic republic.
Al-Qaeda
A militant Sunni organization founded by Osama bin Laden at some point between 1988 and 1989
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