we ask executive director david beasley how the challenge of combating global hunger would be met in the age of the corona virus pandemic the nobel interview on al-jazeera. i'm rob matheson in doha the top stories on the u.s. health experts are warning of dark times ahead in the fight against covert 19 the country's already reported its deadliest week since april and there are fears the worst is yet to come as people get together during the upcoming holiday season and what we have now is a challenge ahead of us of the bleak months of december in january where we have a baseline of inspections that literally is breaking records every day with regards to number of infections number of hospitalizations and numbers of deaths the

numbers are really stunning we can do something about it but that's something right now is public health measures rob reynolds is in los angeles and says authorities there are relying on people to act more responsibly to curb the surge in infections . it's a very wide ranging set of. restrictions which has certainly gotten plenty of pushback from business owners even from law enforcement officials and this is coming on top you know of many many months of restrictions and and warnings from public health officials and politicians and people are very weary there is a pandemic fatigue that is very pronounced in california and across the united states and this of course for those business owners is the time of year when they make their money this is not a kind of situation where police or sheriff's deputies are going to go door to door

and check to see if you're having a party or something like that they are relying on people to act responsibly to wear masks to socially isolate wash their hands all of those sorts of things. but law enforcement officials for example the sheriffs of several counties in the state of california said they're not going to enforce the law they call the governor a hypocrite because he dined out without a mask with a party in november and now he's closing down the restaurants and so on so it's a really excellent question as to how people are going to respond will they obey these rules or will they flout these rules nobody really knows the answer at this point but i got to say that based on past experience especially with these holidays like thanksgiving holiday in november people have not really complied with the rules so there could be really tough times ahead when the u.k. is gearing up for a massacre on

a virus vaccination program set to begin in the coming hours the 1st doses of the pfizer bio insect vaccine will be given in england wales and scotland the priority will go to the elderly and care home workers health teams won the rollouts will be a marathon not a sprint. but it's prime minister abbas johnston said to travel to brussels this week in a bid to work out a last minute post brags that deal both the u.k. and the e.u. have called on their chief negotiators to prepare an overview of the remaining differences united states the european union and a number of latin american countries say they won't recognize the results of venezuela's parliamentary election of president nicolas maduro won the poll which the opposition boycotted and their leader has rejected the results and has launched a referendum to counter the vote. the important thing for venezuelans is not to be apathetic about the situation on the contrary it's participation protest and

demonstration the response the slap in the face that you want to give me to the dictatorship to poverty to dignity is in the streets and it's on december 12th the organized and mobilized are angry exchanges are taking place in the congolese parliament. there's frustration over president feelings just ok these planned to form a new government without the majority party which is made up of allies of former president joseph kabila and holds most cabinet posts. the world's largest music recording company universal has acquired bob dylan's entire back catalogue of more than 600 songs his body of work spanned 6 decades he sold more than 125000000 records globally coming up next it's rewind.

hello and welcome to rewind i'm richelle carey and the decade since we launched al-jazeera english back in 2006 and built a library of moving and powerful documentaries here army wine revisiting some of the best of them and looking at how the story has new dawn today we are rewinding 10 years to 2008 and rug omar set out on a unique journey across the united states to get to the heart of what it meant to be muslim in america and that was back in the decade of $911.00 and the iraq war

that followed since then of course the world has turned with the rise of isis the political upheavals that followed the arab spring the chaos that is and go 1st libya then syria and of course the election of donald trump and his travel ban so today it's more important than ever to understand the history of a vibrant diverse and still growing muslim community and what it means to be both muslim and a patriot here's islam in america from 2008. well i would take your brother i think that. would. have.

you. mention america and islam and most people think of irreconcilable conflict but i suspect that's not the whole story in this 2 part series i hope to discover the truth relationship that's evolving between the 2. there is said to be 8000000 muslims in the united states and the faith is said to be the fastest growing religion in this country and the roots and history of islam a longer than most people are aware of i want to travel across this huge country to find out the stories of what it's like to be an american muslim. in this program all the searching for the origins of islam in america talking to african-americans who just discovering that own islamic history and exploring is being american fits comfortably with being muslim. my journey begins with

a trip to minneapolis in the midwest it may seem an old destination for a program on islam because its citizens are mostly jewish and christian but in 2007 voters here elected america's 1st muslim congressman keith ellison. keith back on the campaign trail on a most significant anniversary today is juneteenth it commemorates june 19th 865. the abolition of slavery these are local political activists and they're coming on the parade to get people in this community fired up about voting and at the halls of their efforts a young muslims playing their part trying to get congressman keith ellison the 1st muslim in congress reelected. oh good spirit nice to see you keith ellison is a charismatic politician who's keen to get young muslim started in politics well you know we're just having fun out here you know keith introduces me to his intent

