THIRD PARTY SCREENING: American Muslim: Freedom, Faith and Fear

ORGANISED BY BBC PERSIAN

THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Ten years after 9/11 and a year before what are likely to prove deeply divisive Presidential elections, BBC Global News sent a combined team from BBC Persian and BBC Arabic TV on an epic road trip across the USA to find out what it is like to be a Muslim in America today. America’s complicated relationship with Islam is examined through the eyes of two reporters – Karen Zarindast who grew up in Iran and Samir Farah who grew up in Lebanon. 

In a country where Freedom of Worship is guaranteed by the Constitution, the team travelled from New York to Texas to California and points in between. They met American Muslims from all walks of life: from a High class fashion designer in Manhattan, to a Muslim rapper in California, from a Pakistani born Texan "cowboy" to the Imam of the country’s largest mosque in the city of Dearborn — serving a Muslim population of some 30,000.

To a man and woman, all were grateful for the opportunities and freedoms provided by the USA and many were intensely patriotic. Yet set against a backdrop of politically motivated Islamophobia, stoked by some partisan media outlets, many in the American Muslim community now feel under more scrutiny than ever before: they are constantly having to justify their faith and prove their loyalty to their homeland."