Posted on 03/01/2006 5:59:26 AM PST by Dark Skies
A student panel discussion on Islamic extremism that included the ''unveiling'' of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, including one of him wearing a bomb-laden turban, repeatedly descended into name-calling chaos Tuesday night.
The panel, which included one Muslim speaker, was repeatedly interrupted by hecklers from the audience who challenged assertions by panelist Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson that Islam was an ''evil religion'' and that all Muslims hate America. Outside, hundreds of Muslims and their supporters noisily protested the event amid a heavy police presence.
At one point, University of California, Irvine, police removed two men, one of them a Muslim, from the audience after they nearly came to blows. Although there were numerous heated exchanges, there were no immediate reports of violence.
The 424-seat campus auditorium where the panel discussion took place was nearly full. Outside, several hundred members of the Muslim Student Union and their supporters staged a protest and teach-in to counter the event, which they said was the equivalent of hate speech.
During the panel discussion, a moderator with The United American Committee displayed six cartoons: three depicting Muhammad and three anti-Semitic cartoons he said had appeared in Middle Eastern newspapers.
Thousands of Muslims worldwide have protested, sometimes violently, since the Muslim cartoons were published in a Danish newspaper in September and then in other European newspapers. The drawings are offensive to Muslims because Islamic tradition frowns on any depiction of Muhammad.
The panel discussion got off to a contentious start, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations boycotting the event and calling the UAC a ''fringe group.''
Later, panelists were cheered when they referred to Muslims as fascists and accused mainstream Muslim-American civil rights groups of being ''cheerleaders for terror.''
''I put out a call to Muslims in America: put out a fatwah on bin Laden, put out a fatwah on al-Zarqawi,'' said panelist Lee Kaplan, a spokesman for The United American Committee. ''Support America in the war on terror.''
Osman Umarji, former president of the Muslim Student Union, equated the decision to display the prophet drawings to the debasement of Jews in Germany before the Holocaust. He said none of the Muslims who protested outside the event would attend if the drawings were displayed.
''The agenda is to spread Islamophobia and create hysteria against Muslims similar to what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany,'' said Umarji, an electrical engineer who graduated from Irvine last spring. ''Freedom of speech has its limits.''
Organizers said unveiling the cartoons was part of a larger debate on Islamic extremism sponsored by the College Republicans and The United American Committee, a fledgling group not affiliated with the university.
Brock Hill, vice president of the College Republicans, said his group had a First Amendment right to display the cartoons and noted that the panel was to include a representative from the Free Muslims Coalition.
''We're not going against Islam whatsoever,'' he said. ''This is about free speech and the free marketplace of ideas.''
Mohamed Eldessouky, 20, a criminology student who attended the discussion, said he was disappointed because he felt the panel and the audience were biased against Islam.
''I entered it with an open mind, but I thought it was totally biased. I thought the panelists would be more balanced. I think it did more harm than good,'' he said.
Eldessouky also said he felt slightly offended when the three panelists who were not Muslim repeatedly held up the Quran and told the audience how to interpret it.
Another student, Lauren Chramosta, 18, a freshman, said she didn't know much about Islam and attended hoping to learn more.
''It was helpful to listen to different views,'' she said. ''But I think (the Muslim panelist) was shut down so many times that he didn't get a fair shake.''
February, 2006 headlines: Muslims protest Muhammad Cartoons
March, 2006 headlines: Muslims Protest Muhammad Cartoons
April, 2006 headlines: Muslims Protest Muhammad Cartoons
May, 2006 headlines: Muslims Protest Muhammad Cartoons.......
Especially if it's critical of Islam.
This wasn't one of those times.
I think what muslims are going to learn is that free speech really doesn't have the kind of limits they are hoping for. IMO, free speech is going to eat islam alive.
Man - all those years of good propaganda down the tubes.
Banderas in Thirteenth Warrior, the good old fatherly mullah in Pitch Black - all Hollywood's brainwashing to make Mohammedanism as American as apple pie gone spooge-a-roo. All of Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, and Alec Guinness's hard work over the years...
In the Crapper. Blast.
All thanks to the lovely adherents in the Religion of Peace. I would like to thank all those Mohammedans who have - over the past few years - done so much to rip off the mask of Hollywood's deception and falsehoods.
That and ending the nonsense of Mohammedanism being the "fastest growing religion in America".
Keep up the Good Works, Children of the Prophit!
This whole cartoon business is about intolerance. Muslim intolerance of those that disagree with them. CAIR is a leftist group that's trying to recruit Muslims into a left-wing political movement that portrays Muslims as the latest oppressed "minority."
It's also about islam's fear of being exposed for the fraud that it is. Muslims seem to instinctively fear critical examination of islam.
It's a pretty tough day when you discover your great prophet was a fake.
It's interesting that the freedom of the press issue is what is finally waking up the Europeans, and the domestic liberals to the evil of Islam. Three thousand dead Americans on 9/11 couldn't do it, but a few threatened cartoonists can...
I am tired of reading that everyone is bending over and grabbing their ankles for the hurt Muslim feelings.
I was reading at shiachat last night. Someone brought up the subject of taqiyya and a Muslim poster replied with the following:
"Its interesting that u seem to think u know more about taqiyah than Muslims, I wonder what source taught u what it was, becuase if u check out shia sites atleast they would tell u different and if there point was to lie to u, they also lie to the rest of the muslims out there who learn Islam from there... so wether u like it or not muslims do not believe what u believe to be taqiyah.
this is what muslims believe and this is where most shia muslims get there knowledge from, so if ur interested in learning the truth about taqiyah then check it out:
http://al-islam.org/taqiyah/ "
Interesting that the poster should suggest that imams would have to be lying to all Muslims without realizing that is precisely what they are doing. It is the only way they can maintain their positions of power - by telling lies calculated to keep followers ignorant. These Muslim teens are told to make sure they ONLY get their info from Islamic websites for exactly the reason you mention - fear of being exposed for the fraud that it (Islam) is.
Students protest cartoon display
(UC Irvine event coverage)
Posted by Dark Skies
On News/Activism 03/01/2006 5:59:26 AM PST · 13 replies · 273+ views
The Monterey Herald (CA) ^ | 3/1/2006 | GILLIAN FLACCUS
Plan to Show Danish Prophet Cartoons Riles UC Irvine Campus
(Story of the Day! Thread)
Posted by Dark Skies
On News/Activism 02/28/2006 5:38:54 PM PST · 38 replies · 633+ views
Associated Press (via local ABC TV) ^ | 2/28/2006 | AP Staff
Controversial Cartoons Debut at UC Irvine
[Orange County, CA - TONIGHT! Tuesday, 2/28/06 - 7 pm]
Posted by RonDog
On News/Activism 02/28/2006 1:09:24 PM PST · 43 replies · 801+ views
ABC 7.com ^ | February 28, 2006 | ABC News
Thx!
See also THIS thread:
Cartoons bring debate to UCI (pics)
Posted by Ladycalif
On News/Activism 03/01/2006 6:11:09 AM PST · 19 replies · 532+ views
Orange County Register ^
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