. would you say just sort of young muslims living in other parts of the world think being a muslim in america is a very tough thing and such are i mean there's advantages there's disadvantages we definitely have a lot more opportunity is that it's kind of difficult going up any different especially where i'm from it's a stance and the only muslim in my school the only muslim in my high school so that's definitely a challenge but once you get past that you know you can there's so many different avenues so many different opportunities for you to connect with and what it's like to be able to come into the united states get challenging and rewarding on the same time but i think the most important thing to remember that you only you know what we can make you know if we want and i encourage all muslims around the world to actually do the same you know please get to know you elected officials will get all that's the only way you can make a difference. and it's going to get. you

guys do it that we don't see you know this is when the slaves got free right this is a great example of the american author of glad handing it's the way to the electoral heart of the nation how candidates meet their votes is and has paid off for keefe here in minneapolis and it's worked elsewhere now americans have elected to muslims to congress. all of these been considered historically been on the margins of american society now come in you know when there's enough for. everybody right now . for those muslims around the world in western countries who have no idea about the community here how would you say life is for muslims in america at the moment oh yes american life you don't hear about people getting hassled in airports you know there's a long way to go obsolete because impression i mean come from britain in terms of sheer muslims is a base level is hiding under there. that's broadly speaking that muslim living is really the beast not only did i not only did i just get elected by an

overwhelmingly jewish christian community so did andre carson who's a muslim here in indiana so people need to not look for excuses to disengage you have to get involved you have to run the risk that you can encounter bumps in a long way but you still have to seen and heard yeah. good and certainly keith needed the votes of christians and jews to get elected but there's a community of 44000 somali muslims here the biggest in america they even have their own t.v. network and they behind. the somali t.v. of minnesota and we're so glad to have you today. ok ready let's focus to our muslim. countries i think muslims in european countries. believe that you know they join the greatest freedoms in the muslim communities in the west a thriving most of all in europe and when they think about the position of

muslims in america to be honest with you i think they think that the numbers are tiny before i caught the plane here actually i was with my mom and i said oh you as we send someone. how many muslims do you think they're on in the whole of the united states and she said 100150000 you know the whole united states in the whole united states but i mean as i understand there is anywhere between $5.80. i mean when you think about america as a land of opportunity and sort of seizing things with both hands maybe the sort of you know the next right you know miles if i could be so arrogant as to say that will come from here it is you. i have distant relatives in the somali community here they're among the 1st to escape the civil war that's been raging in my homeland off and on for decades 20 years on and the new wave of refugees has arrived from somalia some of just

graduated college and throwing a party to celebrate their achievements we came here to take advantage of the opportunities here at the same time to keep our identity as muslims we're all going through the same experiences let's not forget our identity and let's give back to the community. i'm a very blast person because. i get a little bit emotional. we've been given so much you know we've learnt so much. well you read the news it's happening at home i have nothing to complain about. after that we need some laughs so i went to welcome i am doing. thank you very much but the problem is that it is beginning to close me so mother i get better than me . luckily he's a big shot making one me about a year who knows that i don't know how you do among the run up to me you know was

at the height. of the. my adopted home england has a bigger somali community the minneapolis and it's been settled for longer but they do tend to think of england as home my parents a typical their mental bags are still packed to return to somalia but that's not true here these somalis are no less scarred all traumatized by their experiences of planted roots deeper and faster than any somali community i've seen in the world they don't talk of returning home they are growing up my school that's got it i want to. tell you something oh it's a message that came across loud and clear and i was still hearing it in the taxi to the airport with it so hello you lived up to 13 years 13 years yeah and you came

