Islamophobic Terrorism Watchlist SPEECH

INTRO

Yonas Fikre was thrilled at the prospect of taking his luxury private jet from Portland back to the UAE, eagerly awaiting the time he’d spend there catching up with old friends and exploring the country… but instead, he became a victim of governmental overreach, and manipulation, stranded in a foreign land for years and years for no reason other than his religion. Not only was he stranded, in fact: according to a SCOTUS Blog article from January 1, 2024, “during a trip to the UAE, Fikre was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. Officials there told Fikre that his detention and interrogation came at the FBI’s request” because he was somehow listed on a terrorism watchlist. CBSNews on December 14, 2023, explains that the FBI created the watchlist, called the Terrorist Screening Dataset, 20 years ago as a central place to share information across government and law enforcement agencies about known and suspected terrorists. And yet… isn’t it odd that, as Al Jazeera reports on June 21, 2023, “more than 98 percent of 2 million entries on leaked trave ki l watch lists are Muslims.” The watchlist originates from the extreme surge of Islamophobia that rose after the 9/11 attacks… and yet, even more than 20 years later, this wave of terror that stems from Islamophobia has only advanced in its threat to human rights. So today, we will explore the problems, causes, and solutions of the Islamophobic terrorism watchlist. Because as the Pulitzer Center on January 20, 2022 states: “Twenty years later, the ripple effects of the 9/11 attacks are still impacting the lives of American Muslims, and until a solution is found, their lives will never, ever, be the same.

PROBLEMS 

While Islamophobia has been a recurring topic in the forensics community, the urgency to address it has heightened due to the escalating issues at hand. Let’s start with one of the most obvious examples of this egregious discrimination: the way Muslims are terrorized for everyday tasks. Take Farid Sulayman, a Muslim-American leader based in Seattle. According to The Seattle Times on August 13th, 2023, “On international trips, Sulayman said, border agents have pulled him aside for private questioning as soon as he stepped off the plane…. Upon presenting his ID… he was handcuffed and detained for over two hours.” But, of course, this issue goes much further than the airport, such as the daily horrors Saadiq Long, a United States Air Force Veteran, has faced for just being on the watchlist. The Intercept on January 26 2023 explains, “In subsequent stops, Long has been pulled over, handcuffed, and placed in the back of a police cruiser. In one incident, Oklahoma City police officers leveled their guns at Long while blaring orders over a loudspeaker instructing Long to exit his vehicle. 

 These are not just inconveniences: they are explicit violations of due process. As USA Today on September 18, 2023, explains, “the U.S. government can and does share information from the list with foreign governments—increasing the risks to no-fly list travelers beyond U.S. borders. This means that individuals on the list are vulnerable to being detained, targeted, interrogated, or subjected to intrusive searches—some based on outdated or incorrect information. And once an individual is placed on the watchlist, they are branded as a second-class citizen for life, even if the government eventually realizes they should not have been placed on the list in the first place.” 

CAUSES

If this problem has occurred for 20 years, it’s important to identify the underlying cause. There are two: the legal framework and Islamophobia. I’m 

First, according to Lawfare on June 17, 2023, “The U.S. Court of Appeals in El-Hady v. Kable upheld the constitutionality of the Terrorism Screening Datadry.” Correct, the Court of Appeals itself decided that this list, a list which breaches the basic rights of Americans everywhere, is constitutional. The ambiguous legal basis upon which names are selected onto the list—something the FBI never clarifies—raises serious concerns about due process violations and lack of transparency, further exacerbating the discriminatory nature of its implementation. Moreover, as stated by The Daily Beast on September 10, 2023, all the list does is perpetuate the stereotype that all Muslims represent a national security threat, simultaneously setting the horrifying precedent that the government can just strip away the rights of its citizens and then justify it by falsely promising security as the result—this precedent can easily be exploited for even more targeted hate and violence in the future. 

Of course, this problem is caused by more than just discrimination and deception: it stems from Islamophobia as a whole. Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute on September 13, 2022, explains, “The impacts of Islamophobia range from bigoted attacks to systematic attempts to undermine Muslim members of the United States Congress, notably Muslim women.” The report highlights data from 2021, revealing a 27-year high of civil rights complaints by Muslim Americans on issues related to travel, immigration, workplace discrimination, hate and bias incidents, and more.” America has painted Muslims as guilty since the 9/11 attacks, but the watchlist goes even further to completely discard their constitutional rights in an effort to suppress Muslims even more. 

SOLUTIONS

Now that we understand the problems and causes of the terrorism watchlist, we can finally explore the solutions. 

First, the governmental solution: H.Res.671, introduced in late 2023 by Senator Pramilla Jayapal, which aims to establish a new interagency government task force collaborating with community organizations. Its mission is to investigate discriminatory policies originating from the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and dismantle those that persistently target and foster hatred, such as the watchlist itself. We need to call our representatives and demand action. I have created a QR code that you can access after the round—upon scanning it, you will be redirected to a Google Doc with a script in case you’re unsure of what to say. If phone calls aren’t your thing, text Resist Bot— I included their number along with a similar script. It is imperative that we collectively take these steps and voice our concerns to make a meaningful impact.

Next, onto a more personal solution. Consider supporting groups like the Council of American Islamic Relations, an organization that, according to a Georgetown University Paper in December 2023, is in the middle of “a 185-page federal lawsuit” to end the watchlist. As a grassroots organization, everyone is welcome to participate whether that be donating, volunteering, or actively joining the movement by standing with the innocents that have been unfairly targeted by our government. The Google Doc has resources showing the ways you can contribute to the Council of American Islamic Relations, and other reputable organizations like it. 

Each one of you has the power to make a difference: participate in protests organized by groups like the Council of Islamic American Relations or pick up the phone to call your local representative. There is always something necessary to be done, and as more voices unite, we can slowly but surely address and rectify this issue. Together, we can restore the United States as a symbol of freedom and opportunity.

CONCLUSION

Today, we examined the problems, causes, and solutions of the Islamophobic terrorism watchlist. The freedom of American Muslims is being denied, painting a bleak picture of a future where the government may strip human rights for any arbitrary reason. No longer should innocents like Yonas Fikre be tortured in foreign lands because of their religion… no longer should we allow the government to subject any subset of people to this level of transgression against their fundamental human rights. Because as the Declaration of Independence itself says, everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness… including Muslims.