Posted on 08/14/2006 7:48:51 PM PDT by mdittmar
Shortly after 9/11, President Bush described and later retracted our fight against terrorism as a "crusade." In his first news conference after last week's thwarted terrorist plot to blow up several aircrafts the president said, " This nation is at war with Islamic fascists."
The use of the phrase "Islamic fascists" has drawn the ire of the American Muslim community. As Muslims, we use "Islamic ethics" to mean ethics based on Islamic teachings that guide our behavior. Similarly, "Islamic art" draws its inspiration from Islamic teachings that discourage certain types of art (immodest imagery or certain life forms). When the president uses "Islamic fascists," it conveys that fascism is rooted in Islam or fascism that is inspired by Islam. This is the way the Muslims will see it, regardless of what George W. Bush may claim he really means.
Bush, on an earlier occasion, said Islam is a religion of peace. Now, caving into extreme right-wing pressure, he equated the religion of peace with the ugliness of fascism. Such rhetoric contributes to fear and backlash against American Muslims. A recently released Gallup poll shows four out of 10 Americans feel "prejudiced" against Muslims.
"Prejudice" against Islam and Muslims allowed politicians to whip up a frenzy in rejecting the approval of a Dubai firm to operate U.S. ports. Conservative columnist David Brooks wrote, "But it is certain that the xenophobic hysteria will come back to harm the U.S. This (Middle East) is a region in the midst of traumatic democratic change. The strongest argument the fundamentalists have is that they are engaged in a holy war against the racist West, which imposes one set of harsh rules on Arabs and another set of rules on everybody else. Now comes a group of politicians to prove them gloriously right."
Scholarly writings are delving deeper into the root causes of suicide terrorism. Robert Pape in his book "Dying to Win" uses more than two decades of data to show the paucity of connection between suicide terrorism and any religion. The pioneering instigators and the largest purveyors of suicide terrorism are the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, a Marxist-Leninist group whose members are overwhelmingly Hindu.
Pape writes: "From Lebanon to Israel to Sri Lanka to Kashmir to Chechnya, the sponsors of every campaign have been terrorist groups trying to establish or maintain political self determination by compelling a democratic power to withdraw from a territory they claim." Occupation is the primary motivator and religion, at best, is an "aggravating" factor.
Today we all live in fear of terrorism. Equating terrorism with Islam makes the mainstream Muslim community doubly vulnerable to both the random acts of terror and the ensuing backlash.
In these trying times it is important our nation stands united. Muslims form an important part of the fabric of America. We are law-abiding citizens who have always been dedicated to the protection of our national security. We should not be targeted or singled out because of our faith. Nor should our faith be equated with the evils of terrorism or fascism. We do not control or have say over the actions of shadowy terrorist groups. But as taxpayers we certainly have a right to petition and expect our own to government do everything in its powers to protect us by all means, including avoiding counterproductive rhetoric.
A recent policy brief by the Stanley Foundation states that Western powers "should not focus on the religious and cultural divisions between East and West when approaching this issue (of terrorism), as this plays into the existing grievances of Arab and Muslim populations and creates a sense of clash between civilizations, all of which hinder the resolution of differences."
An attempt to institutionally and rhetorically dissociate Islam from terrorism is imperative.
Parvez Ahmed is chairman of Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR is the United States' largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group. To find out more about CAIR go to: www.cair.com E-mail: pahmed@cair.com.
Ya mean "ethics" based on islameo teachings that control your behaviour to do the following?
Quran-4:89— Take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah. But if they turn renegades, wherever ye find them; and take no friends or helpers from their ranks.
Sura 9:5 of the “Koranus,” “wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush.”
" upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given as believe not in God." Sura 9:29
"Strike off their heads then, and strike off from them every finger tip." - Sura 8:12
And they have the nerve to say We hate them! Of course we hate them! They want to MURDER US, and ENSLAVE our CHILDREN. That is if any of our children survive!
Muuuhhamhead (Pigs be inseminating her) is their only claim to fame! They wanna be just like him!
Illiterate, child molesting, lying, thieving, MURDERORS!!!
Jim Jones was connected to Christianity (if even by only a tenuous thread)?
Well, there are no places perfect in Utah near me! :-)
O-K, Houston we have a problem. So-o-o-o, go where you can be absolutely sure you won't have ANY problems like this at all. How about Saudi Arabia? Or Iran? Or Syria? Of Lebanon? Or Jordan? Or Iraq? Gee, look at all the options you have. No need to stay in this pitiful, unwelcoming country. All aboard! The plane leaves every day of the week!
Nah, let's just send them to those oh-so-tolerant and open-minded European countries.
Hey Parvez, you're not as stupid as the rest of your article suggests.
Gosh. He sounds really really hurt but what the President said. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he left the U.S. over this. And frankly, I hope they all do, ASAP.
Then do something about it, good Muslims. Stand up and fight within your religious circles.
I had a cab driver in Chicago recently who was Muslim and I naturally got into a discussion with him that encompassed politics and religion. It did get heated enough for us both to be standing outside the cab at the airport still discussing after my bags were checked at the curb. He was an honest fellow and I asked him if there were people at his mosque who might revere Osama bin Laden. His answer was so offhand that it was chilling to me. "Well, sure, there might be people who feel that way, but I don't pay them any attention, that isn't the real Islam..."
If there were people in my congregation who wanted millions of innocents dead, I would not even like to pray in the same room with them. I would not believe we could be praying to the same G-d at all.
But it is. Just ask the hundred million or so innocent victims who were slaughtered by muslims during the past 14 centuries. Islam is the king of all fascist philosophies.
Anyone out there know if I need to worry about butt scabies or anything from koran ink?
Please, don't anyone post photos of "Islamic ethics" in action. There are ladies present.
No mention of the chap who shot up the Jewish Center..
"There are some sites in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming that would be just perfect for these "havens of safety.""
Don't put 'em in Colorado. It's a wonderful place and I'm thinking of retiring there.
I think they would feel more at home in the Saudi desert.
Prejudice and cautious are two separate things. It just happens that Islam is the choice religion of terrorist. Islam must offer a very good benefit package to terrorist.
When you're done, please mail the pages to the NYT. That's what it's printed on.
cair is a front group,they want to beat us from within while the others try to beat from the outside,don't believe a word cair says.
SMM to Parvez: and your point is?
Exactly. No one is walking in to their community centers and opening fire. Yet.
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