At the conclusion of the Friday service, the Central Mosque of Charleston congregation stands to prayer on Friday.
The message Imam Mohamed Melhem delivered during the Friday afternoon prayer service at the Central Mosque of Charleston emphasized the unity of Islam and its universal message of peace.
But in the wake of the recent arrests of two Egyptian students driving through Goose Creek, he also expressed the collective frustration of local Muslims, many of whom think the public reaction to the arrests has been exaggerated and unfair.
“The media went crazy,” Melhem said. “Most Muslims are good citizens and good contributors to society.”
And nothing much is yet known about the two students, he said, so why the rush to judgment?
“We believe in the system and the court of law and believe it will be fair,” he said.
Read it all from the front page of yesterday’s local paper.
I feel badly for them. But I look at the family I met last month (visiting the Low Country coincidentally) and see how they have no husband/dad because he never made it out of the World Trade Center. It’s too bad Muslims (and others) don’t adequately understand what happened that day, and at this point I don’t think they ever will.
Assuming that just because a person is Muslim, that (s)he wants to destroy America is wrong. Most are good and peace loving individuals. However, these boys were found with some measure of high explosives in something that resembled a pipebomb and they were found near a military installation.
What would go a long way to alleviating the distrust that many Americans feel towards muslims (expecially muslims who act dress separately and yell “Allah!” in airports) would be for muslims to forcefully and loudly denounce other muslims – by name – who support and embrace violence. Imagine the good will that would be accrued if a mulim Imam turned in another Mohammed Atta.
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
Gee, do you think they got Aug. 4 confused with July 4 and showed up a month late with the “fireworks”? 🙁 Sounds like the legal system is handling the case properly and we should wait for results of due process.
Phil:
Wouldn’t “good and peace loving individuals” [b][i]already[/i][/b] “forcefully and loudly denounce other muslims – by name – who support and embrace violence”?
James,
There is an easily identifiable demographic, constituting 6% of US citizens, who are responsible for half of [i][b]all[/i][/b] murders in this country. Let me know if you want me to identify them for you so you can forcefully and loudly denounce them.
There are two pathologies at work here. The first is to be suspicious of the “other” when the “other” is easily identified by dress or customs. It worked against the Jews for almost all of their history and it is working against the muslims today. When a society is threatened from within or without or is undergoing radical change, they will be suspcious of people who don’t look or dress or act like them. That pathology works to “promote” profiling against muslims in America today.
The second pathology is to protect people who look like us and profess our beliefs. You see this most commonly in American politcs where the Democrats protected Bill Clinton (who lied under oath) and Sandy Berger (who stole and destroyed classified documents) and the Republicans protect Newt Gingrich or George Bush. The basic idea is “He may be a @!#^%, but he’s [b]our[/b] @!#^&.” This works to silence or mitigate against muslims denouncing individuals who advocate violence. They internally minimize the words and actions of individuals while denouncing the concepts of violence or terrorism.
We need to work against [b]both[/b] pathologies to realize that “the other” is not dangerous, while at the same time, realize that those who agree with us in somethings, but who act against the best interests of society or our group (such as politicians who act illegally or morally wrong or radical anyone who advocate violent overthrow of society) actually hurt our group and need to be cut out like a cancer. This exclusion is actually necessary for a full reconciliation to take place. Being excluded from your own “group” may serve to show that your actions or methods are really wrong to begin with.
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
Phil, You are correct. As to Reactionary (still love that screen name) please name a credible Christian leader who doesn’t denounce murders, no matter what % of the population commits them. On 9/11 Mullahs all over the world were dancing in the streets celebrating murder. I have seen news pictures from CNN, NBC, CBS and ABC which were “censored” on 9/11 by the NY editors. If the Muslims in America want to be treated without suspicion they need to denounce and renounce violence, jihad, etc. and turn in the people who are plotting such things. I believe I can promise you that if I or Phil found out a member of our church was plotting a crime of any kind, we’d turn them in.
David,
Many Muslims did just that. One of the first places Joseph Lieberman was photographed after 9/11 was a mosque. If you don’t think Muslims belong here, and I happen to think they do not, then you need to say so rather than wringing your hands over the fact that they are as conflicted as they are. From their perspective, the US gives them less reasons every year to shift their loyalties toward it. You may disagree with the sentiment, but it is what it is.
If we applied the same metric to African-Americans that we do to Muslims, the military would be occupying every major urban area and commentators would be saying that Jim Crow was the only homeland security we ever needed.
Jihad On Our Shores
By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, August 10, 2007 4:20 PM PT
Homeland Security: Some say America’s not fertile ground for jihadists, that all the radicals are overseas. The arrest of two Muslims near a South Carolina Naval base with pipe bombs reminds us such thinking is wishful.
——————————————————————————–
Related Topics: Global War On Terror | Military & Defense
——————————————————————————–
Two college students from Tampa — Ahmed Mohamed and Yousef Megahed — were caught speeding toward the Goose Creek naval weapons station. Police found lead pipe bombs in their trunk. They’ve been charged with possession of explosives, and the FBI is investigating them as possible “terrorists,” say neighbors interviewed by agents.