from some honest somalia yeah. yeah i was born there haven't been there for a long time there was a lot of problem last 1517 years. in england we somalis you know we're not that organized you know here in america you don't organize if you don't vote if you don't disobey the american way of living you lost. you know but that's the way to be visible that's the way to get heard yes can you be muslim and american up to yes do you have to sacrifice one to be the other. to be america 1st and you have to do what other americans decent fison alive to defending america because this is our country this is feel that you know you don't think about. my life defending this country. i get the welcoming i get. that's a powerful statement compared to where i come from how we were how i was you know

slaughter a friend of mine who died the war where we come where i come from coming here. you know having what i have. is home. minnesota is a liberal state in the democratic heartland of the midwest a welcoming place for the somalis the latest black immigrants to establish themselves in america but in the early years of its history america was the very opposite of welcoming for the 1st africans to reach these shores. for 300 years africans were brought here in chains a slave labor i'm heading to jackson mississippi in the deep south to meet some of the descendants of those 1st african-americans because it seems that their history lines at the heart of the story of islam in america.

this impressive looking building is actually the state capital of mississippi and i'll be honest i've come with my own really strong preconceptions about the south for me it's about being in the hearts of the bible belt it's about prejudice and the history of segregation but actually being told that the story of islam in america begins of all places here centuries before. and it's a story that begins with slavery. it's. starts here because most of the slaves shipped from africa came to work the plantations of the south among them when muslims. forbid him from practicing their faith they found secret ways to keep islam alive calling the faithful to pray here in mississippi is abdul rashid he believes that one way they achieve this was through.

the africans brought them there was a key here. people say blues came from mississippi i don't think so i've been hearing about the link between the call to prayer and the songs that slayings used to sing in the fields how they similar the call to prayer a lot. if you ever went to a baptist church then you can hear this in a baptist church all of the baptists especially the southern baptists. with a capella. singing the whole congregation to sing you know. i love. yours and they called the entire koran was basically chanted yes as you know and it was

chanted basically and that minor scale you see that connection to you and your singing things that had deeply embedded within the sort of african american experience in the blues not only that but that was one of the things that. guided me to islam yes the music and when you started reading when i was introduced to the koran and that was he founded there as well founded well. so i think for my opinion this is just what i opened it with my opinion on a dollar and something you get a cup of coffee maker but this is my opinion that this entire movement is a spiritual movement and is geared toward islam. like abdul more and more people of all ethnicities are finding their way to islam a 3rd of all muslims in america about 2000000 converts the people at the mosque in jackson convinced that this is having a positive impact on the entire nation o'connor was she'd is one of the founding

members here today have you heard so much about it yet. and we're just happy to have a caller who is involved in a new research project with 25 other historians they believe their discoveries will not only rewrite the history of islam in america but transform our understanding of african cultures i think we're leading the way actually. as part of this initiative a co-founded the international museum of muslim cultures the 1st in america research it suggests the number of muslim slaves was much greater than previously thought one 3rd of all of them slave to africans that were brought to america actually were muslims nobody knows this is new cutting edge information because when we read our history books we don't see that we have one of the great stories here in mississippi in a place called natchez mississippi we have the story of our prince abdul-rahman

ybor he he was an african muslim prince and scholar came out of the area around gambia and he was actually slave to matches for over 40 years and we have that story but but you're a combination of all these things that's unique here to the to the deep south on she i mean africa american and muslim and why. why is that why is it important to stress i mean in this exhibit in your work this missing link of islam in this in this makes the most important reason is that it's going to help the african-american to become a 1st class citizen am opposed to a 2nd class citizen and this whole standing up for rights fight for freedom leaving the whole effort in america for reforming america and bringing america to respect its own constitution all blending is really was that's what makes me optimistic

about the future. this corner of the exhibition is really interesting because you've goals real evidence of this link between islam and slavery in mississippi and it brought him of the man who was known as the prince among slaves who was sold into slavery for 40 years before winning his freedom and going to live as a free man in liberia and i understand that there are his descendants still living in the united states and i'm going to try and find them. i now see that what's up the heart of the story of islam in america is the story of slavery and on this issue america was divided as early as the 17th seventy's some americans were calling for the abolition of slavery one of these thomas jefferson proposed forming

a colony in africa to take freed slaves but it wasn't until 863 after the civil war that slavery was finally abolished with it came the economic collapse of the southern states which depended on slaves the big plantations fell to ruin and 2000000 freed slaves headed for the northern cities. for those who stayed behind life remained brutal well into the 20th century lynching and murder where every day facts of life african-americans across the south. african americans have been telling me that here in mississippi a place i've always associated with prejudice they can now be muslim without prejudice and that this is an essential part of being a muslim in america the fight against prejudice and the struggle to be free and it was in pursuit of this struggle that in the early part of the 20th century millions of african-americans abandoned the south and they headed north which is where i'm going next.

