Posted on 06/21/2006 12:17:58 PM PDT by white trash redneck
A survey conducted by Cornell University recently found that around half of Americans have a negative view of Islam and would like the US government to curtail the political activity of Muslims in the US.
Addressing a press conference at the headquarters of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), Paul Findley, a former US Congressman, said that the cancer of anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic sentiments was spreading in American society and requires corrective measures to stamp out this malaise.
It was also announced that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) would be launching a massive $50 million media campaign involving television, radio and newspapers as part of its five-year program to create a better understanding of Islam and Muslims in the US.
Referring to the anti-Islamic sentiments in the US, Findley said that the campaign was being spearheaded by a tiny but influential section of society, including some politicians, academics and opinion-makers.
Findley commended CAIR’s initiative that he said could go a long way toward improving the image of Islam and Muslims, which has been badly dented in part due to the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Speaking on his interaction with the US media, Ibrahim Cooper, spokesman for CAIR, said that his own feeling was that American journalists are receptive to issues affecting Muslims. For this reason, nearly all American newspapers, print or online, refrained from reproducing the caricature of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that were at the center of a controversy earlier this year. He said CAIR took advantage of the issue by distributing DVDs free of charge, bringing out a book on the Prophet, and launching an awareness campaign.
“All of this had a positive impact,” said Cooper.
Parvez Ahmed, CAIR chairman, spoke on what he described as the most “vicious attacks on Islam” he has ever seen in recent years, adding that the campaign is being orchestrated by a minority fringe element in the US seeking to drive a xenophobic wedge between Muslims and non-Muslims.
He said a minority of Muslim extremists helps perpetuate anti-Muslim sentiment in the US, but that it is wrong for Americans to rush to conclusions based on these groups that have distorted or misinterpreted Qur’anic text. He compared it to making judgments on Christians based on the Crusades.
Elaborating on the CAIR campaign to dispel misunderstandings of Islam and Muslims, Nihad Awad, CAIR executive director, said that his group proposes to spend $10 million annually for five years in a media campaign. He said that CAIR would also recruit volunteers and produce educational material as part of its initiative.
“We are planning to meet Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal for his financial support to our project. He has been generous in the past,” he added.
... and when they attacked the USS Cole, and when they tried to blow up the World Trade Center before, and when they blew up the Marine barracks in Beirut, and when they attacked the Khobar Towers, and...
threw a cripple overboard, shot hostages on airplanes, killed Israeli atheletes, blew up subways in London and Madrid, killed hundreds of Russian school children, blew up a nightclub in Bali...
All the advertising in the world won't get me to change my view of islam and muslims.
Where is CAIR gtting that kind of money from and what the hell is wrong with the half of America who doesnt see Islam for what it is Satanism.
I didn't know Findley was still around. He was a central Illinois Republican congressman who lost his seat to Dick Durbin. (There must be something in the water down there.)
While looking up info on him, I found this tidbit:
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2004%20opinions/September/30%20o/22%20Year%20Veteran%20Congressman%20Paul%20Findley%20Dares%20to%20Speak%20Out%20Again,%20On%20DVD,%20Exposing%20Israel's%20Lobby%20By%20Mark%20Farrell.htm
I wonder who's paying him?
Oh, BTW, Findley, CAIR, et. al. -- most Americans probably didn't think about Islam much at all until the last few years, roughly after 9/11/01. Given what we've seen--both the murderous savagery on the part of many Muslims and the deafening silence on that savagery on the part of most of the rest -- what other kind of opinion of Muslims do you think Americans would have? You call it Islamophobia, which I take you to mean an irrational fear. I say it is good, practical, common sense and completely rational.
Prove me wrong.
Are you're finished trashing the constitution? There are some real Americans that want to use it.
They must have conducted this survey outside a mosque. I don't know anyone that has a positive image of islam.
How about addressing the substantive problem of Moslems committing and supporting acts of violence against non-Moslems and fellow Moslems, rather than just treating this as some sort of public relations problem?
Awfully nice of us to allow their propaganda machine CAIR to operate freely in our country. Wonder what would happen to well meaning Americans trying to set up a similar organization in Saudi Arabia, or Syria, or Iran, or any other muzzie hell hole? No doubt their heads would be found in a box somewhere.
It wouldn't be unconstitutional to deport non-citizens from terrorist-source countries.
Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal
Let's see, they want to cut off my -- uhh, this is a family web site -- private parts, throw me into a burka, make me the third wife of some goatherder, and refuse to let me vote, drive, work, or go out of the house by myself. I gotta meet the PR agent who thinks they can "improve" Islam's "image."
I want them out. Period. They do not assimilate into our society so I cannot trust them.
A nation of isolated cultures clumping together is not what I envision for my country.
I work in a techinical industry and work around many foreign nationals including muslims from various middle eastern countries. These guys do not actively participate in non work related social activities. They tend to keep to themselves.
I suspect they are quiet because they are not here in large enough numbers yet. They will grow bolder as their numbers increase. I never hear them say anything about world events as they occur. Their silence speaks volumes to me.
Even though I've seen no actions on their part to cause suspicion, occasionally the thought crosses my mind, will one of them decide today is the day to go to his virgins...
I'm not interested in the trip....thank you.
Islam, it's not worth losing your head over....
CAIR spelled it Al-Waleed ibn Talal in this propaganda piece.
Islamophobia is logical.
Haven't CAIR and WAMY been fully discredited as Islamofascist front groups?
...or instructing them on the advantages of indoor plumbing.
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