These cases seem to pop up every few months. For those paying attention, it spells a trend. But you’d never know it from the spotty news coverage they receive. If they are covered, the media plays them almost as random crime stories.
Terror plots and arrests on the other side of the pond, however, get major play. To hear pundits, Europe has the Islamic terror problem, not us. The Christian Science Monitor says “European-style homegrown terror cells” are just not seen here.
In fact, we’ve had more homegrown terror. You just don’t hear about it as much because we’ve already had our 9/11.
In addition to the Muslim snipers who terrorized the Washington area for weeks on the first anniversary of 9/11, the U.S. has been plagued by dozens of terror attacks or disrupted plots over the past several years, including:
• The “Lackawanna Six” from upstate New York who were caught training for terror with al-Qaida overseas.
• The Columbus, Ohio, trucker who helped al-Qaida case the Brooklyn Bridge for attack.
• The Los Angeles man who fatally shot two and wounded three at an Israeli airline ticket counter at LAX.
• The New Yorker found guilty of plotting to blow up a Manhattan subway station.
• The Lodi, Calif., native who trained with al-Qaida in Pakistan to blow up fellow Americans at supermarkets.
• The three black Muslim converts from Torrance, Calif., jailed for plotting to attack Army recruiting stations and synagogues.
• The Virginia jihadists busted for training to kill U.S. soldiers overseas.
• The San Francisco Muslim who took his SUV on a hit-and-run killing spree.
• The black Muslim cell in Miami which plotted to attack the Sears Tower.
• The jihadist who went on a shooting rampage at a Jewish community center in Seattle, announcing “I’m a Muslim American; I’m angry at Israel.”
• The Fort Dix Six who planned to penetrate the New Jersey base as pizza delivery men, then open fire on troops.
• The black Muslim converts who recently plotted to blow up JFK airport.
• The honors student-turned-jihadist who rented an SUV and rammed it into a crowd at the University of North Carolina.
• The pro-Taliban operatives caught training for jihad in the Oregon woods.
• The shotgun-toting 18-year-old Muslim who murdered five shoppers inside a Salt Lake City mall.
• The black convert recently busted for plotting to blow up Illinois shopping malls with grenades.
And on and on.
Some argue that these cases, as many as there are, are isolated and don’t add up to the kind of intense radicalism seen in Britain. They say our Muslims are moderate by comparison. A recent Pew poll, however, reveals that more than one in four young Muslim Americans favors suicide bombing as a way to even scores.
Some pundits also claim our mosques don’t preach hatred. It’s fairly common for imams to preach assimilation, claims pro-Arab lobbyist James Zogby. That’s not as true in Europe, where sermons can be laced with extremism, he says.
“The success of Saudi-inspired religious zealotry in Europe was in large part because the Saudis put up the money to build mosques and pay for imams,” says Ian Cuthbertson, a counterterrorism expert at the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research. “The American Muslim community was rich enough not to require Saudi money to build its mosques.”
In fact, eight in 10 mosques in America are funded and controlled by the Saudis.
The notion that America doesn’t have a radical Muslim problem unfortunately is a myth. Pundits need to quit fooling people.
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=271638722591790
Bob,
Part of the problem is that certain factions in today’s society don’t want to admit that there is a larger problem, or that we are in a war against a group (instead of a nation) that has world domination as their goal, and the enemy isn’t afraid of dying and killing innocents to achieve that goal.
These factions sees the need to look inward as to why WE are causing the problem (we have to find out why they hate us, what we have done to them) instead of looking outward to where the real problem lies.
These factions have the “can’t we all just get along” mentality to an unhealthy degree, and can’t see that while getting along is a noble goal, if only one side has that outlook, the other side will soon take over and silence them (in history, Chamberlain as opposed to Churchill).
Unfortunately, these factions have control of both houses of Congress and much of the press, so no real change in the reporting of these incidents is to be expected.
Unfortunately these factions are also more than willing to fight against their own people who want to preserve a democratic way of life, to call those who want to stop the enemy ‘intolerant’, ‘hate mongers’, ‘war profiteers’ etc. and silence any debate in the media, and prevent the victories from being published and broadcast, only negative news is seen as worthy.
Bob’s sad litany of muslim attacks, or attempted/planned attacks on their fellow citizens here in the USA, puts a lie to the government’s harping on the fact that we have not been *hit* since 9/11.
We have been hit, over and over again, but the perps who conduct the actions are always officially described as disturbed individuals, not part of a jihadist cel, or planned assault.
Well, the truth is that unless the nation openly faces the reality, we will continue to suffer the pin prick attacks, while the jihadists being prepared here in the USA, gain experience and deepen their committment.
The nation needs to realize that there is a class of boll weevil in the land, in the main sheltered by a religious community, and being trained and funded by members of that community.
The attacks are not being conducted by the 1st Baptist Irregulars, the 2nd Reg’t of Roman Catholic Riflemen or the 3rd Anglican Volunteer Artillery.
