Posted on 05/13/2005 11:28:43 AM PDT by Bob J
The Free Muslims Coalition (FMC), a national Muslims organization with 13 chapters, is reminding everyone that the first ever Muslim led March Against Terror in DC is this coming Saturday.
More than 80 groups have now endorsed the March Against Terror.
This upcoming rally is historic and represents a turning point in the war on terror. The war on terror is an ideological battle and no one is better suited to fight this battle than moderate Muslims. Will you join us on May 14th?
Christians and Jews must join their fellow Muslims at the rally. We must send a clear message that American Muslims, Christians and Jews are united against terror and for freedom and democracy throughout the world.
We all have to do our part. By attending this rally, you can do your part in bringing peace and harmony to the world. Will you join us on May 14th?
Please circulate this message to as many groups and people as possible. Help us make history and join us this Saturday.
To see list of endorsers, please visit http://www.freemuslims.org/march/endorsers.php
Location of the rally: Freedom Plaza Neighborhood: Downtown Address: Pennsylvania Ave. between 13th & 14th Street, NW Metro: Federal Triangle Date & Time: Saturday, May 14th 2005 1-5 pm www.freemuslims.org 202-776-7190
As expected, nobody showed up.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=15853_Free_Muslims_Against_Terrorism
That photo can't be the real deal, can it?
Hell's bells, you could get more 'slammies than that to show up if you were offering free pantiehats!
Is that really all she wrote?
Yes. It's all she wrote.
Sometimes people take photos before the thing actually starts. ABC did that to us in New York--they took pictures a half hour before starting time.
#583 IWuvLGF 5/15/2005 09:36AM PDT
Firstly, there were NOT, by my estimation "100" Muslims there -- not even close. Aside from the speakers and a few what appeared to me to be relatives (but I could be wrong) there were virtually NO Muslims there.
Secondly, with that shot I tried to honestly capture my perception of the magnitude of the event. I have no axe to grind here -- I came hoping to find hundreds of Muslims and would have been overjoyed were that to be the case.
That shot captures the sad truth that of this moment this movement is very very small, with no visible support from the Muslim community.
I'm hopeful that will change, but please deal with the current reality as is -- yes, it's as bad as it looks.
#654 IWuvLGF 5/15/2005 05:21PM PDT
Joshua: that picture was taken at 2:15 pm. Unless there was a large influx of people afterwards (and someone present can confirm it, I'm sure) I find the claim dubious. Including media people, speakers and what appears to be relatives (possibly wives/daughters) I'd be hard-pressed to claim 150.
The bottom line is that between roughly 1:30 and 2:15 pm (and there was little to no influx during that time), in my estimation there were very few Muslims in the crowd. I don't claim perfection of judgement, merely an attempt to honestly discern.
Following up on my belated promise, here are some photos and a narrative from the Free Muslims Against Terrorism rally yesterday in DC. I also shot several videos, which I don't have the bandwidth to post, but my comrade in arms Steve Barnett has offered to host. We'll get those up later. For now, enjoy this almost unique coverage! (And welcome, Instapundit readers!)
I should note I got to the rally about 90 minutes after the scheduled start, and I see from the link above, I missed professor and MSNBC commentator Walid Phares' speech. Who knows what else I missed, so you should take my summation of the rally's success with a grain of salt. (Another note: my comments have gone screwy recently, and it's not letting anyone post - my apologies. Please e-mail me with comments and I'll try to post them when I get this fixed.)
I was a bit disappointed when I arrived, having expected to see at least a hundred people. (Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism president Kamal Nawash estimated "12-1200" attendees in his permit application, according to this Post preview story about the rally and Nawash.) My estimate is 50 were there, actually in the plaza and not sitting on the perimeter. (Again, this was 90 minutes after the scheduled start.) A few counter-activists showed up, but as far as I could tell, weren't bothering anyone...for a while (see below). Most of the attendees were white, but not by much. Nawash isn't very popular with the official Muslim leaders in the DC area, but I can't think of anyone they'd support who presses Muslims to unequivocally condemn terrorism, leaving behind the occasional rationalizations and guilt trips.
