Terrorist Attack _______________ Information Only

Top 435. Nov 24, 2001 8:40 AM

» BPyles - The Silent Imans

A partial quote "why are we the ones required to continually demonstrate our religious tolerance and respect for others? Shouldn't that be the responsibility of the Islamic world, of those in whose name this crime was perpetrated?"

The Silent Imams

By Charles Krauthammer

Friday, November 23, 2001; Page A43 , The Washington Post

President Bush visits the main Washington mosque and declares Islam a religion of peace. He urges Americans to publicly accompany and protect "women of cover" -- Islamic faithful wearing the shawl. He encourages American schoolchildren to find a Muslim pen pal.

On Monday, he held the first White House Ramadan dinner -- "a way for the administration to publicly make the case that it is sensitive to Muslims." (CNN) Indeed, the administration has put together an entire "Ramadan public relations offensive" to "highlight its sensitivity to Islamic tradition." (Washington Post)

Now, it is one thing for the president to affirm American religious tolerance and speak out sternly against anti-Muslim prejudice, as he did early and often after Sept. 11. That is honorable and very American. And in fact, one can only be astonished how few acts of anti-Islamic bigotry -- and how many acts of sympathetic understanding -- have occurred in a nation driven to grief and fury by a monstrous mass murder.

But it is quite another thing to protest so much that, yes, we do respect Islam. Why the doubt? No country on earth has been more welcoming to Muslim immigrants. Which is precisely why the Sept. 11 terrorists could spend a year and a half in America going about their murderous business unmolested.

And why must we constantly repeat that we are not at war with Islam? We never declared war on Islam. It was Islamic fanatics who, killing 4,000 Americans in the name of God, declared war on us. Why, then, are we the ones required to continually demonstrate our religious tolerance and respect for others? Shouldn't that be the responsibility of the Islamic world, of those in whose name this crime was perpetrated?

Imagine if 19 murderous Christian fundamentalists hijacked four airplanes over Saudi Arabia and, in the name of God, crashed them into the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, destroying the holy Kaaba and killing thousands of innocent Muslim pilgrims. Could anyone doubt that the entire Christian world -- clergy and theologians, leaders and lay folk -- would rise as one to
denounce the act? Yankee Stadium could not hold the trainloads of priests and preachers, reverends and rectors -- why, even rabbis would demand entry -- that would descend upon a mass service of atonement, shame, ostracism and excommunication. The pope himself would rend his garments at this blasphemous betrayal of Christ.

And yet after Sept. 11, where were the Muslim theologians and clergy, the imams and mullahs, rising around the world to declare that Sept. 11 was a crime against Islam? Where were the fatwas against Osama bin Laden? The voices of high religious authority have been scandalously still.

And what of Muslim religious leaders in America? At the solemn National Cathedral ceremony just three days after Sept. 11, the spokesman for the American Muslim community made no statement declaring the attacks contrary to Islam. There was no casting out of those who committed the crime. There was no fatwa against suicide murder. Instead, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi,
spiritual leader of the Islamic Society of North America, offered that to "those that lay the plots of evil, for them is a terrible penalty." Who are these plotters of evil receiving retribution? Did he mean the terrorists? Or did he mean that America had it
coming? He never said.

The imam of the leading mosque in New York, the 96th Street Mosque, left no ambiguity: He published an interview in Egypt, to which he repaired after Sept. 11, claiming that it was the Jews who perpetrated the attacks. Hence that great post-Sept. 11 oddity: Deafening silence from the spiritual authorities of Islam, obsessive chatter from Americans, largely Christian, filling that
silence with near apologetic professions of good faith and tolerance.

This is not just odd, it is demeaning. Who attacked whom? Who should be doing the soul-searching and the breast-beating? Why are we acting as if we bear guilt for our own victimization? The United States is the most diverse and religiously tolerant society on earth. By far. As regards Islamic peoples, we have been singularly sympathetic. We waged three successful military
campaigns in the 1990s. In every one we rescued a beleaguered Islamic people: Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo. And we have just liberated a fourth: Afghanistan.

