Posted on 06/20/2005 5:13:43 PM PDT by Smartaleck
Suspicions about Islam after Sept. 11 have given rise to resentment, fear and violence in Europe. But in the U.S., which has welcomed Muslims with its freedoms and opportunities, a more tolerant, open Islam is emerging and setting an example for the rest of the world, says writer REIHAN SALAM.
Because the majority of Muslim Americans emigrated from repressive countries, and because they've been welcomed with open arms, there is a pervasive sense of gratitude for American freedoms and a belief that any political grievances ought to be addressed at the ballot box. Law enforcement is seen not as an enemy by Muslim Americans, but as an ally. Suffice it to say, the United States has been very fortunate in this regard.
Consider the fate of Muslim communities in Europe, where a poisonous cocktail of ghettoization, multicultural ideology and economic stagnation has radicalized broad swaths of the population. Strangely enough, the Sept. 11 terror attacks have had far more impact on daily life in Europe than here at home. Fear is palpable, particularly in Holland, once considered a model of tolerance and now a tinderbox. There the hate campaign has taken violent form, reaching a crescendo in the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh.
Judging by the escalating threats, it seems that Mr. Van Gogh's murder won't be the last of it. Native-born European Islamists have seized the initiative, condemning the moral bankruptcy of secular Europe in fiery language. Though France hasn't yet seen assassinations on a grand scale, Muslim youths have been implicated in near-constant attacks against French Jews, ranging from petty harassment and intimidation to fire bombings and worse.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
there is a huge difference between Isalm in America and Europe.
1. American Muslims are better educated than European one and wealthier
2. No Muslim ghettos exist in the US
3. American is an upwardly mobile societ, europe isnt
this doesnt mean muslims arent a threat, but jihadism is more likely in europe than the USA
Or maybe they just might import slavery and honor killings, among other bad habits, with them.
Never mind, they already have.
islam must be wiped off the face of the Earth.
Hope you are right, but I don't think so.
What a crock!. Not a word of condemnation from the Muslim mainstream in america about what is done in the name of Islam around the world. The protest in DC garnered 50 attendees.
The truth of the matter is that muslims in america silenly wish for the entire world to be muslim, by force if needed.
(Note: This story was posted earlier today.)
Jersey City Heights (NJ) Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (NY) and Dearborn (MI) all have "Muslim Ghettos," but they are a small portion of larger neighborhoods/towns. Its been my experience that Arabs and Pakistanis (the two Muslim immigrant groups I have lived around) tend to settle in older areas no longer popular with young, white, native-born families, usually settling alongside Asians, Latinos, Carribeans and other immigrant groups.
sorry...go visit Marselle, Malmo, Paris and youll see a real muslim ghetto
Argggh!
Anyone have a log in?
I was in the northern suburbs of Paris last week, I know what a Muslim ghetto looks like. You can see a smaller version of St. Denis in Brooklyn, along 5th avenue from 60th-75th.
they arent even remotly similar.
Do you know in Malmo, Sweden the fire department wont enter the muslim ghetto for fear of violence?? Is this true anywhere in the USA?
http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33479
WAR ON TERROR
Muslim-rights voice
indicted in jihad plot
Ex-CAIR rep with group tied to al-Qaida,
attorney also serves as lawyer for Hamas
Posted: July 9, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
A former spokesman for leading Islamic lobby groups opposed to U.S. counterterrorism efforts was among 11 men indicted for conspiring to train on American soil for a "violent jihad."
Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer who little more than five weeks ago was communications director for a fund-raising effort sponsored by the American Muslim Council allegedly trained with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Kashmiri terrorist group with reported ties to al-Qaida.
Royer, 30, of Falls Church, Va., also was on the national staff of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group that considers itself a leading civil rights voice for American Muslims.
Most recently, he was a spokesman for the National Liberty Fund, which is defending Sami al-Arian, the Florida professor in federal custody as an alleged leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.
The National Liberty Fund says it is combating the Justice Department's "opportunistic and politically motivated prosecutions."
The federal indictment, issued June 27, contends Royer traveled to Pakistan, engaged in propaganda work for Lashkar-e-Taiba and "fired at Indian positions in Kashmir." The charges also allege in September 2001, he "possessed in his automobile an AK-47-style rifle and 219 rounds of ammunition."
"A legal support structure for the terrorist front network in America is emerging," the Center for Security Policy asserts, noting Royer's defense lawyer, Stanley Cohen, also is an attorney for the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.
