One day after a brutal terrorist attack in Paris by Islamic radicals, MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell spent much of her Thursday show wringing her hands over Muslims in France and Europe being "under fire." Talking to Muslim Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, Mitchell worried: "This is a challenge for France, which has had a lot of negative legal actions and restrictive laws and a large Muslim community....What is the challenge as they approach this manhunt to not begin racial or religious profiling?"
In a follow-up question, she proclaimed: "And there were reports in the French press today that three mosques may have been targeted in some way, three mosques in France....it's really going to be incumbent upon French and world leaders and European leaders, where immigration and the Muslim population has been under fire."
Minutes later, while speaking to Time magazine contributor Vivienne Walt from Paris, Mitchell wondered: "What about anger and profiling? Because there's a report of three mosques that have been – have come under attack and some sort of retaliatory aspects of this and profiling against Muslims."
Walt responded: "It's definitely not the loudest voices that you hear in France. But, however, there has – and right after yesterday's attack – there has emerged a kind of sense of Islamophobia, if you like, which has been quite prevalent in France over the last weeks and months."
Minutes after that exchange, Mitchell brought on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and touted his Wednesday column [1] entitled: "Is Islam to Blame for the Shooting at Charlie Hebdo in Paris?"
Mitchell began: "Let's talk about how Muslims in France and around western Europe have been under fire. There are reports of actions against mosques, three mosques around France today."
In part, Kristof argued: "I think we have to be very careful not to engage in religious profiling and to recognize that, you know, one can't blame 1.6 billion adherents of this vast and complex religion – one can't blame this event on all of them."
Mitchell eagerly read from Kristof's article:
And, in fact, when you wrote today, "So let's avoid religious profiling, the average Christian," you wrote, "has nothing to apologize for when Christian fanatics in the former Yugoslavia engaged in genocide against Muslims. Critics of Islam are not to blame because of an anti-Muslim fanatic murdering 77 people in Norway in 2011."
She concluded: "There are – there are violent groups within all religions."
Kristof replied: "That's right. And I think we have a tendency to other-ize people, if you will, of a different race, a different religion, a different ethnicity, and then to perceive events into a narrative of threat....I think we have to be really, really careful not to respond to the extraordinary intolerance of these jihadis with our own intolerance."
Mitchell lectured French politicians: "What does Francois Hollande have to do now? Given the fact that France has already had so much division because of its large Muslim community and its anti-immigrant stance in some quarters and then the right wing, of course."
Kristof lamented: "And Marine Le Pen the head of one of these, you know, right-wing parties, is indeed going to be a great political beneficiary."
Here are excerpts of the coverage on the January 8 Andrea Mitchell Reports:
12:06 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL [TO REP. KEITH ELLISON]: Congressman, after 9/11 you and others did so much to persuade Americans not to react negatively and not to paint people with a broad brush. This is a challenge for France, which has had a lot of negative legal actions and restrictive laws and a large Muslim community, more than 7%. What is the challenge as they approach this manhunt to not begin racial or religious profiling?
(...)
12:08 PM ET
MITCHELL [TO ELLISON]: And there were reports in the French press today that three mosques may have been targeted in some way, three mosques in France. So clearly this is an issue of big concern. The imam in France issued a statement yesterday, there have been statements from a number of the Arab leaders around the Persian Gulf. But it's really going to be incumbent upon French and world leaders and European leaders, where immigration and the Muslim population has been under fire.
(...)
12:19 PM ET
MITCHELL: What about anger and profiling? Because there's a report of three mosques that have been – have come under attack and some sort of retaliatory aspects of this and profiling against Muslims.
VIVIENNE WALT [TIME CONTRIBUTOR]: It's definitely not the loudest voices that you hear in France. But, however, there has – and right after yesterday's attack – there has emerged a kind of sense of Islamophobia, if you like, which has been quite prevalent in France over the last weeks and months.
(...)
