Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Religion of peace? I'm not so sure
New York Daily News ^ | August 8, 2004 | Zev Chafets

Posted on 08/08/2004 3:46:54 AM PDT by sarcasm

The two men arrested in Albany for allegedly taking part in a terrorist plot were men of God. So friends and neighbors have been telling reporters. Mohammed Mosharref Hossain was a pillar of the local congregation. Yassin Muhiddin Aref was a prayer leader. They called their mosque the House of Peace.

The mosque belongs to the North American Islamic Trust, which runs many other mosques in the U.S. The trust is funded mostly by the Saudis. It has other enterprises, too, including a book club. One of its featured offerings is "Jihad: A Commitment to World Peace."

Or if you are not a reader, you can express commitment to jihad in action. Like the Albany warriors who, the government charges, signed up to help gun down a senior Pakistani diplomat on the streets of New York City, using a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile.

The upstate jihadis are not unique. On the contrary, they are just the latest in a long and growing list of local Islamic "spiritual leaders" and national Muslim leaders who have been implicated in terrorist activity.

Take Abdurahman Alamoudi, for example, founder of the American Muslim Council (hailed in 2002 by FBI chief Robert Mueller as "the most mainstream Muslim group" in the U.S.).

Alamoudi faces up to 23 years in prison for "engaging in illegal business deals" with Libya. What kind of deals? According to court documents, he was part of a plot to murder the Saudi crown prince.

Then there are the three leaders of America's largest Muslim charity, the Holy Land Foundation. They are awaiting trial in Dallas on a 42-count federal indictment for funneling millions of dollars to Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East.

The head of another major Islamic charity, Benevolence International Foundation of Illinois, was recently convicted of sending funds to Islamic terrorist groups in Bosnia and Chechnya. And so on and so forth.

At this point, I'm supposed to add The Caveat: Most American Muslims are peaceable, law-abiding, terror-hating folks. Islam itself is a "religion of peace."

Sorry, but I'm no longer convinced. It may be that Islam in its true form is as gentle as a lamb. But in the real world, it is an aggressive, violent political ideology. It may also be that a majority of U.S. Muslims object to the jihad being waged against infidel Christians, Jews, Hindus, atheists, agnostics and democrats of all denominations. But if so, they are keeping it to themselves.

After Abdurahman Alamoudi's confession of guilt, his lawyer, Stanley Cohen, warned that "there are those people who will seek to manipulate this plea into an attack on the entire Muslim community."

The Muslim establishment in America uses this form of intellectual jujitsu every time one of its leaders gets caught conducting holy war. Mosques and Muslim schools and institutions are hotbeds of agitation and terrorism? Why, just making the charge is a hate crime.

This trick has worked amazingly well on Americans who pride themselves on pluralism and good manners. For years, it kept the feds away from mosques and the politicians insisting against all evidence that Islam is nothing more than another path to the God of Us All.

But almost three years after 9/11, this hocus pocus is losing its potency. "There are terrorists among us," Gov. Pataki said after the Albany jihadis were arrested. He didn't specify because he didn't need to.

If America's Muslims don't want to be identified with America's enemies, they are going to need new leaders and loud voices. Slapping the word "peace" over the door of the mosque just isn't going to do it anymore.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: albany; albanymosque; cohen; islam; jihadinamerica; mohammedhossain; nlg; stanleycohen

1 posted on 08/08/2004 3:46:54 AM PDT by sarcasm
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: sarcasm

Zev Chafets ....

For some real inner city fun get hold of "Devil's Night" by him. Fuuny as heck! His name is spelled dif ways so be careful.


Devil's Night: And Other True Tales of Detroit

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0394585259/103-0033841-5315852?v=glance


2 posted on 08/08/2004 4:05:34 AM PDT by dennisw (Once is Happenstance. Twice is Coincidence. The third time is Enemy action. - Ian Fleming)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sarcasm

bttt


3 posted on 08/08/2004 4:19:00 AM PDT by twntaipan (demonRATs ARE the friends of our enemies, which makes demonRATs our... (finish the sentence).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dennisw

Muslims.

Fight them now or fight them later but fight them you will.


4 posted on 08/08/2004 4:36:14 AM PDT by TalBlack
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: sarcasm

The Islamists, along with the illegals, are channeling billions out of our economy.


5 posted on 08/08/2004 4:41:00 AM PDT by tkathy (The choice is clear. Big tent or no tent.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sarcasm

Good article!

Thank you for posting it!


6 posted on 08/08/2004 6:51:58 AM PDT by tiamat ("Just a Bronze-Age Gal, Trapped in a Techno-World!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sarcasm

To Islam, the definition of 'peace' = "the result of applying Islamic law". Every Muslim knows this, but the press won't tell the American people.


7 posted on 08/08/2004 8:39:43 AM PDT by aimhigh
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson