Posted on 09/02/2005 12:00:48 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
ROSEMONT, Ill. - An American Muslim group said Friday participants in its annual meeting will be asked to endorse a statement that calls terrorism "the epitome of injustice because it targets innocent people."
The statement attempting to check the spread of extremism was released by the Islamic Society of North America, which also will send it to mosques around the country.
ISNA had invited President Bush to attend its annual gathering, saying his attendance could mark a powerful show of support for mainstream Islam to the world's 1.2 billion Muslims. The administration representative is Bush confidante Karen Hughes, recently confirmed as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy.
At the news conference, Hughes, whose tasks include improving the U.S. image in Muslim countries, said she came to listen and learn.
".. As we seek to engage the wider Muslim world, I thought it was first of all very important to listen and try to understand and work with the voices of our own American Muslim community," Hughes said.
The three-day convention was expected to attract more than 30,000 Muslims. ISNA is an Indiana-based group that serves as an umbrella association representing Muslim groups and mosques in the United States and Canada.
The convention comes little more than a month after U.S. Muslim scholars issued a fatwa, or religious edict, condemning terrorism. But a summer of deadly terrorist attacks in London and Egypt has made mainstream Muslims fear a renewed sense of suspicion.
The convention was attended by a 19-member official delegation from Britain, where four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters on London's transit system in July.
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On the Net:
Islamic Society of North America: http://www.isna.net
Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago: http://www.ciogc.org/
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ISNA had invited President Bush to attend its annual gathering, saying his attendance could mark a powerful show of support for mainstream Islam to the world's 1.2 billion Muslims.
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Words, nothing more,, Where are the streets filled with protesters denouncing in no uncertain, the vermin in their midst.
Mainstream Islam.. lolol
Like we should 'CAIR' about the American Muslims and their feeeelings. Clearly, the vast majority have shown where their sympathy lies.
Close All the Mosques and deport them all.
If your dog is infested with fleas, do you still let him sleep in your bed?
(/RANT)
just stirring the pot CAIR adherents refuse to stir
But political targets are OK, which, ironically contain innocent people..
Karen Hughes, newly appointed Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, left, shakes hands with ISNA vice president Ingrid Mattson during a news conference prior to the inaugural session of the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention, Friday, Sept. 2, 2005, in Rosemont, Ill. Hughes was appointed with the task of improving the image of the U.S. in Muslim countries. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)
ISNA vice president Ingrid Mattson? heckuva name for a follower of Muhammed, imo
I thought that was a rather strange use of the word innocent as well... does that include infidels? lol
Foggy Bottom misstep?
One of President Bush's closest confidants,Karen Hughes, this weekend is scheduled to address the annual conference of an organization whose primary purpose is the promotion of Saudi-sponsored Wahhabist Islam — and whose president has publicly denied that al Qaeda was behind September 11, and whose Web site to this day sells a book that lavishes praise on Osama bin Laden.Not only is Mrs. Hughes publicly endorsing the Islamic Society of North America with her mere presence, but this is the first major public address in her new role leading public diplomacy with the Muslim world.
Asked whether the woman who was instrumental in Mr. Bush winning the White House knew the true nature of the group she is speaking to in Chicago this weekend, State Department spokes-man Noel Clay responded, "Karen Hughes has been briefed on the organization."
Somehow, it just doesn't seem likely that Mrs. Hughes has been fully briefed on ISNA. If she had, she almost certainly wouldn't be headlining its annual conference — let alone as her first major appearance in her new post.
Of all the Muslim groups claiming to be moderate in this country, ISNA is perhaps the easiest to expose as anything but. Spun off of the Saudi-created and funded Muslim Students Association more than 20 years ago, ISNA is likely the largest single provider of Islamic materials to mosques in America.
For a sampling of what might be contained in Saudi-sponsored pamphlets and literature, one need look no further than the Freedom House report issued earlier this year. Using moderate Muslim volunteers to gather Saudi-published or sponsored materials in more than a dozen prominent mosques across the country, Freedom House found shocking intolerance, anti-Semitism and even advocacy of violence.
Though the Freedom House report does not specify if ISNA was responsible for funneling any of the most offensive literature into mosques, ISNA's own track record suggests that it would do so willingly.
At the 39th annual ISNA conference, held in Washington, several speakers on a panel agreed emphatically that there was no proof that Osama bin Laden was behind September 11 — and this occurred just shy of the one-year anniversary of the attacks.
