Posted on 09/11/2006 1:59:04 PM PDT by TheDon
My summary: About 100 protestors supported the United American Committee rally across the street from the King Fahd Mosque, during which they hung Osama Bin Laden in effigy.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
I agree. It'd be no different than burning Gerry Adams in effigy in front of a Catholic church, or (even though he's just a jerk, and not a terrorist) burning Fred Phelps in effigy in front of a Baptist church.
CULVER CITY, Calif. - Activists hanged an effigy of Osama Bin Laden across the street from a Southern California mosque Sunday to protest radical Islam on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
With a crowd of about 100 people shouting "Remember 9-11!" and "No more Jihad!" two men on the back of a pickup truck slipped a noose around the neck of a dummy wearing a Bin Laden mask and strung it up, while the crowd pelted the effigy with shoes.
The protest was organized by the United American Committee, a group that says it promotes awareness of internal threats facing America.
About 70 counter-protesters described the King Fahd Mosque as a peaceful center for area Muslims and yelled "racists go home!" during the ritual. A group of clergy joined hands with some of the mosque's worshippers and stood in a circle in front of the mosque.
"I think it's crazy," said mosque spokesman Usman Madha. "We have never encouraged extremism. We were the first mosque that condemned the Sept.11 atrocities and we kicked out a few people that protested that condemnation."
The United American Committee claimed the mosque supports radical Islam. A report from the Sept. 11 commission said investigators believed two of the hijackers had visited the mosque after arriving in the United States in 2000.
"We are here in love, we are here for the Muslim people," said Peter James, a member of the United American Committee who was dressed in a black bathrobe to resemble an executioner. "We want to give you some free PR. This is a chance to distance yourself from terror."
There were several heated exchanges as protesters crossed the street to confront one another, but no violence and no arrests, Culver City police said.
In 2003, Jewish Defense League activist Earl Krugel pleaded guilty to conspiring to bomb the mosque along with the office of San Diego congressman Darrell Issa. Krugel was killed in prison last year.
I'm very anti-Muslim, and I used to live 1 town over from Culver City. I'm not a supporter of this type of activity. If Muslims want to burn flags and effigies, that's fine for them. I'd prefer we not do it.
The problem with your analogy is that most Catholics don't support terrorism, and most Baptists aren't part of the "God gates fags" crowd.
Now Muslims, otoh, are virtually all for Shariah law, and I can pretty much guarante you that Muslims who congregate at the "King Fahd" mosque are of the Wahhabist bent, which is for the strictest kind of Shariah law.
Hmmm both of those sounds like good ideas too...
susie
Freedom of expression, especially political expression is EXACTLY what our country stands for, like it or not.
susie
Unless you have met every single Muslim in the world, you can't say that they're all for sharia law. I've known plenty who aren't, and who strongly believe in the Western belief of religious tolerance and pluralism. Don't misunderstand me; I fully realize we are up against a dangerous enemy, and I have met Muslims who still haven't understood that in deciding to emigrate to the West, they must choose to live according to its laws and accept the fact that they have to live amongst people who are different from them. But we can't stoop to the "they're all like that" attitude if we're going to win.
They should have seen it as a lucky coincidence, and a CHANCE to show how much they abhor extremism.
Cuz they're NOT.
Riiiight........?
This was not a random mosque. This is a mosque where 2 of the 9/11 perps came from, and a mosque that is til this day preaching the same hateful anti-American ideology that produced them. There is no more appropriate place in the U.S. for such a protest.
ping!
My great grandparents who were German immigrants would have asked to join in on burning hitler in effigy.
The Koran and Hadiths all call for Shariah law.
Now, if a Muslim isn't for Shariah law, then they are going against what their religious texts say, making them a MINO (Muslim in name only).
Saudi Arabia funds thousands of Mosques in the West, and you can bet your bottom dollar the Imams employed by these Mosques preach Wahhabism.
I disagree, however you have a right to your opinion, which is what makes this such a great country! :)
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