On the whole, this rally was a good start. From the folks I talked to, it sounds like there were major organizational problems that will be on everyone's mind for the next rally. The DC chapter of ProtestWarrior didn't come, the New York chapter head told me with irritation, adding he could have mobilized a hundred of his members in an afternoon. I didn't see any self-identified Republican or Democratic representatives (the Fairfax Area Young Republicans were listed as a sponsor). There seemed very little coordination between all the groups, and no union-like ability to mobilize everyone's members. Frankly, I barely saw any promotion of this rally in the blogosphere. We have to do a much better job next time...and flood the 'sphere with pictures and video.
Kamal Nawash, president of the Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism - he's also fond of fedoras
Lots of people had camcorders, some that looked fairly professional
The head of the Arizona chapter of the group
This is fairly indicative of the crowd a couple hours in, although this is just the left front side of the plaza
Lots of non-Muslim representatives showed up too - this Chinese man leads a group opposing the Chinese government, and he was invited to speak near the end of the rally, and did well
Not sure where this man is from; you can also see a little of a veiled woman, who moved whenever my camera came near, in the background
A Sudanese speaker, who advocated more peaceful activism and less military action to support freedom in the Middle East
Nicole Sadighi, freelance Brit-Iranian journalist and speaker at the rally; she contributes to National Review and some dissident Iranian publications, and has a very regal British accent
This woman was handing out copies of "Libertarian Viewpoint," basically an extended party brochure in tabloid format, with a flyer decrying the coming wars against Iran and Syria; I have trouble believing she's actually a representative of the party, but maybe they're really that nuts now
This Kurdish speaker got a lot of applause, although the clapping went silent when, echoing the Sudanese speaker, he said Iraq can never truly succeed until American troops leave
Jason Sager, NYC chapter leader, ProtestWarrior (nice Che-mocking outfit); Judith Weiss, Kesher Talk
The right front side of the plaza, around 3:30
A few Jews showed up and seemed to get along well with the Muslims
One of the organizers gave the libertarian woman an earful after getting in a heated argument with an attendee - the ruckus drew several camera-toters, including Jason Sager
I think this speaker is Syrian, but doesn't he remind you of David Cross?
David Kelley from the Objectivist Center, one of many non-Muslim speakers; he went way past his allotted time and, despite looking over several times at an organizer who clearly wanted him to end, kept going
The Detroit leader of the Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism
I'm sure ProtestWarrior will have lots of video from Jason Sager's footage
Jihadwatch has some more links and info
May 15, 2005
No Islamic Reformation just yet
The Free Muslims March Against Terror went off Saturday with a whimper, not a bang: the Washington Times here says that only 50 people were there. Other estimates have ranged as high as 200, but even that doth not a Reformation make.
A few days ago I expressed my disappointment that this was not a March against jihad terror, since everyone is against "terrorism," even the "terrorists." But if fewer than 200 Muslims -- since there was an untold number of non-Muslims (and reporters) in the crowd -- can come out against nameless unspecified terror, that is extremely revealing.
"Local group leads march against terror," from the WashTimes, with thanks to Kaosktrl:
A local Islamic group led a rally in the District yesterday afternoon against terrorism, which organizers said was just the beginning of their crusade against extremists.About 50 people converged on Freedom Plaza for the "March Against Terror," an event organized by Free Muslims Against Terrorism, supporters of freedom and democracy in the Middle East and the entire Muslim community.
"We have to be honest; we have a problem with extremism, and the Muslim leadership in this country has totally failed us," said Kamal Nawash, leader of the year-old organization.
True enough.
"While [the leaders] themselves don't support terrorism, they share the ideology of the terrorists, which is this delusion about creating a theocratic Muslim state. ... We're here to offer an ideological challenge to extremism and the ideology that causes extremism and terrorism."...Best of luck with that. But also, a March is not an "ideological challenge." It may be a challenge, but there is nothing particularly ideological about it at this point. The FMAT is against terrorism. Great. But we have yet to see any ideological challenge to the jihadists from FMAT or any other Muslim group. And of course, there are important reasons why that is so.
Posted by Robert at May 15, 2005 07:42 AM |
You are welcome.
Time for us to get back to LGF?
Check your email.
Thank you so much for the photos! I wish I could have made this one but was bogged down with work.
Thanks for this report too. Daniel Pipes was talking about this a few weeks ago--too bad it did not get the publicity it needed. Or maybe there is no support for moderate Islam.
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