Four thousand Americans lie dead in Washington and New York. Who should be atoning? Who should be reaching out to show religious tolerance and acceptance? Who should be asking their children to find pen pals of another faith?

Sept. 11 was supposed to be a wake-up call to moral seriousness. Let's show it and stop acting like the guilty party.

-- posted by BPyles

Top 436. Nov 24, 2001 12:35 PM

» rasputin - Re: The Silent Imans

In response to message posted by BPyles:

Great post, Betty. Krauthammer nails it again.

-- posted by rasputin

Top 437. Nov 24, 2001 1:37 PM

» DellaO - Re: The Silent Imans

In response to message posted by BPyles:

BPyles, I'm so glad that someone finally had the nerve to say what should been obvious all along.

I'm sick of Americans being accused of being "intolerant" to islam, and I'm also sick of being lectured about "what I have to be."

-- posted by DellaO

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...

Top 438. Nov 24, 2001 7:49 PM

» Steven_Russell - rocket attack missed US consulate, Karachi, Friday night

Rocket attack near US consulate in Karachi

KARACHI: An anti-tank rocket was fired at a building near the US consulate and a Pakistani military training headquarters, causing damage but no injuries, police said.

The grenade failed to explode but pierced three walls on Friday night at the Government College of Commerce and Economics, police said.

The college is next door to the headquarters of the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers and about 300 metres from the US consulate in one of the most heavily guarded parts of the city.

The motive was unknown but the Deputy Inspector General of the Karachi police, Tariq Jamil, described it as a "terrorist attack."

Security has been stepped up in Pakistan since President Pervez Musharraf declared his support for the US-led war on terrorism despite the country's former, longtime ties to the Taliban in Afghanistan. AP

( AP )

-- posted by Steven_Russell

Stand up and say no to extremism

Top 439. Nov 25, 2001 2:01 AM

» JenL_2 - Re: The Silent Imans

In response to message posted by BPyles:

Betty - I agree with Krauthammer's article in that Muslim Leaders around the world need to openly condemn the terrorist acts of 9/11. As I've said before, Islam has been hijacked by militant fanatic extremists and Muslims around the world have to stand-up and take back their religion. I'm not sure what's going on inside the world Islamic community - why they've been so silent. Not to make excuses - but from what I've read - it's a number of factors - denial, indoctrination, propaganda, long-time grievances against the West. Bin Laden and his ilk have had an essentially free hand and a long time to put their indoctrination, propaganda machine in place around the world....now our war is not only on the battlefields of Afghanistan or Iraq....but it's for the hearts and minds of Muslims around the world.

IMHO we can win the war of minds by following GW's lead to "continually demonstrate our religious tolerance and respect for others".

The author says..."Why the doubt?".....Well we have had some influential religious leaders like Franklin Graham making public statements like the entire Islamic religion is “wicked, violent and not of the same God". Well he's just wrong, but he has a lot of influence on what people think...he can sway opinions.

I wasn't born yet during WWII, but I learned later of how Japanese-Americans were herded up and imprisoned till the end of the war. I've seen the anti-Japanese propaganda and sentiment that was prevalent in the U.S. even before WWII - starting during the Sino-Japanese war. I can see how anti-racial, anti-ethnic, anti-religious sentiment can take hold very easily even in the U.S.

We as a country have a right to be very proud after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that we did not lower ourselves to blame a whole religion for the acts of fanatic extremists. IMHO we need to continue to do so. Islam needs to exorcise their own demons. Just like the passengers of flight 93 - they need to stand up to those that have hi-jacked their religion. We can't do it for them. But we can help by showing tolerance towards Islam. If some Muslims for some unfathonable reason have grievances towards us, maybe even have feelings of hate for us.....let's not reinforce that feeling by vocally hating back.