12:33 PM ET
MITCHELL: Joining me now is New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. Nicholas, you have covered these conflicts around the world and you wrote so passionately today about the need to not do religious profiling. Let's talk about how Muslims in France and around western Europe have been under fire. There are reports of actions against mosques, three mosques around France today. What is the message that we should be focusing on?
NICHOLAS KRISTOF: Well, I think it's two-fold. I mean, on the one hand, I think we have to acknowledge, and Muslims indeed do acknowledge, that there is a legitimate problem within Islam. There is a strain of extremism, there is a strain of intolerance, and misogyny. And these are real issues. I mean, it's characteristic that as soon as this attack happened, even though Charlie Hebdo offends all kinds of people, we all assumed that this was extremist Muslims who had decided to use AK-47s to resolve that.
But at the same time that we acknowledge that there is a real issue here of extremism within this vast religion, I think we have to be very careful not to engage in religious profiling and to recognize that, you know, one can't blame 1.6 billion adherents of this vast and complex religion – one can't blame this event on all of them. And one has to acknowledge that, you know, the Taliban folks who shot Malala are one element of Islam and Malala herself is another. And this is a religion that contains multitudes.
MITCHELL: And, in fact, when you wrote today, "So let's avoid religious profiling, the average Christian," you wrote, "has nothing to apologize for when Christian fanatics in the former Yugoslavia engaged in genocide against Muslims. Critics of Islam are not to blame because of an anti-Muslim fanatic murdering 77 people in Norway in 2011." There are – there are violent groups within all religions.
KRISTOF: That's right. And I think we have a tendency to other-ize people, if you will, of a different race, a different religion, a different ethnicity, and then to perceive events into a narrative of threat. And this is a very natural human thing. And I must say that when I travel around the Middle East, you know, I sit down in mosques and hear clerics concoct these extraordinary sort of paranoid visions of America because every data point they get plugs into this, you know, this stereotype they have and they other-ize us. I think we have to be really, really careful not to respond to the extraordinary intolerance of these jihadis with our own intolerance.
MITCHELL: I was talking earlier in the program to Congressman Keith Ellison, who is Muslim, and he was praising what George W. Bush did in going to a mosque after 9/11, and in trying to bring groups together. There was an ecumenical, you remember, an ecumenical service at the National Cathedral. What does Francois Hollande have to do now? Given the fact that France has already had so much division because of its large Muslim community and its anti-immigrant stance in some quarters and then the right wing, of course.
KRISTOF: And Marine Le Pen the head of one of these, you know, right-wing parties, is indeed going to be a great political beneficiary. I mean I've had sort of these anguished comments from Muslims in Europe who A, point out that nobody defames Islam or the Prophet more than people who murder cartoonists. I mean, the cartoonists are far less inimical to Islam than people who slaughter those cartoonists. And now, you know, on top of that, there is going to be this backlash that is going to affect, you know, the roughly 8% or 10% population of France that is Muslim.
One of the things I really admired about Australia after the incident there last month, the hostage taking in the café, Andrea, was the way Australians gathered around with that "I'll ride with you" Twitter campaign offering.
MITCHELL: Yeah, good point.
KRISTOF: I thought it was really kind of beautiful to be able to recognize on the one hand that that attack on that cafe was just brutal, intolerable, and yet, to recognize that ordinary Muslim Australians in hijab were terrified of a backlash and needed support. And to be – to reach out and help them escort them safely on public transport. I thought that was a tremendous reaction on the part of Australia and I think it's something we can aspire to at a time when it's very easy for hatred to try to provoke more hatred.
MITCHELL: And maybe it would also be a good idea for us to stop ignoring a four-year civil war in Syria, which is a breeding ground for terrorists who can cross in and out of Europe and create more Jihadis. I mean, that's of course the larger issue here, is what is happening in the region that we're not focusing on enough.
KRISTOF: That's right.
MITCHELL: But thank you. I mean, Nicholas, you among all people have been leading in the effort to try to keep us focused on what has been happening in that brutal civil war.
KRISTOFF: Thanks very much, Andrea. I appreciate it.
MITCHELL: Thanks for being with us today.
— Kyle Drennen is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter. [2]