i'm catching the night train to chicago following in the footsteps of millions of freed slaves to the city by the promise of jobs in the factories and stockyards. with the hope of living a life free from prejudice but they did have another option to sail from liberia the colony america established for free to slaves in africa. it was a stark choice scratchie living in america's ghettos will build a nation from scratch the muslim prince ibrahim of mississippi that a college told me about was among the 1st to sail from liberia where he dreamt of establishing islam but the early settlers encountered little bit disease and hardship and prince ibrahim barely saw the completion of the 1st settlement before

he died. martin liberia has suffered a succession of civil wars and feeling the last of these was abraham's great great great great grandson who's turned this story on its head he fled wall to liberia to find freedom in america his name is optimist. he asked i want to say i want to start in liberia i came to this country and it was just a shift as an honest and in my own country's history that i spent hours in the library just trying to find out the history of the mississippi. and then i define oh yes there was a ship there was a ship manifesto and a longer ship me form of great me his name was like money ibrahim sorry he was one of the sons of. remodel or was and was a prince but also clearly by his name a muslim a muslim was very important to realize that. son's. medicine and that for me

was like winning the lottery all mazing. in reverse to come from africa. from africa. refuge in a chicago us place into lead to a place for me is for me in above all it has one of the largest collection of books in africa one norway in africa it's right here in chicago how importance was that up to you relative was a muslim this country has to understand its roots especially when it comes to african-american is an islamic groups african-american show not seen as just a religion it is a heritage and a good thing about it people respect each other here you know in the midst of all of this is diversity so that's something that you got what has that. chills what it means when people in. all march.

artemus has a good point chicago is culturally very diverse and it has a large muslim community big enough to justify this celebration of arab culture it's the 2nd year running the city is celebrating its links with the middle east for those for whom the slaves who fled the south a little over 100 years ago the transformation of this city so would be unbelievable. african-americans came to chicago as parts of one of the largest human migrations of the 20th century they were leaving the segregated and racist south in search of a new life in what many hoped would be a promised land and it was out of this experience that was born the 1st american muslim movements and it was known as the nation of islam. in the 1930 s. a radical idea began to spread through the cities of america the idea that white people were irredeemably evil from the coolness stone of the nation of islam. these theology combined islam and black nationalism the nation's message appeal to

african-americans who fled the bigotry of the south but the 1950 s. the nation had around 100000 members led by in large. part. by. the what gave the nation some credibility were high profile members including the boxer caches clay who took the name. and the radical charismatic activist malcolm x. in the present situation don't know the political power they don't know that they can put the men in the white house so they can take the man out of the white but in 1965 after leaving the movement malcolm x. was assassinated defection sold enough to a larger mamma died most of the membership converted to mainstream islam. i'm on a bit of a pilgrimage south of chicago to meet a man who's had

a profound effect on the story of islam in america he's the son of elijah muhammad but he led the largest single conversion to mainstream islam that america has ever seen. to in kolkata culture of knowledge openness and pluralism worldwide and to reward merit and excellence and encourage creativity to shake him out award for translation and international understanding was founded to promote translation and on a translators and acknowledged their role in strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation between arab islamic and world cultures. what is that they've been doing with the money that it's born we bring in the stories and developments that are rapidly changing the world we live in argentina's congress is the. basically a bill seeking to raise billions of dollars for the super rich poor families hit

hard by the damage counting on al-jazeera. madison and doha the top stories on u.s. health experts are warning of dark times ahead in the fight against covert 19 countries already reported its deadliest week since april and there are fears the worst is yet to come as people gather up jury in the upcoming holiday season in what we have now is a challenge ahead of most of the bleak months of december in january where we have a baseline of inspections that literally is breaking records every day with regards to number of infections number of hospitalizations and numbers of deaths the

