Opinion: Don't overstate anti-Muslim bias
Editor's note: William J. Bennett and Seth Leibsohn are authors of the recently published book, "The Fight of Our Lives: Knowing the Enemy, Speaking the Truth, and Choosing to Win the War Against Radical Islam." Bennett is a CNN contributor and a fellow of the Claremont Institute; Leibsohn is a managing partner with the consulting firm, Leibsohn & Associates. CNN's Soledad O'Brien chronicles the fight over a mosque's construction in the heart of the Bible Belt on "Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door"
which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.
(CNN) -- Almost two weeks after the House Homeland Security Committee hearing on radicalization in the Muslim community in America, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has announced he will hold a hearing in the Senate. But, rather than focus on the problem of radicalization in the Muslim community, Durbin's panel will be directed to another subject: anti-Muslim bigotry in the United States.
Senator Durbin has said anti-Islamic sentiment in America is on the rise and that, "It is important for our generation to renew our founding charter's commitment to religious diversity and to protect the liberties guaranteed by our Bill of Rights." The hearing, scheduled for next week, follows a CNN special to air this Sunday, "Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door."
While we have not been in contact with Senator Durbin or his staff, we have just published a book on America and its relationship to Islam. And while we have not seen the CNN special just yet, we have seen the trailer
, which focuses on opposition to a mosque being built in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Despite what may have gone on in Murfreesboro with the mosque its adherents have wanted to build, the larger story of anti-Islamic bias in America does not hold water.
Let's start with the national numbers: 8.4 percent of religious hate crimes in America were anti-Muslim in 2009 (the most recent date for which statistics are available). By contrast, that same year, nearly 72 percent of religious hate crimes in America were anti-Jewish (Muslims in America faced 107 incidents of bias in 2009; Jews faced 931).
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/thLJB7BVIM0/index.html
