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Analysis: Muslim youth in US oppose terror
Middle East Times ^ | July 27, 2005 | Niko Kyriakou

Posted on 07/27/2005 9:16:27 PM PDT by nickcarraway

WASHINGTON -- Muslim youth groups in the United States are addressing suspicions that the London bombers were both young and "homegrown" by ramping up anti-terrorism initiatives.

After the second attack hit London on July 21, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Islamic Society of North America issued a statement in which young Muslim groups across the United States condemned terrorism and the ideology that fuels it. The Washington-based, Muslim Public Affairs Council says that this is the first campaign specifically launched by Muslim youth, and counts as an important addition to the movement since most Islamic terrorists are between 20 and 30 years old, the group told United Press International.

"We Muslim-American students and youth stand united in condemning all acts of terror and the burgeoning war on ideas," the group said in a statement. "The voice of American Muslim youth is essential at this tenuous time and we will rise to the occasion of making our values heard ... We seek to cultivate a culture of pluralism, tolerance and coexistence for the advancement of all people."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that future attacks on his country, which has a large immigrant Muslim population, could be prevented in part by legal and security measures, but "in the end, this can only be taken on and defeated by the [Muslim] community itself".

Some Muslim youth groups in the United States appear to have the same thought.

Signed by some 30 Muslim student groups from universities across the country, including the University of California at Los Angeles and Cornell University, the statement offers an open-invitation for other groups to sign on and affirms that Islam does not tolerate terrorism under any circumstances.

A number of the largest US Muslim groups - including The Islamic Circle of North America, the Coalition of Islamic Organizations of Chicago, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and groups that are part of the National Grassroots Campaign to Fight Terrorism - have outspokenly condemned acts of terror since the London attacks.

Salam Al Marayati, the director of the Muslim Affairs Council, told UPI that his organization plans to "positively and constructively intervene with our youth to make sure they have a good understanding of Islam so that no extremists will play upon them". He said that the campaign is in its nascent stage but might begin Internet outreach or hold a youth summit in the fall.

Marayati said that he does not think that there are any young Muslims in the United States who embrace terrorist ideologies, yet.

"I don't think there are any right now; this is a proactive program. We are not going to wait for extremist groups to recruit any of our youth," he said.

The way to prevent young Muslims from adopting violent views is "to preach the ideology of love and mutual respect and justice, and secondly, to bring youth into more positive, active engagement with society and to listen to them so we reduce the likelihood of alienation," Marayati said.

Other signatories include the national office of the Muslim Students Association located in Virginia. The Association is the first and largest coalition of Muslim students in the United States, with nearly 600 chapters averaging 50 students per chapter. The national office, however, does not speak for the local chapters.

Local MSA chapters, like the one in Ohio University in Athens, which had not yet signed onto the Muslim Affairs campaign, have put letters of sympathy for the London victims on their Website and lent their support to a petition of Muslim groups that disassociate themselves from terror. The petition was put out by the Council on American Islamic relations.

But at times no action seems like enough to clear Muslims in the minds of others, said Usame Tunagur, of the group's Ohio chapter.

This week the group was planning to run a story in the local newspaper about how the local Muslim community was not only saddened by the attacks in London - and more recently, in Egypt - but also tired of the negative impressions that these attacks give about Islam, Tunagur said.

"It really saddens the hearts of community members because when each of these things happens it worsens the image of Islam," he said.

Tunagur said that he felt "hurt" that reports by the British Broadcasting Corporation following the London attacks focused on how "these people could be our next door neighbors".

"They are creating this atmosphere of fear and paranoia in the general public - so bringing down the borders [between people], opening up is not very easy," he said.

In the nine years that Tunagur has spent in the United States and the two he has lived in Athens, where about 50 to 75 community members are Muslim, Tunagur said that he has never heard Muslims say that they support terrorist acts. Before 9/11 he said that there was a much larger Muslim student community at the university, particularly from Saudi Arabia, but that after the attacks the school has not received a lot of new Muslim students.

Tunagur called Athens a "progressive" and "open-minded" town, but said that many students on campus seem to think that in general Muslims overseas "want us dead", calling that a "generalization of people who live in the States".

