As a March 24 St. Petersburg Times editorial stated: "Secret evidence turns our civil legal process into a farce. If we allow its use, especially at a time when every Muslim enterprise is viewed with suspicion, we are setting the stage for one injustice after the next."

Along with the closure of Global Relief, the government shut down two other prominent and well-respected American Muslim relief organizations.

In December, President Bush froze the assets of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), one of the nation's largest Muslim charities. The charity had been targeted by pro-Israel organizations and individuals for several years.

In a joint statement issued at that time, the leaders of every major national American Muslim organization said: "We ask that President Bush reconsider what we believe is an unjust and counterproductive move that can only damage America's credibility with Muslims in this country and around the world and could create the impression that there has been a shift from a war on terrorism to an attack on Islam."

Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), another Muslim charity hit with financial sanctions by the Treasury Department, has charged federal officials with violating its Constitutional rights and jeopardizing its survival. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, BIF said the government improperly and unfairly froze its assets without a hearing and without any evidence of wrongdoing.

No criminal charges have been filed in any of these closures. The frozen funds belonged to the Muslim community, not to any particular organization.

According to an interview with syndicated columnist Cal Thomas published on the internet site crosswalk.com, Attorney General John Ashcroft said: "Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you." President Bush failed to speak out in condemnation of these bigoted remarks. (Ashcroft says he was misquoted. The reporter stands by his article.)

Since September 11, conservative commentators have launched a barrage of attacks on the faith of Islam. Referring to Muslims, televangelist Pat Robertson said, "They want to coexist until they can control, dominate, and then if need be destroy."

Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, stood by remarks in which he claimed: "The God of Islam is not the same God. He's not the son of God of the Christian or Judeo-Christian faith. It's a different God, and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion...I don't believe this [Islam] is this wonderful, peaceful religion."

William S. Lind, with the Free Congress Foundation, said: "There is no such thing as peaceful Islam...Islamics cannot fit into an America in which the first loyalty is to the American Constitution. They should be encouraged to leave. They are a fifth column in this country." The Middle East Forum's Daniel Pipes goes so far as to recommend "vigilant application of social and political pressure to ensure that Islam is not accorded special status of any kind in this country."

Syndicated columnist Ann Coulter said America "should invade their [Muslim] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." Coulter also called for the "mass deportation of Muslims. This Islamophobic rhetoric has gone largely unchallenged by top government leaders. An editor of a prominent conservative publication even suggested "sarcastically" that "nuking Mecca" would "send a signal" to Muslims.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has announced that the government will conduct "voluntary" interviews of an additional 3,000 legal Muslim foreign nationals similar to almost 5,000 conducted since November. In reaction to that announcement, CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad said: "We believe...that rounding up the 'usual suspects' based on nothing more than race, religion or national origin is not an effective law enforcement technique and creates the perception of profiling."

Again, Rep. Conyers criticized the move, saying: "While the Bush Administration speaks of uniting the nation, its continued racial profiling, interrogation and detention of thousands of Arab and Muslims is having the opposite effect. It is time for the President to realize that the only thing these practices will secure is the downfall of democratic freedoms in America."

Fewer than 20 of the initial interviewees were arrested, all on charges unrelated to terrorism. The new interviews will be conducted with men from specific unnamed countries.

An editorial in today's Christian Science Monitor states: "...concerns among Arab-Americans and Muslims that their communities are being targeted shouldn't be ignored. Building trust and honoring rights has to go hand-in-hand with the data-gathering. Civil liberties abuses of the past, as during the '”red scare” of the 1950s or the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, should not be forgotten."

Law enforcement authorities announced they will focus on apprehending illegal Muslim and Arab immigrants who have ignored deportation orders, despite the fact that the vast majority of 314,000 so-called "absconders" are not Muslim or Arab.