numbers are really stunning we can do something about it but that's something right now is public health measure in the u.k. is gearing up for a mass coronavirus vaccination program set to begin in the coming hours the 1st doses of the pfizer biotech vaccine will be given in england wales and scotland the priority will go to the elderly and care home workers health chiefs warn the rollout will be a marathon not a sprint but it's prime minister abbas johnson said to travel to brussels this week in a bid to work out a possible last minute post bragg's that deal both the u.k. and the e.u. have called on their chief negotiators to prepare an overview of the remaining differences. united states the european union and a number of latin american countries say they won't recognize the results of venezuela's parliamentary election allies of president nicolas maduro won the poll which the opposition boycotted and their leader has rejected the results and has

lost a referendum to come to the vote. the important thing for venezuelans is not to be apathetic about the situation on the contrary it's participation protest and demonstration the response the slap in the face that you want to give maturer to the dictatorship to poverty to dignity is in the streets and it's on december 12th he organized and mobilized. the world's largest music recording company universal has acquired bob dylan's entire back catalog of more than 600 songs. in the u.s. singer songwriter is a winner of the nobel prize for literature he's sold more than 125000000 records globally those are the headlines coming up next on al-jazeera it's rewinds by. the mom wallerstein mohammed lives modestly here in chicago he became the head of

the nation of islam when his father in law jim hammer died in 1975 wallenstein persuaded most of the nation to adopt mainstream islam and he changed the nation's name to the world community of islam in the west there were some very startling ideas. here and tell us about some of the it was a myth to destroy we had a myth of the origins of the white race as grafted there was a black man you know as man and the black and black people were gods and the whites were devils and exactly. exactly but what made you break with the nation of islam that it didn't it didn't take nothing but a child's brain for me to do that i was about 11 or 12 when i was that that was wrong then you became a sunni muslim well i don't make a big deal about sunni and shia you know when i became a mainstream muslim you became a mainstream muslim and really the importance of it how it would

affect not only muslims but christians su. was not realized ballasts in 1905 in what way was it important turning that means alas the nationalists movement as extreme as ours believing what we believe in the race issue could make a 180 degree turn and join the muslims of the world good christians and of the good people of this earth is amazing but when you look from the middle east to europe thinking of america as a bad place to be a muslim it's like living in the belly of the beast i have heard that how would you say that life is like for people well we know things that happened to make america peer ugly in the eyes of citizens of this country and that is a world that if we can see america the beautiful that has advanced against

america the ugly successfully. then i'm sure that we would recognize that america is the most fertile soil we have for x. davening our religion and our future for our children grandchildren and children to come and then my journey across america if i want to find america the beautiful. where will i find that certain kind of things should i look for the concept of citizenry how citizenry is that race. in the constitution the united states based upon the equality of man and i feel very strongly that the founding fathers envisioned. a world that would welcome muslims and others from across the waters not only christians. there seems to be an incredible transformation in only 30 years ago chicago was the most racially divided city in america it had a white supremacist movement and

a black separatist movement it saw some of the worst racial violence in the entire country i'm amazed what i'm hearing from people like optimists and wallerstein and it seems chicago is becoming much more at ease with its own diverse population its a rich city where life is improving on many fronts better public education karma race relations and overall the crime statistics show a big improvement. but there is still a dark side to the city because even though the city has cracked down and arrested gang leaders gang violence is getting worse i've been here for 3 days and 9 people have been killed in gang warfare.

islam has made huge gains in chicago which is home to the largest number of african-american muslims in the u.s. 30 years ago they had only one mosque today they have more than 40 to choose from now islam has a new battle to win trying to loosen the hold the gangs have on chicago's south side. i'm heading to the south side to visit the city's 1st halfway house for muslim x. prisoners its aim is to provide an alternative to life in the gangs the man who runs this project has served 12 years for murder like many x. offenders he converted to islam in prison his name is. rafi peterson. we used to go in the cook county jail division 11 which is in the like maximum security and then . we sing so many brothers we did there for like 6 years and then we seen so many brothers coming home and go right back right we realize that we needed so attention