"Most of the time we see the destruction and not the construction because the destruction is shorter, quicker and attracts more attention," he said. Over the past four or five years Muslim groups in the United States have become increasingly quick to condemn acts of terror, but Tunagur believes that something more is needed.

"I think having proactive events is the next step," if Muslims are to cut through the "huge curtain between the values of Islam and the West" that terrorism presents, he said.

The best way for Muslims to change the way that they are viewed, but also take action on the political issues that they support, is to take the route of political activism and social responsibility, the American Anti-Arab Discrimination Committee told UPI.

Young Muslims should "get involved in society and work for the betterment of society and that will help address whatever grievances you have", said Layla Al Khatami, the communications director at the committee, which is opposed to terrorism and provides legal aid to Arabs facing discrimination.

The Council on American Islamic relations also said that they support the youth campaign "wholeheartedly" and that they had launched a recent campaign of 120 imams who condemn extremism and terrorism.

"I think the false perception that Muslims in general support terrorism leads to violence and that's why we launched our 'Not in the Name of Islam' petition drive," Ibrahim Hooper, the communications director at the council told UPI. Specifically he cited the plight of the Palestinians.

Another Muslim student group, The Islamic Alliance for Justice at Cornell University, claimed that "certain elements within the American political spectrum" have falsely accused Muslims of silence and even tacit support of terrorism. But "condemnation has in fact been consistently voiced by leading Muslim bodies and organizations both foreign and domestic," Ahmed Maaty, president of the Alliance at Cornell, told UPI.

He said that he and the groups' chapter at George Washington University in Washington are now planning a number of events, including interfaith dialogues and solidarity vigils, documentaries and panel discussions and articles and op-eds in local and campus media.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: propaganda; salamalmarayati
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To: nickcarraway
Muslim youth groups in the United States are addressing suspicions that the London bombers were both young and "homegrown" by ramping up anti-terrorism initiatives.

The young Muslims at Berkeley sure as hell had me convinced otherwise! Hell, had it been up to me, every last damned one of 'em would have been deported back to their "idyllic" hellhole nations.

21 posted on 07/27/2005 11:11:29 PM PDT by Prime Choice (Thanks to the Leftists, yesterday's deviants are today's "alternate lifestyles.")
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To: staytrue

You're a fool then .


22 posted on 07/27/2005 11:14:45 PM PDT by hineybona
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To: Squantos

to talk and to talk
is cheaper than cheap,
while the friends and the family
of the dead weep.

in the fullness of time
there may well come a day
when the sons of mohammed
the full bill shall pay.

Forebearance shall end
come late or come soon,
deliv'ring man-made sun-fire
on the Stone of the Moon.

if they keep it up,
then sooner or later
poor Abdullah shall pray
to a nuclear crater


23 posted on 07/27/2005 11:29:33 PM PDT by King Prout (and the Clinton Legacy continues: like Herpes, it is a gift that keeps on giving.)
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To: staytrue

I'll not call you names, not my style....

Here's the deal.

We've been invaded. Those that hate us are all around us.

They are very patient. That's their up-bringing.

Americans don't get it. We've better things to do.

We live for a good life.

They live to die and screw with you and me.

Time to wake up, fellow FR's.


24 posted on 07/27/2005 11:41:31 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (Carry Daily, Apply Sparingly)
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To: nickcarraway

And all the young muslims in America stood up and condemned terrorism, then picked up their korans and danced happily back to class to study American history and culture. They learned to love and respect our Founding Fathers and our Western ideas of freedom. Then they peacefully melted into American cities and towns, where they lived happily ever-after amongst the Christians, Jews and other faiths, and became an integral part of America's communities, businesses and military. Then as their peaceful communities in America grew and grew, and their numbers became plentiful, and their mosques popped up in every city and town accross the U.S., they began listening to their mullahs and imams preach about the evils and sins of Christians and Jews, and how Western society was corrupting their Islamic values. And they believed. And they began............... you finish the story, I'm getting tired.