The Islamic world is starting to see the light....it's happening slowly....maybe not as fast as we'd like to see it.....but it is happening.....here's an article from 11/25 New Straits Times. It's like the Sunday paper in Malaysia:

By Munir Majid

MALAYSIA is a country like an oasis in a troubled world. Since independence in 1957, we've had it good for so long (apart from the major blemish in 1969) that we sometimes do not seem to appreciate our good fortune. We have come to take it for granted.

It is, however, a situation we should not be complacent about. Remember, our first Prime Minister the Tunku used to say he was the happiest Prime Minister in the world, until the racial riots of May 13, 1969 — which broke the heart of the illustrious Father of the Nation and signalled the beginning of the end of his leadership of the country.

The administration had failed to identify and to attend to Malay, now called Bumiputera, economic deprivation which gave rise to an acute sense of political vulnerability as well, following the result of the 1969 elections.

The racial riots which ensued threatened the political stability of the country; our nation, however, did not fall over the precipice because of concentrated action and the political wisdom of leaders of all races, particularly the Tunku's successor as Prime Minister Tun Razak.

The country's economic and racial divide was addressed by the NEP, a national policy of social engineering and political moderation which entertained the interest of every race, while particularly attending to Malay economic backwardness.

This policy was continued by our third Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn and taken to new heights of achievement by Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Thirty years on, we have survived and prospered as a multi-racial nation, based on affirmative action, mutual tolerance and the ruling out of extremism of any form, especially racial.

While Dr Mahathir has crafted an evolution of that national policy, and achieved a level of pride in being Malaysian never before known in the history of our country, the issue of racial tolerance and integration remains at the heart of the political system.

However, in more recent years, that political system, with the values of tolerance, moderation and pragmatic modernism, has come to be threatened by the use of Islamic extremism for political ends.

Thus, the preservation of racial harmony and achievement of higher order Malaysian nationhood are no longer the exclusive central concern of national policy which now also has to take into account the threat from this kind of political activity.

The use of Islamic extremism undermines Malay unity through religious division. Malay unity is the centrepiece of our political order. When divided the Malays will feel vulnerable and insecure.

This can feed on itself and shift Malay pragmatism and moderation to an extremist end.

This, in turn, could undermine the political order and stability that has been achieved. Therefore, just in political terms, Islamic extremism is subversive and has to be combated.

But, even more fundamentally, the manifestations of such extremism in the practice of the religion, such as the kafirmengkafir syndrome, bersembahyang dua imam, the demarcation even of grave sites according to political affiliation, are not things taught by Islam.

The form of the religion that is being pursued for political ends is perniciously accusatory and judgmental, intrusive and intolerant, and often cruel — if not yet quite in deed in this country, already in intent.

Religion, even more than race, is a sensitive matter. While the Government can and does act against the more immediately militant challenges to the political order, it is the people, in this case the Malays, who will be the final arbiter.

The appeal of these practices is being thrown at them. They must reject it in no uncertain terms in the interest of the Malay race, the Islamic religion and of the nation.

Government action alone will not be sufficient if the Malays allowed themselves to be duped by this extremist religious appeal.

The Malays must come forward even before election time, and certainly at election time, and say "no" to this abuse of religion to gain political power to realise extremist policies. The right way of Islam is tolerance, compassion and peace.

I would like to address this particularly to the Malays who are cowed or over-awed by self-appointed ulamak and tok guru, who are uncertain when it comes to religious discourse, and who are averse to politics thereby allowing activists to shape their future.

I would like to say to them they do not have to be religious experts to see that simple and basic tenets of Islam are being violated. I would like to say to them, if they do not stand up and be counted, they have everything to lose.

When Muslims have been disunited and extremist practices allowed to prevail, whole systems of order disappear, countries regress economically and socially, and calamity crushes nations.

The Taliban, in five years, visited extreme cruelty upon the Afghan people, conspired to export their violence elsewhere and, finally, calamity came. After two decades, Iran is now coming out of a dark period of turmoil after the revolution which swept aside the Shah, the Peacock throne, the effete middle classes and all.