CAIR is a spin-off of the Islamic Association For Palestine, identified as a "front group" for Hamas, according to Steve Pomerantz, former chief of the FBI's counterterrorism section.
Another ex-FBI counterterrorism chief, Oliver "Buck" Revell, has called the Islamic Association For Palestine "a front organization for Hamas that engages in propaganda for Islamic militants."
In addition, Cohen's law partner, Lynne Stewart, is awaiting trial on federal charges that she served as a courier for Omar Abdel Rahman, the "blind sheik" convicted of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.
The center points out the Muslim groups for which Royer worked have pushed to repeal a law allowing terrorism-hunters to use classified information in the process of prosecuting and deporting foreign terror suspects.
Allegations denied
Royer characterized the allegations against him as baseless during an interview with the Washington Post. He dismissed the discovery of pistols and rifles inside the homes of some group members as insignificant.
"Ooooh, gosh, they have weapons," Royer said. "I really resent the idea that a Muslim with a gun he's a threat. A Jew with a gun he's not a threat."
In a brief description of Royer on Islam Online, he was identified as a communications specialist for CAIR, where he had worked in "research and civil rights since 1997."
The site said he formerly wrote investigative pieces on "anti-Muslim organizations" for an online newssite called iviews.com, where he served as Washington bureau chief. Islam Online said he wrote a story designated one of the "Most Censored Press Releases of 1999" by Timothy McSweeney's, a literary journal.
One of CAIR's chief targets of criticism is Daniel Pipes, director of the Philadelphia-based think tank Middle East Forum,
In a weblog Royer ran, dated Sept. 17, 2002, he called Pipes a "pop bigot" and responded to the scholar's New York Post article about militant Islamic influence on American campuses with the following comment: "[Pipes] has served up another steaming shovelful of fertilizer. What a joy it is to read this guy. His stuff requires no real effort to deconstruct, no deliberate propaganda analysis to realize how he intends to deceive the reader."
Royer is the second CAIR figure to be arrested this year. Bassem Khafagi was the group's director of community relations before his arrest in January. Also, Siraj Wahhaj, a member of CAIR's advisory board, was named as one of the "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators" in the attempt to blow up New York City monuments in the early 1990s.
'Danger to community'?
Yesterday, a federal judge said she is inclined to free Royer while he awaits his November trial but delayed her decision to learn more about the case, the Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors argue Royer is a danger to the community because of connections between Lashkar and al-Qaida and should be held until his trial. Last week, however, a magistrate judge ordered his release, prompting prosecutors to appeal the decision yesterday to U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg pointed out the spiritual leader of the Virginia network, Ali al-Timimi, called the United States the greatest enemy of Islam.
Royer's lawyer Cohen insists no evidence exists to show Royer had any hostile intent toward the United States.
He argues Royer's writings and statements as spokesman for various Islamic groups denounce al-Qaida and violence against the United States.
"The government keeps talking about al-Qaida," Cohen said, according to the AP. "They've been looking at [Royer] for at least a year and there's not a connection there."
Cohen acknowledged Royer fought in Bosnia with Muslim groups in the mid-1990s, but argued it was not illegal to do so.
Eight of the 11 men charged have been arrested. All have pleaded innocent.
Related stories:
Americans charged in 'holy-war' plot
University fires 'terror professor'
Should Muslim Quran be USA's top authority?
Group forces censure for 'Islamophobia'
Muslims try to quash Bush nominee
Christian relief plan riles Muslims
Muslims try to bar terror expert
American Islamic lobby gets out the vote
Who do you think the mainstream is? Is Jesse Jackson representative of the black mainstream? Was Bill Clinton a representative of the white mainstream? Is the head of the AFL-CIO the representative of the average American worker?
There are a fair number of Muslims here and abroad who do not want to kill us. I call them Islam's silent majority.
The NYPD and FDNY are cut from tougher cloth than their counterparts in Sweden. And as I said, "Little Arabia" along Fifth in Brooklyn is small. NYC's megaghettos are instead filled with the descendants of two ethnic groups who arrived to fill the PJs after WWII and never left.
no, it is that America is cut from a tougher cloth than is europe.
Muslims know what they can and cant get away with.
Like living here for years and blowing up our cities?
Try this.
Silent is exactly my point. Not a word of condemnation from ANYONE in the Muslim community.
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.