25 posted on 07/27/2005 11:59:11 PM PDT by TheCrusader ("The frenzy of the Mohammedans has devastated the churches of God" -Pope Ubran II, 1097AD)
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To: nickcarraway

On the other hand, a lot of the young muslims I've met in the US (including the women...) were basically atheists who rejected the religion of their parents and preferred western culture, all things being equal. Lacking insularity like they apparently have in Europe, the American culture is very seductive.


26 posted on 07/28/2005 12:04:09 AM PDT by tortoise (All these moments lost in time, like tears in the rain.)
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To: staytrue

Maybe they were concentrating on the stadium rather than the game..


27 posted on 07/28/2005 7:05:30 AM PDT by sheik yerbouty ( Make America and the world a jihad free zone!)
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To: King Prout

I agree, but it's never gonna happen!


28 posted on 07/28/2005 7:06:14 AM PDT by tiamat ("Drink your drink, Laddie, and never mind the Klingon!")
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To: nickcarraway

Remeber they have an obligation to LIE to us infidels.


29 posted on 07/28/2005 7:11:56 AM PDT by JayAr36
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To: nickcarraway
I just want to hear something more than, "It's taken out of context."!

THIS IS NOT FROM AL-QAEDA!

THIS IS JUST A BIT OF WHAT ALL MUSLIMS, INCLUDING SO-CALLED MODERATES, SIGN UP FOR WHEN THEY SAY THE BISMALLAH, "THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH AND MUHAMMAD IS HIS PROPHET"!

KORAN [3.28] Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends rather than believers; and whoever does this, he shall have nothing of (the guardianship of) Allah, but you should guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully; and Allah makes you cautious of (retribution from) Himself; and to Allah is the eventual coming.

KORAN [4.34] Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.

KORAN [4.89] They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.

KORAN [9.29] Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.

KORAN [9.30] And the Jews say: Uzair [Ezra] is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!

HADITH Sahih Bukhari [4:52:176] Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:
Allah's Apostle said, "You (i.e. Muslims) will fight with the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.' "

HADITH Sahih Bukhari [4:52:177] Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."

HADITH Sahih Bukhari [4:56:791] Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The Jews will fight with you, and you will be given victory over them so that a stone will say, 'O Muslim! There is a Jew behind me; kill him!' "

HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6981] Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:
You will fight against the Jews and you will kill them until even a stone would say: Come here, Muslim, there is a Jew (hiding himself behind me); kill him.

HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6982] Ubaidullah has reported this hadith with this chain of transmitters (and the Words are):
"There is a Jew behind me."

HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6983] Abdullah b. 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:
You and the Jews would fight against one another until a stone would say: Muslim, here is a Jew behind me; come and kill him.

HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6984] Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said:
The Jews will fight against you and you will gain victory over them until the stone would say: Muslim, here is a Jew behind me; kill him.

HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6985] Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:
The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.

HADITH Sahih Bukhari [4:52:283] Narrated Abu Juhaifa:
I asked Ali, "Do you have the knowledge of any Divine Inspiration besides what is in Allah's Book?" 'Ali replied, "No, by Him Who splits the grain of corn and creates the soul. I don't think we have such knowledge, but we have the ability of understanding which Allah may endow a person with, so that he may understand the Qur'an, and we have what is written in this paper as well." I asked, "What is written in this paper?" He replied, "(The regulations of) blood-money, the freeing of captives, ******** and the judgment that no Muslim should be killed for killing an infidel." *********

HADITH Sunan Abu Dawud [14:2526] Narrated Anas ibn Malik:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Three things are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, "There is no god but Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with the Dajjal (Antichrist). The tyranny of any tyrant and the justice of any just (ruler) will not invalidate it. One must have faith in Divine decree.

KORAN: http://www.hti.umich.edu/k/koran/
HADITH: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/reference/searchhadith.html
30 posted on 07/28/2005 7:19:22 AM PDT by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (Give Them Liberty Or Give Them Death! - IT'S ISLAM, STUPID! - Islam Delenda Est! - Rumble thee forth)
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To: tortoise

"On the other hand, a lot of the young muslims I've met in the US (including the women...) were basically atheists .."

THAT'S not good.


31 posted on 07/28/2005 7:30:52 AM PDT by ZULU (Fear the government which fears your guns. God, guts, and guns made America great.)
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