to food and most being must have been very high and for a lot of we've known as if you come back and you've got to make money you've got to make ends meet not only that remember a lot of brothers that convert to islam and institutions. they would rather than the institutions so we know that you have to have an environment for the brothers to get a foothold when they get out and so we want to national housing service to look my . gosh and how is this. can we get one right and he said i know a good you can have what we have and a lot of problems with you know we can we do a little bad way when you 1st saw this was goofy everywhere and here this is again the gang how it was boarded up you know and neighbors and stuff with afraid to say anything but what are you to call the police on these guys the neighborhood is feeling the benefits of this project but that's no rule it's having a positive impact on new still in prison. haven't you noticed more more i mean

african-americans coming to islam i mean especially in in prison. they already have it in the south they need somebody to bring it out. so fast they see it and they might see over night that you know. this half way house is a calm sensor in a neighborhood torn up by gun violence and rafi is not content to let murder and mayhem thrive on his doorstep. right here in the sound guy with the little guy. you're going to drop a brother right here and they shot him in the. this is a very you have the. book in fast and they're. up this street here. chasing 88000 young people between the ages of 8 to 25 in this general area that we live near weslaco. some teasing them down the street i want to go down

this path for you to come in the car this morning his own sound if you look down the street to street look like a ghost see all the policy the same thing down this way. having a drug infested also. known him since you don't want to take you up 16th street when you're living right now also so you know a lot of people they you know they know a lot of the brothers and even a lot of the brothers in the tribes they don't like what i'm doing but they know that i got to do. weeks ago they killed the brother that i get the best the store that they broke in on the corner they shot that place up the one thing that they did when they locked up all the real gang chiefs in chicago they destabilize all of the gangs now there's no one individual you can come to but you used to back in the day as a man he got control of the whole you know there's a madness of i mean they got to do what they got to do this and bottom. not you

know could i understand what that my thing is if you want to turn people away you got to turn into a song. and of course what rafi is trying to time this neighborhood towards is islam. what do you think rafi here in chicago what do you think islam is place in america i mean is it a growing one as you go to a healthy future or not i think that islam can be the cure to america ills if it's openly aseptic islamic cannot down barriers because we as muslim we spoke to be the best for humanity and i think islam in america has the opportunity to really teach and show that that's what we are and that we can be. i have to admit i've come to america with my own prejudices and misconceptions i thought that being muslim in america was a story of widespread fear discrimination and stereotyping but in the short time i've been here what i'm hearing from muslims is about opportunity constitutional

rights and due process about having a stake in this country and being made to feel that they belong and as i travel across america what i want to find out is whether these ideas define not only what it means to be a muslim in america what it actually means to be an american muslim. and i'm getting the message that a great deal of what it means to be an american muslim is understanding your constitutional rights and how you go about being a good citizen and it's in washington the nation's capital where i'm hoping to learn about citizenship the law of the land and the influence of islam in fact in something that would come as a huge surprise to most of us amongst the founding fathers one of the greatest thomas jefferson had his own koran in full of knowledge and of islam's contribution

to world civilization and one of the most famous monuments in the american capital over there is dedicated to him. a big part of the legacy of thomas jefferson in the founding fathers is freedom of expression it means a lot to americans including american muslims one of the most radical ways you can indulge this freedom is on stage through comedy. i mean washington d.c. about to get a lesson in free speech at a comedy club show you a routine nicholas berg's generation pakistani muslim woman she just won naked like one whose mom in america nicholas won a national talent competition and became an overnight star my parents lied when they came to this country they told everyone they were pakistani muslim immigrants so that i wouldn't have to grow up with the stigma of being known as hawaiian. i. think this is my mom that one nation of easter to me and my sister's 2 story. oh

east. this christ will come back from the dead. and he will give all of the good days in the night. but you know i mean. i make stitch. on the east the jesus christ will come out of the gate. and if he does not see his shadow. it will be 6 more weeks of chile i. think that you're going to distribute. this in the. end there's always a mixed bag of reaction and i mean there are some that really feel as though it is

imminent you know there are those you know and there are others who just sort of take it in stride and what do you think i mean when you when you say you but you know your heritage in some ways comedy is a way to disown people up down. a little easier for people to handle some of the muslim terrorist take the jokes when you're made you know like 6 i need to see you know i get totally different then you know a guy with a big beard in appears to look at a woman is it made sort of all the comics suddenly jump in there as well one thing to sort of talk about iraq you know yeah i was next as a whole tend to be a little more political and. and you have jumped into the mix in terms of taking liberties with making fun. of me a stomach religion a little bit more than in the past opening up the conversation putting a stereotype on the table that was