The Beirut of old, Paris or Switzerland of the East, is no more thanks to warring factions and Muslim disunity in Lebanon.

Are we prepared to allow our country to be exposed to such eventualities and catastrophe? Certainly not. Therefore we should not play with fire or even try to ride the tiger.

We cannot, on the one hand, say acts of terrorism have nothing to do with the Islamic faith and, on the other, be prepared to entertain a political credo at home which precisely does not disavow such acts in the name of the religion.

I feel for the Prime Minister when I sometimes see him single-handedly take on the challenge of Islamic extremism and become the target of vile vituperative attack.

We should all, especially those in the Malay and true Islamic political movement Umno, give him full support in facing that challenge.

Indeed Umno should be strengthened to take on Pas and its use of Islam, not by caving in and trying to be more royal than the king, as the French would say, in the religion, but by putting across that it is Umno which is the true Islamic party, that it is Umno that has taken Muslims forward and that it is with Umno that the future of the Muslims and Malays is best protected.

For the country, what is at risk is the political system of tolerance, moderation and pragmatism which has brought peace, order, stability and so much benefit to the people. For the Malays and Muslims in Malaysia, what they could lose is their country.

.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 440. Nov 25, 2001 8:33 AM

» Rande - Re: Re: The Silent Imans

In response to message posted by JenL_2:

Has Islam been "hijacked?" Or is the reality really one of widespread, rank-and-file hatred of Israel and the U.S., and something far less than abhorrence (to be kind) by way of initial response to the 9/11 attacks? The more educated leaders of Islam in this country along with the leaders of so-called "moderate" Arab states would have us believe the former. Are they sincere? Or is it a case of the same old duplicity and cynical double-dealing? The absence of unconditional condemnation of Arab terrorism, the ubiquitous inclusion of "but" when it comes to the Jews (but...American needs to change its "foreign policy"), and the continuing Hitleresque spewing of hatred in the Middle East might give us a clue.

-- posted by Rande

Top 441. Nov 25, 2001 8:47 AM

» BPyles - Clash of Civilizations

A conference among Arab countries sounds like a good start and step in right direction, except Amr Mussa, Arab League secretary general, statement "Ten days after the September 11 attacks, Mussa warned that Arabs and Muslims were being persecuted***the new world order, or some of its leaders at least, have gone looking for an enemy to target***." Sounds like they are going into their conference without an open mind. Wonder if they will condemn and disband their madrassas schools? Failed to see any mention of "Israel/Palestine." Doubt that it means anything tho.

Arabs search for way to avert clash of civilizations, The India Times

C AIRO: Arab intellectuals headed here on Sunday for a
conference aimed at helping to avert a widely-feared
"clash of civilizations" between the West and Islam
over the September 11 terror attacks in the United States.

The conference starting on Monday at the Cairo-based Arab
League follows calls by leaders in Washington, London, the
United Nations in New York, Tehran, Cairo, and other capitals
to work for dialogue among civilizations.

The two-day conference is the first gathering organized by the
Arab League to deal with problems between western and
Islamic civilizations.

The gathering is the work of Arab League secretary general
Amr Mussa, who has warned of attempts in the west to make
scapegoats of Arabs and Muslims for the September 11 terror
attacks that cost thousands of lives in the United States.

Under the title "The Dialogue of Civilizations: an Exchange and
not a Clash," more than 70 intellectuals will start work to
counter negative Western attitudes toward Arabs and Muslims.

"We observed that there have been doubts about Arab citizens
and some practices against the Arabs, and that is why we
have convened this conference to ready ourselves against the
propagation of theses which evoke a clash of civilizations,"
Mussa declared at a press conference on Saturday.

The conference is expected to adopt recommendations on the
means of dealing with "attempts to distort Arab culture and
Islamic civilisation", Mussa said in Arabic.

These recommendations will be submitted to Arab heads of
state at their next summit in March in Beirut, but "certain
urgent recommendations will be applied immediately", he
added without further detail.

