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Posted on 05/06/2006 5:21:06 PM PDT by kronos77
April, Rabbi Jonathan Miller of Birmingham's Temple Emanu-El hosted Bosnia's Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric to address an interfaith audience at his synagogue so that we Jews and Christians might "make room in our hearts and souls for others who believe differently from us," as his op-ed in The Birmingham News read. According to one attendee, the mufti packed a big house and the evening was replete with Martin Luther King tie-ins and civil rights-era imagery.
The rabbi should have done some research first. Ceric recently called on the world to stand by Syria, a state that sponsors terrorism against Israel and U.S. forces in Iraq, among other targets. During the March, 2004 pogroms in Kosovo against Orthodox Christian Serbs by Albanian Muslims — in which 19 people were killed, dozens of churches and cemeteries destroyed, and close to 4,000 of Kosovo's minority Serbs displaced — BBC.com reported that Ceric "expressed concern about the rise of anti-Islamic hysteria in the West." He added that there was "no such thing as Islamic terrorism," and assured reporters that there were no charities linked to al-Qaeda operating in Bosnia.
In fact, a CNSNews.com article titled "Jihadists Find Convenient Base in Bosnia" reported that "terrorists who previously targeted the U.S. are now in Bosnia, where they have access to a 'one-stop shop' of jihad training camps, weapons and illegal Islamic 'charities' — all at the doorstep of Europe."
More damning still, at least two of the 9/11 hijackers — Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi — trained and fought in Bosnia, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed "also honed his jihadist skills in Bosnia and financed some of the mujahedin operations there," Brendan O'Neill wrote for The New Statesman in 2004.
(Excerpt) Read more at theonerepublic.com ...
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balkan Islam
Is there some other sort of terrorism??
The Rabbi sounds like another "Deformed Rabbi", oops, make that "Reformed Rabbi". Only a Rabbi at a Reform congregation could be that stupid.
At least, I hope that's true.
NO difference between the Communists and Islam. They have always coexisted.
Both ideologies subvert humanity and are Satan-inspired.
IN my daily dealings with Muslims, as a Christian I always have to remember to hate the sin and love the sinner...the most difficult thing I have ever done.
The "rabbi" is not a real rabbi.
Some people do not recognize their enemies, or their friends.
Rabbi Miller, please wake up before it's too late.
"Both ideologies subvert humanity and are Satan-inspired."
Truth!
Thanks for posting this. I have watched this unfold and corresponded by email with one of the churches involved in this scandal. (They blew me off, it is a SOuthern Baptist church in Birmingham that has a female deacon who wrote about her adulterous affair and is a member in good standing there. Go figure.)
Anyway, I thought you might be interested in some comments from the Birmingham News and their editorials that were published in response to this affair.
Of course the Birmingham News is VERY LIBERAL. They never mentioned a word of the real facts about the Mustafa.
From the Birmingham News Editorial Page.......
"Mustafa Ceric a man of peace: "
A recent letter to the editor questioned the wisdom of our decision to invite Mustafa Ceric to speak in Birmingham.
Ceric is the leader of the Bosnian Muslim community, which endured horrendous suffering in the recent Balkan War. Ceric was a major leader in the peace agreements signed by Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders. He was instrumental in passing the historic law that now guarantees equal protection to all religious groups in Bosnia.
Ceric had already been invited to an interfaith conference in Wisconsin when our group met him in Sarajevo during our trip to speak with religious leaders in the Balkans. Learning of his upcoming trip to the United States, we asked him to include Birmingham. Ceric welcomed it as a long-sought opportunity to pursue his interest in nonviolence and the work of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The letter to the editor questioned the wisdom of the invitation, focusing especially on Rabbi Jonathan Miller. We are honored to have Miller in this community. His integrity and commitment to peace and justice are beyond question.
Birmingham was blessed to host Ceric. We are extremely grateful to have Rabbi Miller here. Unfortunately, the writer of the letter has never met either of them.
The Rev. Steve Jones (Southern Baptist)
The Rev. Robert Montgomery
The Rev. Ed Hurley
The Rev. Bud Precise
Father Ray Dunmyer
The Rev. J.R. Finney
The Rev. Hughey Reynolds
The Faith and
Reconciliation Group
Birmingham
"An opinion writer and contributing editor for FoxNews.com had a letter published in The News attacking Rabbi Jonathan Miller of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham.