a mess and so way to break it down for you. i mean i do 3rd of the federal typing and tell a cab driver job like that and and my mom calling in the head you should get people about the contribution that american muslims have made to god to me we have the most educated we have the high class be both really good. parts of ruby's act is offending people and she's very good as it is she wants to say that jesus gives chocolate to children she can but the principles that underpin this freedom go way beyond providing material for comedians they provide the basis for the nor of this land and guarantee freedoms than a carved in stone. congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press all the rights of people to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for

a redress of grievances when people talk about the fundamental freedoms in shrines in the american constitution this is what they're talking about the 1st amendment and it's the reason why so many american muslims have been talking to me about the american constitution because it is they are free to practice their religion as muslims and they are free to speak their mind unlike so many muslims in muslim countries around the world and if anybody tries to oppress them in this country they can seek justice from the american government the fundamental freedoms guaranteed under islamic law and not far from these american ideals and that's amazing when you realize the koran predates the constitution by a 1000 years and there is evidence in washington that suggests america knows it's indebted to islam for its own citizens inalienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. this is the supreme court in washington now we can't get into film because they're actually in session but what i wanted to show you is

a free means which is in the room where the chief justice is actually sits and dispense justice. this frees pays homage to the ideas and principles that have inspired the american legal system and one of the foundation documents represented in this freeze is the koran. and in the nation's capital there are a few other references to islam largely unknown rarely seen the thomas jefferson building contains the library of congress the oldest cultural institution in washington which was completed in the 19th century around the dome of the reading room is a mural meant to represent the nations and ideas that contributed most to american civilization and it might come as a surprise. historian's that amongst the ideas represented here is islam. beneath this great meeting congressman keith ellison who i came across at the start of my journey in minneapolis. so he tell me about when you took your oath of office

because it was a copy of the koran and not just any copy but that was on this qur'an that we have right here before us and you know in fact this on which is a 2 volume set has the initials t.j. inscribed right here thomas jefferson and so you know we said this was your reaction when you found of the one of the founding fathers had his own copy of the koran i was gobsmacked. as we. head it was international. i didn't have much appreciation for why it would be a big deal that a muslim of the elect of the united states congress i thought the issue was going to be color. and i thought wow we've really made some great strides in terms of racial justice when people don't care that i'm black anymore they're just they're just exudes or dark about religion but do you think keith that for all the grassroots activism in the muslim community that at a national level the fact is that most americans are still afraid of islam

americans i think are subject to fear just like any people in the world but i think this is deeply rooted tolerance in people and we've been to a moment a civil rights movement we've been through all kinds of social change movements all marching the country toward a greater level of equality and i think people are just not ready to try to cut anybody out of the deal but the fact is in the european context it's what it means to be a brit or a norwegians fairly tightly defined they would look like in what it means to be. years and years and colors certain cultures certain faith yes but in america cultures all colors our face even the most conservative american does not question my authenticity as an american you know we oppose social orthodox i mean hierarchies and economic iraqis we're not saying we have social justice have been here we don't but but the fact is we don't question our authenticity as americans. on this journey i've met muslims who've made me rethink my prejudices about america

muslims here realize something the rest of the world and possibly other americans have forgotten this country was born out of a revolutionary moment settlers 1st came here fleeing religious persecution they overthrew a colonial monarchy they based their constitution on the ideals of the french revolution and radical thinkers like tom paine john locke and yes the prophet mohammed. but there's a much more recent moment in american history that has come to define america's relationship with islam. a. look out of the oh oh oh.

oh oh oh oh oh. oh oh thinking about america's relationship with islam like everybody else i'm joined immediately it's a one city in one moment and the events of september the 11th 2001 in new york city changed that relationship between america and islam forever. and it must also have had an impact on american muslims for mohamed was with the new york city fire department on 911 will muslims like me then you know who died and some that died definitely muslims died there you know trying to help. james he was the army's muslim chaplain at guantanamo prison. i was being accused of espionage spying and aiding the enemy now these are capital crimes in which military prosecutors even threaten me with the death penalty.