Since September 11, hate crimes have been reported against
people of Middle Eastern appearance, while many Muslim and
Arab Americans have complained of harassment.

The United States, Britain, France and other countries have
been drafting or enacting tougher anti-terrorism laws and other
regulations that critics say make it easier to violate the rights
of Muslims and Arabs.

The United States has also issued tighter visa restrictions
targeting Muslim men from 25 countries.

Mussa along with other leaders in both Arab and Western
capitals were outraged by remarks in late September attributed
to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that western
civilization was "superior to Islam."

Lebanese culture minister Ghassan Salame, and Jordan's
Prince al-Hassan bin Talal will attend the conference, as well
as a number of thinkers and analysts from various Arab
countries.

Salame has already arrived in Cairo while the Jordanian prince
and most of the others were expected to arrive here on late
Sunday, league officials said.

Ten days after the September 11 attacks, Mussa warned that
Arabs and Muslims were being persecuted and warned of a
"clash of civilisations."

"The new world order, or some of its leaders at least, has gone
looking for an enemy to target," Mussa said in a speech
distributed by the League.

The United States has singled out Saudi-born extremist
Osama Bin Laden as the prime suspect behind the September
attacks, while Arab leaders have warned the US against
jumping to conclusions in apportioning blame.

Mussa warned that mismanagement of the crisis provoked by
the September attacks could unleash disaster.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned during a visit to Gaza
City in October that Bin Laden, who issues videotapes
broadcast on Arab television, hopes to widen an existing "gulf
of misunderstanding" between east and West.

In a recent broadcast by Qatari-based Al-Jazeera television,
Bin Laden said Muslims who support US President George W
Bush in his campaign against Afghanistan have "renounced
their religion

-- posted by BPyles

Top 442. Nov 25, 2001 9:38 AM

» Rande - Great organization, great website:

Great organization, great website:

American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA)

ACTA is a nonprofit educational organization committed to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability on college and university campuses. It supports programs and policies that encourage high academic standards, strong curricula, and the free exchange of ideas.

http://www.goacta.org/

ACTA speaks out against liberal bias on college campuses around the country. Here's a sampling of what they'v recently found:

This week, ACTA released a report documenting more than 100 examples in the media and on the Web that show a ''blame America first'' bias among faculty. At best, faculty reactions were ''equivocal,'' Neal says. Patriotism was rarely promoted.

Among examples: Massachusetts Institute of Technology linguistics professor Noam Chomsky is quoted as saying the ''only way to put an end to terrorism is to stop participating in it''; a University of Texas professor in Austin said the terrorist attacks were ''no more despicable than the massive acts of terrorism that the U.S. government has committed.''

Brown University English professor William Keach, whose remarks disparaging U.S. foreign policy were criticized in the report, says he doesn't mind the negative e-mails he has received after his comments. But professors elsewhere have been rebuked. The chancellor of the City University of New York, for example, publicly denounced faculty who criticized U.S. foreign policy at a teach-in.

ACTA, too, says it wants to expand the debate, not silence dissent. Its report, being mailed to 3,000 trustees, is part of a wider ACTA initiative to urge colleges and universities to strengthen programs and courses in American history and Western civilization.

Meanwhile, other participants in the free-speech debate say they aren't surprised by this latest twist. For years, conservative groups have argued that college campuses have become hotbeds of liberalism and say their concerns have largely been ignored.

Now, with public support of U.S. foreign policy so strong, ''almost overnight on some campuses the worm has turned,'' says Harvey Silverglate, co-founder of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, dedicated to protecting free speech on campuses.

''In a country where power shifts back and forth, inevitably something is going to happen that is going to cause the pendulum to swing. It's a great advertisement for the notion that we have to protect the (speech) we hate.''

USA Today
http://www.goacta.org/USA/USA11-15-01.htm

And, just to show this organization has intellecutal integrity....

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 14, 2001) -- The American Council of Trustees and Alumni today came to the defense of University of New Mexico professor Richard Berthold who is under investigation by the University for remarking: “Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote.”

