ISIS Attacks Aftermath

11.17.15

Tuesday brought a more concerted effort to push back against efforts, fueled by key leaders in Congress and governors in over half the states, to bar Syrian refugees from resettlement whole swaths of the U.S. The White House held a call with 34 governors from across the country, to address concerns about the screening process. The administration also planned to brief both the House and Senate, where calls for suspending the State Dept. program under which resettlement of Syrian refugees are being administered. A key driver of the fear gripping many American officials—the idea that one of the perpetrators of the Paris attacks had a Syrian passport and had moved along the migratory path through Europe—was cast into deeper doubt, as reports surfaced that it belonged to a Syrian soldier who died some months ago, and was part of a false narrative created by the terrorists. As President Obama put it, “we are not well served when, in response to a terrorist attack, we descend into fear and panic.”

Some interesting fodder for the debate surfaced in a new Pew Research Center country survey, which showed that nations with significant Muslim populations expressed especially negative views of ISIS. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/17/in-nations-with-significant-muslim-populations-much-disdain-for-isis/

On the surveillance front, Republican lawmakers talked about reviving a dead bill that could ensure federal investigators access to locked data at tech and Internet companies. New York City police commissioner William Bratton signaled his agreement, calling for greater law enforcement leeway to get around encryption technologies. http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/260522-paris-revives-battle-over-data-encryption#

Many grantees were passing around a story by Steve Vladeck, warning against the dangers of overreacting and rolling up surveillance reform in the aftermath of the attacks. https://www.justsecurity.org/27651/111315/

After declaring cyberwar against ISIS, the hacker collective known as Anonymous claimed to have disabled over 6,000 Twitter accounts.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/12002179/Anonymous-takes-down-thousands-of-Islamic-State-Twitter-accounts.html

And stories about anti-Muslim hate crimes continued to pile up, including one about an arsonist who torched a mosque just hours after congregants had gathered to celebrate the birth of a baby.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/canadian-mosque-set-ablaze-anti-muslim-sentiment-grows-article-1.2437420

A new FBI report showed that hate crimes in America in 2014 dropped in every category save one: hate crimes against Muslims, which rose 14 percent over the previous year. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/11/16/fbi-reported-hate-crimes-down-nationally-except-against-muslims?utm_source=NSHR+Rapid+Response&utm_campaign=a2954b7da9-NSHR_Alerts_News_October_9&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3a915757be-a2954b7da9-391728593

 

In Paris, people returned to the sidewalk cafes en masse, inspired by a Tweet urging countrymen to lift a glass of wine in a show of defiance of ISIS. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/18/world/europe/french-crowd-cafes-to-defy-terror-with-a-sip-of-wine.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

 

A highly unscientific sampling of grantee activity:

 

*Cities United for Immigration Action, a coalition of nearly 100 mayors, municipalities and counties organized by New York City’s Bill de Blasio, sought to counter the wave of governors opposed to allowing in Syrian refugees with a message of welcome and inclusion. “We should not close our borders to any group of people fleeing the atrocities and horrors of terrorism,” said Mayor de Blasio.  http://citiesforaction.us/statement111715/

*America’s Voice organized a phone press conference for leaders of Refugee Council USA. According to Frank Sharry, 189 people joined the call. His group is providing media and message training to these leaders, as well as working with CREDO in pressing Sen. Schumer to reconsider his call for a “pause” in the processing of Syrian refugees. America’s Voice put out a press release decrying the “fear-mongering” from Donald Trump and other GOP presidential contenders, among others. http://americasvoice.org/press_releases/fear-mongering-of-the-worst-order-from-gop-and-some-democrats/

*The Center for New Community, a new grantee, is keeping a running list of elected officials—members of Congress, governors and state lawmakers--who have called for the suspension of the resettlement of Syrian refugees.

*Participants in the Solidarity Summit, a strategic collaboration among Arab, Muslim and South Asian communities, among other racial justice actors organized by OSF and Ford, are issuing a joint statement to decry any move to suspend resettlement. And many members of the MASA collective will be packing a House hearing on the bid to stop the State Dept. program this Thursday.

*MPower Change, a soon-to-be grantee, is joining with United We Dream and Moveon.org in online organizing on refugees.  

*Debayani Kar of Muslim Advocates published a blog post entitled “Increased Surveillance Based on Faith Will Not Make Our Nation Safer.” https://www.muslimadvocates.org/increased-surveillance-based-on-faith-will-not-make-our-nation-safer/

 

* “As far as I know, there's no evidence the French lacked some kind of surveillance authority that would have made a difference. When we've invested new powers in the government in response to events like the Paris attacks, they have often been abused." Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director, ACLU, New York Times

*“I think all Americans want to be kept safe from violence of any kind. But we know that blanket surveillance of people based on religion and race doesn't work." Farhana Khera, executive director, Muslim Advocates, New York Times