By Phyllis Chesler

The New York Times does not tell us whether Tareq Mehanna, the 27 year old Massachusetts pharmacist who was just arrested on federal terrorism charges is, or even might be a Muslim. In their pages, telling this particular truth is still verboten, politically incorrect, rude, racist, a cheap shot, even “Islamophobic.”

Look: Mehanna might have traveled to Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen (which he did) because, as a relatively young man, he just wanted to sow his wild oats. No matter that Mehanna and his “associates,” including one Ahmad Abousamra who subsequently fled to Syria, had traveled together “seeking training from terrorist groups to fight against American soldiers.” No matter that Mehanna had tried to buy a gun from one Daniel Maldonado who is “currently serving a 10 year prison sentence for training with Al Qaeda in Somalia.” Continue reading…