Posted on 04/30/2004 2:11:32 AM PDT by kattracks
When the American Islamic Forum for Democracy organized A Rally against Terror on April 25 in Phoenix, its head, an Arizona physician named Zuhdi Jasser, said his goal was to give Muslim moderates an opportunity to speak out publicly. And Jasser presented the rally as a robust response to the many criticisms that American Muslims had not produced a groundswell of condemnation against terrorism. In fact, he asserted,
The killing of innocent people out of revenge, out of hate or out of retribution is against the absolute laws of Islam. Suicide is against the absolute laws of Islam. People can justify their actions all day long, but we as Muslims are here to say clearly their actions are against everything we believe.
Jasser wrote an oped in the Arizona Republic where, as a Muslim, he took responsibility for the mistrust directed toward American Muslims, rather than merely blow this off as prejudice:
It is impossible as an American not to feel the growing palpable distrust toward the Muslim community. With attacks targeting innocent civilians across the globe, it has sadly at this time gone far beyond the initial prideful question of Why are Muslims being singled out? It is time now only to rally and provide an unmistakable resounding reply.
With this in mind, he set out two goals for the rally:
We want to reassure the American public that the great majority of Muslims condemn the targeting of innocents by virtue of the tenets of our faith. We also want to give hope and inspiration to faithful Muslims all over the country that this type of rally is possible.
Jasser found support for his efforts as close as the Arizona Republic, which correctly judged this event to be the nations first Muslim rally against terrorism, and as far away as the countrys capital, where a Washington Times editorial ended with, We salute Dr. Jasser, American patriot.
The Muslim community of Phoenix is estimated at 50,000 persons; Jasser worked strenuously to reach out to the Valley Council of Imams, Valley mosques and major Valley Islamic organizations; and the Arizona Republic, the leading newspaper of Phoenix, gave the rally its full-fledged support. A head of steam behind him, Jasser optimistically predicted that 500 to 1,000 people would attend the event.
But then the event was held (an audio of the 50-minute long event can be heard online) and reality set in. Estimates vary. The Arizona Republic counted 250 in attendance, the police 400. The number of Muslims, I heard, was between 30 and 100 persons. Most participants were not Muslim but (the Arizona Republic recounts) people like Michael Fischer, 18, of Glendale, who wanted to denounce the stereotyping of Muslims; and Grace Clark of Apache Junction, who wanted to promote peace. One correspondent of mine judged the event a total disaster.
But that is too severe. It was a humble beginning that can grow into something large and strong. Jasser points out to me that The beginnings of every great movement in our great nations history of freedom began in a small way. He notes also that American Muslims, being predominantly first-generation immigrants, are still getting grounded. With time, he expects, the vast majority of American Muslims will listen to the message of our rally and find complete agreement with its statement of faith.
Until then, however, there is the stark reality that very few Muslims did show up. And those who did held up peace and anti-war signs, not anti-terror or anti-Islamist signs. Two factors help explain this disappointing result.
First, the message of the event did not fit the thinking of most Muslims. Unfortunately, the mood in this community is a radical one, and not inclined to stand up and condemn terrorism.
Second, Zuhdi did not pander to the Islamist establishment such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations in planning the event. These extremists no doubt could have brought out a larger crowd but to rail against Israel or U.S. policy.
The Phoenix rally points to the current reality of American Muslim opinion. This problem needs to be dealt with. If not, I can imagine the United States will hear the same overt calls for jihad and Islamic rule that Western Europe is now experiencing.
Daniel Pipes (www.DanielPipes.org) is director of the Middle East Forum and author of Miniatures (Transaction Publishers).
Evidence? Look at what is going on in Indonesia, the Sudan, the Middle East, Spain, Nigeria, Pakistan. You can't say Islam has nothing to do with a lot of the violence and death in the world right now.
Based on the evidence that since 9/11, there have been virtually NO instances where Muslims have publicly condemned those attackes without adding the qualifier "but," and that the only public statements about terrorism by US Muslims have been complaints about their so-called persecution (which in reality has been virtually non-existent).
Are you saying that most of the 7 million Muslims in the US are terrorists
Based on all the visible evidence and the behavior of the Muslim community, it is pretty clear tha that the majority of Muslims in the US are either sympathetic to radical Islam, actively supporting it, or too cowardly/intimidated to stand up and condemn it.
That is ridiculous. If they were a threat, President Bush, a real patriot, would be the first to deal with it.
Just like he's dealing with illegal immigration across our southern border.
If you were president what would you do with Muslims?
At the very least I would not be going our of my way to tout Islam as the religion of peace.
Do you think most Americans view 99.999% of Muslims as terrorists even though 99.999999999999999999% have not done a single thing to back terrorism?
99.999999999999999999% have not done a single thing to oppose it or condemn it, either.
If they're really so peaceful --- this was there chance and something like 30 or so showed up? You'd think more would come by even if their intention was to fool people. I don't think there is a city in the USA where many Muslims would show up to an anti-terror demonstration --- because many don't disagree with the goals of Al Queda.
You outed yourself.
Sorry you don't like Israel.
Too bad that prejudice has nothing to do with the problem caused by American unwillingness to recognize that we have allowed an islamic chancre to develope into a full scale disease on our own soil.
Also, I note your comment that " Only 1/6 of Muslims are Middle Eastern. " and that begs two questions:
How did islam convert 83% of its membership from other religions? (hint - force).
And, what percentage of American muslims are converts and why did they do so if not forced? (hint - they don't believe in our style of society or government)
It is only people like them who have the power to avert an honest to God holy war and so far it seems very unlikely that they can or will step forth and try.
I saw that and had to comment on it. Fortunately, before I did I saw that you had already done so.
It's this supposed silent majority that bothers me almost as much as the terrorists killing innocent men, women, and children in the name of allah.
By their silence, they appear to be in support of the terror. And their silence silences my tolerance and fuels my own growing prejudice against Muslims and Islam.
My mind is still open but I'm reminded that I can't hear what you, the "moderate Muslims", are saying as your actions are speaking so loudly. In almost every war, in almost every trouble spot on the planet, there are Muslims stirring things up.
It's bigotted to believe most Muslims would abuse our rights but okay to believe most Israelis would abuse our rights? Isralies didn't kill over 2000 Americans who only went to work one September day in NY.
If it hadn't been a lib president we would have stopped the second day of the invasion. The media would have done what they did in Viet Nam and are now trying to do in Iraq.
We must not let the media define our president or our mission in Iraq.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.