they're a distinctly american from of islam is emerging in the off the mouth of 911 arabic scholar believes something unique is happening here the voice of the muslim woman has not been heard throughout the 1400 years of islamic history now we need to hear from the women and it's only when you live in america that you are empowered to go forward with your ideas. islamic america from 2008 as we know a lot has happened says globally with the rise of by. and in america itself where terrorism has returned to american soil and president trump has introduced a travel ban which seems to many to target muslims so 10 years on what is the position of islam in america realises the political analyst who lives and works in the united states and she joins us now rula thank you very much so you moved to the

u.s. in 2009 during that time what as a muslim what have you seen that has changed for muslims in america and i realize it's a broad question that one of the things that stick out to you well out of things changed we see a major shifts in islamophobia and attacks against muslims in 20152016 it's not a coincidence that the f.b.i. report about hate crimes islam will fulbeck hate crimes in america skyrocketed in those years by far much more than in 2001 after 911 i just want to remind you that immediately after the election president trump banned 6 countries 6 muslim countries and it looked like a persecution religious based persecution of one group based on the actions of individuals that are carried in pakistan maybe afghanistan iraq and elsewhere he

went on * to attack in the 1st muslim mayor subject immediately in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in london singling him out he didn't attack the mayor of barcelona after the attack or the mayor of any other city but he single out said the economy because it is muslim and his brown this is the platform. on which he campaigned and his governing now so where are the voices of people that would traditionally be allies to push back against this type of dangerous rhetoric that sometimes also crosses over into violence where are those voices. i mean there are breyer voices we have some. muslim voices in america whether they are intellectuals like razor. and others but 3 they way are in minority we are underrepresented in the political arena and in the media i mean i am the only one that gets invited invited to c.n.n. and i'm b.c.m.

to others to explain why this rhetoric is so dangerous and it was it was used before remember europe in the thirty's when you go through the holocaust museum it's clear if thouse you and it's written in the wall the holocaust did not start with the killing it started with words with violent words it started with politicians dividing people with them versus us it started with them and ising an entire group of people and criminalizing them and then that pave the way for the killing and for the gas gas chambers remember president bush after 911 pushed this narrative of them versus us either you are with us or them that means if you challenge his views or his policies and decision then you are a terrorist and your label as a terrorist and many liberals jumped on that vaga. a just want to remind you that president obama and he was elected the 1st accusation the burger movement that led

and paved the way for trump to win the election what was he accused off of being a secret muslim that he is a corrupt a muslim and america is fighting a monster today that is called the country off white supremacy is basically the pure race and in the name of the pure race every minority is an enemy and that will be the final word rula jebreal thank you so much for joining us thank you for having me. that is it from us join us again next week and do check the rewind page it's al jazeera dot com for more films from this series and michelle carey thank you for joining us so you can say. true confession someone will never be clean after meeting or a cynical example of communist propaganda and i want to play at the pace here want

to warfare now i want to do it. in 2010 al-jazeera access to north korea to investigate the alleged use of biological warfare by the u.s. during the korean war rewind revisits dirty little secrets on al-jazeera. the nor'easter is gone but the cold is still there that is the response where asses and see way and then there's a massive amount of cloud disappearing off the east coast this won't make it into

a nor'easter but the cold air is tucked in behind it look at these high temperatures 9 degrees in atlanta only 15 new orleans for example where there is quiet we've got a fog warning still around the northwest and to some degree in the upper midwest as well as quite cold air and that red flag warning means windy weather not just in southern california california is dry and breezy now with that risk still with you and an interesting change in the weather type on all the eastern side stays cold temps is actually starting to rise may not be obvious yet but it will be i think of the next few days cold reste on the mountain west shouldn't really be the case this time of the year but some you get to wednesday casper wyoming is it 10 degrees in atlanta 13 yaf is one hint of that change in pattern now as a cold front drugs is tailend through cuba and answer honduras will be significant showers set up following that the tensions i think will they look at will feel on

the low side in for example cancun and have ana and rain again will be heavy in costa rica and panama. a warning of dark times ahead as the u.s. struggles to stop the spread of covert 19 and records its deadliest week in 6 months. imo mathison this is all to see a live from doha also coming up new zealand releases a report on the 2900 christchurch mosque attacks recommending stronger anti terrorism and hate crime laws. still at odds over a crucial break that trade deal another round of talks between the e.u. and u.k. fails to.