US Government Promotes
Fear of Muslims

by Magda Bayoumi

1984, George Orwell’s novel; if you have not read it go out and do so. It shows what can happen to us if we do not stand up to what the government has been doing, and still planning to do, to our civil liberties. It shows us how people will follow with hatred and prejudice when the government defines an “enemy.”

Since 9/11, Muslims have been harassed, jailed and in some cases kicked out of the country. We are not talking about violent criminals, but regular hard-working people. The US government is not ashamed to say that it is spying on mosques. To the contrary, it says that it has to do this in order to defeat terror. It tries to convince the American people that it is OK to spy on people in places of worship, in their homes and in their work places. It says it is doing this for our safety. What it doesn’t say is how far it is willing to go. Next they will turn us into an insecure nation. Each one of us will be walking around, looking over our shoulders wondering who is spying on us, and who we can trust. Little by little we will turn to another Iraq, China, or North Korea.

So, let us stop the madness now. Let us work together to free our country from its fears and from hate. We should hold our government responsible for its actions and demand to know the truth about what it is doing to our civil rights before we turn into another example of a 1984 State.

May God bless America … and the whole world.