During a session dedicated to the aftermath of September 11 — not how Islam needs to be reformed to strip the religious justification of future such terrorism, but rather on how to fight back against attacks on Islam — a questioner expressed his anger that the Muslim leadership in the United States had "asked [Muslims] to accept the blame for 9/11."
The three prominent members of the panel all rushed to assure the questioner that, in fact, they weren't really sure that al Qaeda was behind September 11, or if any Muslim was at all. According to a transcript provided by the Investigative Project, panel moderator Jamal Barzinji, the then-director of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, responded, "It is not only that we don't have any proof, but the FBI doesn't have any proof. They are still looking."
Former ISNA President Muzammil H. Siddiqi, who was still on the board, added, "We cannot say in surety whoever did it or not." Rounding out the bizarre denials of al Qaeda's culpability for September 11, the then-president of Muslim-American Society, Suhail al Ganouchi, opined, "Probably we'll never know who actually did it, or who, what, or what groups."
But ISNA does more than just provide a forum for September 11 deniers. For sale on its online bookstore is a tome by former Illinois Rep. Paul Findley, published in the summer of 2001, which lavishes praise on Osama bin Laden.
The book, "Silent No More: Confronting America's False Image of Islam," contained the following description of someone who had already orchestrated the murder of Americans in the East Africa embassy bombings and the USS. Cole: "Outsiders do not seem to recognize that bin Laden is one of the pre-eminent heroes of Afghans, occupying a role similar to the Marquis de Lafayette, a Frenchman who fought at the side of the Colonials during America's Revolutionary War."
When asked about much of the above, the State Department's Mr. Clay seemed uninterested. He defended the appearance before ISNA by noting, "They do not support terrorism." Except when they do. In a January 2000 press release, ISNA declared, "In order to honor the Shaheeds and the Mujahideen of Chechnia, ISNA has decided to dedicate Shawwal 1, 1420, the day of Eid al Fitr as 'Solidarity with Chechnia Day' throughout North America."
"Shaheeds" is unmistakable: It is the term used by jihadists for glorification of suicide bombers. U.S. law officials think that the "shaheeds" and "Mujahideen" in Chechnya are terrorists; many of the most high-profile terror cases since September 11 have involved support for those forces.
Even giving Mr. Clay the benefit of the doubt that he did not know of the Chechnya statement, is lack of support for terrorism the only bar which an organization must clear? Assuming Mrs. Hughes goes forward and addresses ISNA this weekend, she deserves the benefit of the doubt — this time.
But if groups like ISNA keep getting courted, the question must be asked: Is this embrace happening out of ignorance or out of some cunning — and dangerous — strategy?
DO you hate the Constitution as much as you hate Muslims?
Because your "solution" would destroy the Constitution.
The president is a bit busy right now, thank you.
Of course, their people don't commit "terrorism", they are "engaged in a struggle against the Zionist oppressors, and their supporters."
and at the same time it's the will of Allah so what's a Muslim gonna do?
Better the nation be destroyed from within , huh?
They hate the West. Why are they here ?
"Not only is Mrs. Hughes publicly endorsing the Islamic Society of North America with her mere presence, but this is the first major public address in her new role leading public diplomacy with the Muslim world."
Who should she speak to first? At least this group publicly opposes terrorism and isn't directly related to a dictatorship. It could be worse.
Did Lincoln's decision to rescind habeas corpus during the Civil War or the internment of the Japanese during WW2 offend you as well?
Ingrid Mattson a hijab-wearing Islamic convert? There's a guilt-ridden lib under that rag I'm sure. Idiot!
When's Medea Benjami gonna convert.
Do they make burkhas in Pink, I wonder. ;-)
In a news report put out by Indianapolis’s WTHR 13, counter-terrorism expert, Steven Emerson, is quoted as saying, “ISNA has sponsored extremists, racists, people who call for Jihad against the United States.” And the report itself stated, “We found about a dozen charities, organizations or individuals under federal scrutiny for possible ties to terrorism that are linked in some way to ISNA – ties sources tell us have also placed ISNA under the federal microscope. ISNA has provided convention booth space and helped raise money for a number of Islamic charities later linked to terrorism by the federal government….”
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13684
What the heck is Pres Bush thinking about. Didn't he learn from his mistake of meeting with Sami al Arian?
This country's safety should not be for sale to Saudi Arabia.
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