The letter writer viciously attacked Miller for his interreligious participation in establishing ties with Christians and Muslims in our community and the world. Miller, a man of peace and a life-long supporter of democracy, deserves great praise, not insults and smears, for his efforts.
Miller was attacked for participating with a group of Christian ministers on a trip to Bosnia to meet with Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric, the leading Muslim in Europe. The group invited the grand mufti to visit Birmingham, and he did so, speaking at Christian, Islamic and Jewish religious places. The climactic speech was at Temple Emanu-el, where he delivered a call for ecumenism and peace. Miller acted as host and led the program, which I attended.
For many years, Miller has worked to create strong ties with the Christian community, and now is doing the same with the Islamic community, creating a strong foundation for an energetic and peaceful city in a world full of strife.
I think it is not out of place for us to see attacks on Miller and other peacemaking Jews as anti-Semitic, wherever the attack originates. Indeed, they must be seen as such.
Birmingham needs to thank Miller and his Christian and Muslim counterparts for their efforts to build a peaceful world.
The Rev. Jack Zylman
Southside
Rabbi sets example for Muslim leaders:
I have read the letter to the editor that attacked Rabbi Jonathan Miller for hosting Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric in his temple. The rabbi was called a "so-called rabbi." That statement caused me great pain and anguish.
I do condemn, as a Muslim, any statement that attacks people - whoever they are and wherever they are. I also feel a need to write this letter from a Muslim American perspective:
Comparing Ceric with Mufti Muhammed Amin al-Husseini of Jerusalem in 1945 is like comparing Rabbi Meir Kahane (a right-wing rabbi who advocated ethnic cleansing of Palestinians) to Rabbi Michael Lerner (editor of Tikkun magazine and a peace activist).
Refusing to talk to a person who has stated regrettable things means that one assumes the person did not change, nor is he able to change his views. If one wants a person not to change his extreme views, then she just needs to not to talk to him.
I wish Muslim leaders would take the same courageous step Miller took, and that they would talk to Jewish leaders.
I know this move of the rabbi has already helped bring closer the hearts and minds of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities of Birmingham. If this is the only thing that was gained, then it was worth it.
Hussein Abdullatif, M.D.
Highlands
Event meant to increase awareness:
In response to a recent letter writer's criticism of a recent gathering in Birmingham of local Jews, Christians and Muslims for an address by Mustafa Ceric, grand mufti of Bosnia, I regret the writer was not present. And, for the record, I am unashamed of having participated.
Clearly, differences exist among Judaism, Christianity and Islam that are exploited by extremists who would divide and demonize. With what result? Mosques are bombed, and Jews threatened with "erasure." The April 10 event, on the other hand, was exemplary of people of different religions engaging in dialogue toward increasing mutual understanding. Ceric, among others, voices moderation in an attempt to replace the hostile responses of extremists.
Toward the end of the meeting, local clergymen who met Ceric last October in his native Bosnia led the gathering in a recitation of the "Ten Principles for Living in Community," a declaration stating in part: "I want to live in a community where religion is an agent of healing, reconciliation and peace." I do, even if the letter writer doesn't."
Eleanor Wright
Homewood
http://www.al.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/114604314515560.xml?birminghamnews?olet&coll=2
What a bunch of lemmings, eh?
I really wish we would hunt down and kill these F$%^s and placde their head on pikes throughout the muzzie world
Ping to # 10.
War Eagle, my sister is an alum. Class of '86.
"BBC.com reported that Ceric "expressed concern about the rise of anti-Islamic hysteria in the West." He added that there was "no such thing as Islamic terrorism," and assured reporters that there were no charities linked to al-Qaeda operating in Bosnia."
***** I can't say for Bosnia because I was not there, I have only reports and statements. However, I have UN documents showing agreements between UN groups and Al Haramin in Kosovo. I also have photos showing white vehicles with RHIS spray painted on the sides openly. RHIS is The Revival of the Islamic Hertiage Society. It is closely associated with Al Qaeda and both are charity organizations.....
Bump!
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