“Professor Berthold's comment is certainly crude and debatable, but it is not punishable,” said Anne D. Neal, ACTA's Vice President and General Counsel. “While we clearly disagree, academic freedom requires a free exchange of ideas—no matter how controversial.”

-- posted by Rande

Nur Misuari arrested Renegade governor caught off Sabah; Arroyo praises Malaysia

Top 443. Nov 25, 2001 10:09 AM

» JenL_2 - Re: Clash of Civilizations

In response to message posted by BPyles:

It sounds hopeful to me Betty. I really do think that the winds of change are in the air......brought on by the unspeakable horror of the 9/11 terrorist attacks..... the ensuing world spotlight on the strict cruel inhumane al Qaeda and Taliban rule in Afghanistan.... the war in Afghanistan where we've seen Muslim killing Muslim.... al Qaeda and foreign Taliban killing Afghani Taliban....Afghani Taliban fighting Afghani Northern Alliance and then switching sides and fighting together against Taliban.......bin Laden's videotape denouncing Muslim countries that are members of the UN. Each of these Islamic countries has their own internal extremist fanatic Militant Islamic factions that threaten to topple their government.... I think that they're Now Finally realizing the Real Threat that Islamic Extremism holds for their country and for Islam in general. We'll see.

This story in 11/25 Malaysia's New Straights Times seems to be a sign of the winds of change:

KUALA LUMPUR, Sat. — Nur Misuari, the renegade former Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao governor and Moro National Liberation Front head, was arrested off the Sabah waters this morning, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Norian Mai said today.....

‘Malaysia will not intervene’

By Cheah Chor Sooi

PUTRAJAYA, Sat. — Malaysia will not intervene in the newly-erupted war in the southern Philippines nor offer any protection to rebel leader Nur Misuari, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

He said Malaysia no longer felt obliged to support Misuari, who is also the leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), as he had failed to carry out his duties as a responsible leader.

"This is an internal matter of the Philippines and we should not intervene by giving protection to the rebels.

"He had not done much to improve the welfare of the Muslim population after his election as governor.

"Despite receiving profound support from Malaysia in its previous peace negotiations with the Philippines Government, he was prepared to carry out another revolt.

"This goes to show that he is not complying with the wishes of the majority of the population in the southern Philippines," Dr Mahathir said after launching the WorldSpace Digital Audio Broadcasting Service, which is provided by Asiaspace Dotcom Sdn Bhd, at his office here.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was reported to have spoken to Dr Mahathir yesterday, requesting the latter's help to end the fresh revolt. Dr Mahathir said Malaysia's "one and only" commitment in the civil war would be not to allow terrorists from using the country as an operational base.

"We will uphold our promise that we will co-operate with all countries to halt terrorism," Dr Mahathir said, noting that Malaysia would not grant political asylum to Misuari.

"We had done all that was necessary in the past, including helping him secure an autonomy area, so that he could fulfil his promise to the people of the southern Philippines.

"However, after being in power, he was rarely in the southern Philippines to oversee the development of the region. Instead, he spent most of his time abroad or in Manila." Hundreds of former rebels launched an armed uprising on the southern island of Jolo last Tuesday in an apparent attempt by Misuari, who is also the MNLF chairman, to derail local elections scheduled for Nov 26.

Once the largest separatist group, MNLF signed a peace agreement with the Philippine Government in 1996, accepting autonomy and dropping its bid for independence.

Misuari was subsequently elected governor of a Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.

The peace talks were brokered by the Organisation of Islamic Conference, in which Malaysia is an active member.

Following the armed uprising, Arroyo recently stripped Misuari of his powers as governor of the southern autonomous region.

Apparently although Malaysia has supported Misuari and his Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the past, they aren't giving him asylum now....their resolve Against Terrorism is stronger than their support of extremist Islam. Haven't been following the war in the Phillipines, but have no doubts that al Qaeda has been actively recruiting there also, and that they're behind the MNLF....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2