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[Adventurer]

(CNN) -- The terrorist threat posed by radicalized Muslim- Americans has been exaggerated, according to a study released Wednesday by researchers at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

A small number of Muslim-Americans have undergone radicalization since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the study found. It compiled a list of 139 individuals it categorized as "Muslim-American terrorism offenders" who had become radicalized in the U.S. in that time -- a rate of 17 per year.

That level is "small compared to other violent crime in America, but not insignificant," according to the study, titled "Anti-Terror Lessons of Muslim-Americans."

In addition, five Americans were arrested last month in Pakistan, and police have said they are confident that they were planning terrorist attacks. A Pakistani court Monday gave police two weeks to prepare their case against the five; authorities have said they plan to prosecute the youths under the country's anti-terrorism act.

But it is the Muslim-American communities themselves who play a large role in keeping the number of radicalized members low through their own practices, according to the study. Leaders and Muslim-American organizations denounce violent acts, for instance, in messages that have weight within communities.

In addition, such communities often self-police -- confronting those who express radical ideology or support for terrorism and communicating concerns about radical individuals to authorities. Some Muslim-Americans have adopted programs for youth to help identify those who react inappropriately to controversial issues so they can undergo counseling and education, the researchers said.

INTERESTING

[Adventurer]

I wonder what the stats are in terms of the views of American Muslims. I would wager a large percentage of them are agaisnt the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, though some would support it. That said, I would assume most, especially those born in the US, feel a strong connection to the United States. I have met people who were very hostile to what the US Government is doing in Afghanistan, but would not engage in violence. It's hard for some to have a very balanced approach to such a conflict, IMHO. I would have liked stats to look at.

This is more of a qualitative study than a quantitative one. It's still interesting, but you would want a follow up with a quantitative one to be able to know more about what the people feel and think in depth.

[Gopher]

Adventurer, I have no doubt at all that academics, focused -- obsessed even -- as they are on race, class, and gender inequities in American society, have produced such a study.

Do you have any stats or academic studies, by the way, on the Muslim-American community's self-policing re: the Fort Hood incident? Indeed, any number of similar incidents? Take University of North Carolina's very own Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, for instance.

And was a Palestinian-American not arrested in a Miami airport today for chanting something about wanting to kill all Jews? Surely there were two or three Muslim-Americans nearby who intervened and moderated him, no?

Clearly, this all derives from conservatives' racism and wild imaginations. Thank you for posting this apolitical and very serious study.

[Trevor]

The threat of Islam is the engine that is propelling our mideast policy. Israel could not exist without the moslem world as an enemy, which is why they go to such lengths to maintain opposition with them. Without that opposition, the justification for their existance would vanish.

Not true? Describe Israel in Harmony with its neighbors.

[Reggie]

If the CDC's stats are accurate http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/FASTATS/homicide.htm and there are 18,000 murders in America in a year, if we're having to dig back to the 2006 incident at UNC where nobody even got killed or seriously injured to talk about the Muslim-American threat to society, then Muslim-Americans must be one of the more well-behaved demographic groups in the USA.

If you want to talk about an actual murder that happened at UNC, this one happened two years after the incident you're talking about. They killed a grad student up the road at Duke University also. http://hotairbalog.blogspot.com/2008/03/who-is-abhijit-mahato.html

[Adventurer]

[Adventurer]

[ytuque]

[guava]

[Adventurer]

[Reggie]

Suicide bombers who murder civilians are horrible.

However, suicide bombers who do precision attacks solely on invading soldiers aren't as bad as pilots who drop bombs from thousands of feet in the air, killing and maiming women and children they're ostensibly trying to free. Yet, most Americans call those bombers heroes.

[LosSeoul]

[NovaKart]

There were sizeable Jewish populations in the Middle East in the past but now it's become extremely difficult for Jews to live there outside of Israel. Even in Turkey I know of at least one occassion where a synagogue was attacked and there were big protests during the conflict in Gaza in Istanbul and Ankara. Kind of hypocritical really, at least the Palestinians were always allowed to speak their own language, not like the Kurds.

I just read on wikipedia about Iranian Jews and it looks like the situation is largely different for them. I've found the Iranians I have known to be much more reasonble and less fanatical than many other Muslims, especially Arabs.

[LosSeoul]

Yeah and there was a sizable Palestinian population in what is now Israel...
People will always use politics to get what they want or impose there views on others, whatever. Politics are Politics. I lived in Lebanon for a long time. Enough to see a war or two first hand and work directly with people affected the most. In reality it's a horrible situation that sadly most people will never fully realize because they can't get passed the politics.

As for Iran being a different situation or less "fanatical" than Arabs. In my experience fanaticism is equally common across the bored, common as in it makes up the vast minority of people. Arab, Muslim "fanaticism" does however constantly receive the most exposure. Ironically the Jews living in Iran are living not in a secular state like Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan or Syria, but rather in an openly Islamic State.

[Adventurer]