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| 2006-02-06 | ||
| They chanted, "Shame, Shame," and waved placards protesting "European bigotry." "This is hate speech, plain and simple," declared Nahid Noori, 19, of Fresh Meadows, describing the caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in several European newspapers. Like many of the 400 New York-area Muslims who a braved biting wind yesterday to join a protest at the United Nations, Noori viewed the cartoons as not just blasphemy, but proof of rising Islamophobia. "There are atrocities happening to Muslims every day," said Noori, a Hunter College student, who stood with several dozen women at the back of the plaza, separated from the men at the front. "Even in New York, people stereotype me because of my head scarf. ... It's too much and we have to put a stop to it."
"We don't want a clash of civilizations," said Ghazi Khankan, a former Islamic Center of Long Island spokesman, who emceed the rally. "We want a dialogue among civilizations. ... Islam champions freedom of speech, but you cannot offend the religious beliefs of another person. It's like yelling 'fire' in a theater." Generally, the reaction by American and Canadian Muslims to the cartoons originally published in the Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten has been more muted than overseas. Islamic teachings forbid depictions of the seventh-century prophet as a form of idolatry; however, non-satirical representations of him are seen in some art by Shia and Sufi sects. At the rally yesterday, a few speakers suggested that responding with angry mobs and violence simply played into the stereotypes of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups. "We can't act like a mob and destroy people's embassies," said Wissam Nasr, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in New York. "We have to remind all Muslims of this. And we have to educate America about our prophet." The crowd erupted in chants of "God is great," and waved placards that read, "Hate Speech is not Free Speech," "European Bigotry Ignorant of History" and "Prophet Taught Kindness, Not Violence." A half dozen police officers stood on the sidelines, but there were no disturbances. Nearly every speaker expressed the conviction that the Muslim community was, in fact, under assault by the West. "An attack on Islam is nothing new," said Shafee Behzad, of The American Muslim Alliance in New York, which seeks to engage Muslims in the political process. "It has been going on and will keep going on, until we show them that we are not as weak as they think. We should do everything in a peaceful way. But we will not tolerate any insult on our religion or on our prophet. Enough is enough." When a reporter asked about the demeaning caricatures of Jews and sometimes, Christians, that appear in Middle Eastern newspapers, a group of teenage girls holding picket signs said the comparison was a false one. "We do not protest against drawings of imams or Muslim leaders," said one girl. "It is the difference between a demeaning cartoon of a priest, and one of Jesus Christ, who is the prophet. This would be like showing Jesus Christ as a pimp."
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| Posted by:lotp |
| #8 But in sharp contrast to the Muslim demonstrators in Syria and Lebanon, who burned embassies and made death threats, nearly every speaker at yesterday's rally organized by the Islamic Circle of North America, a Jamaica-based national group, decried violence as a response. Smart. NYC's finest lost a lot of officers on 9/11. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2006-02-06 18:53 |
| #7 Islamic Circle of North America: Experts have long documented ICNA's ties to Islamic terrorist groups. Yehudit Barsky, a terrorism expert at the American Jewish Committee, has said that ICNA "is composed of members of Jamaat e-Islami, a Pakistani Islamic radical organization similar to the Muslim Brotherhood that helped to establish the Taliban." Pakistani newspapers have reported that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a leading architect of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, was offered refuge in the home of Jamaat e-Islami's leader, Ahmed Quddoos. Another Pakistani Islamist leader who has had dealings with the ICNA is Maulana Shafayat Mohamed. On September 27, 1997, Mohammed, who attended a fundamentalist Pakistani madrassa (religious school) that served as a recruitment center for Taliban fighters, played host to an ICNA conference at his Florida madrassa. Such connections have led many observers to label the ICNA a front group for Jammat e-Islami, a charge the ICNA has denied. But in 2000, the CNSNews.com made public a press release, posted on a Middle Eastern website, from a July 2000 ICNA meeting plainly establishing the connection. Stated the press release: "Jamaate Islami's supporters have an organization in America known as ICNAÂ…" The press release also recounted some of the views expressed at the meeting. Among them was that "Islam must be translated into political dominance"; support for "jihad" in "Chechnya, Kashmir, Palestine, Iraq (against U.S. forces), southern Sudan, andÂ…in Bosnia/Kosova [sic]"; an appeal for unity among Pakistani Muslims against "Hindu Brahmins and Zionist Jews"; and an endorsement of Muslim women's inclusion in carrying out jihad. CAIR: Omar M. Ahmad founder of CAIR said: "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant" he said. "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America , and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth," he said. (via Daniel Pipes) American Muslim Alliance: In 1998 the AMA, along with CAIR and the American Muslim Council, sponsored a rally at Brooklyn College in New York City, where militant speakers advocated jihad and characterized Jews as "pigs and monkeys." |
| Posted by: ed 2006-02-06 11:24 |
| #6 Contrast the protests with this. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-06 11:02 |
| #5 But in sharp contrast to the Muslim demonstrators in Syria and Lebanon, who burned embassies and made death threats, nearly every speaker at yesterday's rally organized by the Islamic Circle of North America, a Jamaica-based national group, decried violence as a response. Anyone else notice a glaring qualifier there? Nearly. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-02-06 10:50 |
| #4 Whose going to play Mohamed? Who else but Ron Jeremy. I hear there's a former star from Green Acres who needs work. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-02-06 10:49 |
| #3 Whose going to play Mohamed? Who else but Ron Jeremy. Mohamed was a wookiee? |
| Posted by: BH 2006-02-06 10:42 |
| #2 I don't know if Noori is real, but I'll say this right now: "EVEN in New York"??? Islam champions freedom of speech, As often asked on the Internet: "SOURCE?" non-satirical representations of him are seen in some art by Shia and Sufi sects. At last check, the Wahhabis consider these Shia and Sufi sects to be haram by their existence. |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2006-02-06 10:27 |
| #1 I swear. The banners, placards, and the talking points have been changing EVERY SINGLE DAY in response to what the Western punditocracy chooses to focus on. There is NO WAY this is rising up spontaneously on the streets of Lahore, Multan, and Khoun Yanis. This is being directed by forces in the West. My guess is London, since that's where all the al-Q mouthpieces hang their turbans, and a big printing press assist from Red Ken's Commie pals. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-02-06 10:23 |