Unless we actually allow ourselves to accept the fact we are under attack by a real group of people, all of whom happen be part of a single religious group, we WILL be hit for real, with a large attack.
In this current case, let the law take its course and let the facts lay out what should be done, either indict and try, or release.
More broadly, let ALL mosques underwritten by foreign money, be registered as agents of a foreign power and put under some kind of surveillance and monitoring. Foreign influence in the mosques may be benign or it may be malign, but after 9/11 we cannot take the chance again.
#12 scotsreb. That registration of a foreign power representative sounds good to me. Seems to me we had to start doing it with the German-American Bund, before WWII and various Facist groups as well. Also didn’t we do something similar to this to the Communist Party in the United States.
However, realistically speaking, I would bet drugs have caused more attacks and killings by far than Muslims. Anyone know how to dig up a comparison list of drug-related crimes similar to the excellent list put up be Bob Lee?
Not to condone Muslim attacks, but we can’t go overboard on them either.
In faith, Dave
Viva Texas
Dave, that may be true, but I don’t think that the Columbian cartels have any interest in setting off a nuclear device in a major american city… You might as well ask that we create a comparison list of traffic fatalities versus terrorist fatalities. 😉
[quote]You might as well ask that we create a comparison list of traffic fatalities versus terrorist fatalities.[/quote]
If we’re going to spend tax dollars and restrict freedoms, and more importantly, if we’re going to be in Muslim lands while inviting Muslims into our lands, then such comparisons are needed. Compare the death and injury toll exacted by African-Americans with the death and injury toll exacted by Muslims residing in the US, for example. Even with 9/11, the most spectacular criminal act in the nation’s history, the Muslims are still way behind. Now granted, this may change particularly with the availability of NBC technology, but again, that will be the result of going to Muslim lands while inviting Muslims into our land.
Cabbages,
Of course the cartels are not going to set off a nuclear bomb — that would deplete their client list and would mean a drop in income.
With regard to registering foreign funded *agencies*, *lobbyists* etc., the US Government has a policy of taking a due diligence view. If a person trying to impact domestic US policy, is ultimately funded by a foreign power, government or known entity, then those *agents* have to be registered and thereby, known.
So too, the mosques and madrassahs here in the USA. If they are funded and staffed, by the Saudi official Wahabbist, religious establishment, as they are, then they too ought to be registered as a foreign interest group.
This is nothing new in government policy. It is just a sensible precaution to monitor potentially subversive and violent groups and historically, such groups e.g. Deutsch-Amerika Bund & Communist Party, have been monitored. If the members of those mosques do not obviously and clearly monitor themselves, turning in subversives, then they lose the right to exempt themselves from extra-ordinary monitoring.
As for welcoming Muslims with open arms into our country, I’ll consider them “welcome” when they consider Christians and Jews to be welcome in theirs.
Has anyone ever read Mein Kampf? It was the alarm bell that was roundly ignored by the world in the late 1920s and the 1930s. Today, we have Mein Kampfs equivalent in the Koran if one would just care to sit down and digest some of the more inflamatory passages. Also, it is being practiced in its ugliest sense in a number of countries as we speak. Wake up! The Anti-Christ is here with bells on tooting its horn five times a day.
FrankV,
That is a silly analogy. Mein Kampf was not “roundly ignored” at the time. It was a dense, poorly written tome by an obscure German politician who circulated it among his political party. There were any number of things that could have turned out differently, and the world outside of Germany would never have heard of Hitler or Mein Kampf. Argumentum ad Hitlerum.
Now I know why you sign as reactionary. The fact of the matter is, Mein Kampf laid out a plan to establish the “master race” and cleanse the world of inferior humans. The Koran does very much the same thing for Islam. Silly? I think not.
Also, that obscure little German politician really wasn’t so obscure when he took over the helm in Germany. People hadn’t awakened to his threat (remember Chamberlain in 1939) until the outbreak of war on the continent in 1939. Even then, they didn’t perceive the evil of the genocide that was instituted against the Jews and others including Catholics, gypsies, homosexuals, old people, “defective” people etc. Or are you one of the people today that preach that all that didn’t happen at all?
Your posts are hysterical and fatuous.
Thankyou. I will take that as a complement coming from you.
May your Imam bless you and keep you and insure that you get everything coming to you. Heeyawhaw Heeheehee!
Cabbages: “…I don’t think that the Columbian cartels have any interest in setting off a nuclear device in a major american city…” Judging from the damage done by drugs, it might almost be better if they did :^>.
And who do we get the government to register to prevent those automobile accidents? Or the abortions? Or the plain ol’ murders by so many good ol’ boys? We have larger problems that Muslims.
The thing about Muslim terrorists, though, which makes them dangerous out of proportion to their current damages is their malevolence, dedication, courage, and endurance, which we in the US sadly underestimate. Also, with drugs, auto accidents, abortions, or murders, we see the whole problem; with terrorists we see only the tip of the iceberg.
In faith, Dave
Viva Texas