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Terror Networks & Islam
Zogby: Islam's so misunderstood
2004-12-14
The media "deliberately" created a wave of hatred against Islam, a top researcher said here yesterday.
"Yeah. There was no reason to do that. Just because Islamists killed 3000 Americans in a surprise attack is no reason to get testy!"
"Islam is the most misunderstood religion in the United States. The situation created by the media led to a worse situation," President of Arab American Institute Dr. James J. Zogby said. "There is an immediate need to rehabilitate the image of Islam. We need to present a true picture of Islam to the Americans. They need to know the truth about the religion and its ethics and not the picture being painted by the media," he said. "This is the biggest challenge and mission for the Muslims in general, the need to change the perception of Americans. If the image is changed then the persistent problem between Arabs and Americans would diminish."
"We should make it a requirement that all Americans have to read Qaradawi's pronouncements, read al-Ahram, and listen to translations of the Friday sermons in Mecca! That'll clear everything up for them!"
Zogby was speaking during the final day of the 11th World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC), held under the patronage of the Bahraini Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman Al- Khalifa. "The situation between the Muslims and the US can be described as one side playing football while the other is watching. In the end, who will win if only one side is being active," he said. "This road is not leading us anywhere except more confusion."
Actually, it consisted of one side playing hardball for 30 years, while the other sat in the national bathroom, exploring its sexuality. Now that we started suiting up, the game's not going quite so easy for the other side.
Dr. Zogby said that authors of three best selling books on Islam in the US have never been to Saudi Arabia. "They have presented the wrong picture in their books. Imagine someone is writing on Islam and has never been to this area and does not know any Arabs. Islam has become one of the most favorite topics among writers after 9/11."
Imagine somebody writing a history of ancient Rome who never went to ancient Rome and didn't know any ancient Romans.

Posted by:Fred

#20  A bunch of jihadists attack you country repeatedly and kill more than 3000 people. They have been involved in just about every terrorist activity that has occurred in the past 25-30 years. Every time you hear anything about Muslims they are killing someone in the world. WHAT THE HELL IS IT THAT THE MUSLIMS WANT US TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE MISUNDERSTAND? Seems to me the message is pretty clear, there is a concerted effort on the part of Muslims to take over the world and make it over in their image.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen   2004-12-14 10:44:15 PM  

#19  no mention of that recent death in the back bedroom or crack in the slab? Termites? Lose your license. Tell a lie to Infidels? Priceless...
Posted by: Frank G   2004-12-14 9:41:38 PM  

#18  mhw, lying to sell real estate will get you disbarred. Agents can't even not ask certain questions any more, as the answers must be documented. The only thing that can happen is that the buyer is so eager for the property that she accepts certain concerns "as is". At least in the great state of Ohio, anyway.
Posted by: trailing wife   2004-12-14 9:30:18 PM  

#17  
Islam is the most misunderstood religion in the United States
Bzzzzt! Wrong answer.

At least some of us understand Islam exactly.

Oh, wait.... Maybe that's his objection.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-12-14 9:16:11 PM  

#16  Sock
Its more than just a word. They have numerous and detailed tractates on how to practice taqiyya (I should have said it was tactical lying to advance Islam as opposed to tactical lying to, say, selling real estate seminars like we have in this country).
Posted by: mhw   2004-12-14 8:01:06 PM  

#15  mhw that they actually have a word that discribes the practice speaks volunes of how much we actually understand them now and how little we did understand before.

We have been down the path of telling them to play nice. Now we will force them to. I don't judge islam one bit on what it says. I judge it strictly on what is does.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2004-12-14 7:39:38 PM  

#14  Dr Zogby is simply practicing taqiyya (aka tactical lying, dissimulation).
Posted by: mhw   2004-12-14 7:29:48 PM  

#13  Not too many Muslims have been to the Moon, either, but...
Posted by: .com   2004-12-14 6:43:54 PM  

#12  Someone's been drinkin' Koran-Aid.
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2004-12-14 6:41:34 PM  

#11  But we DID misunderstand Islam. See, we thought it was the religion of peace and enlightment. Turns out Islam is the cult of death, wife beating, gang rapists, cowardice, treachery, pedophilia and hatred.

We get it now, and are taking the appropriate steps, ie extermination of this death cult from the face of the earth along with it's soon-to-be-fed-to-pigs followers.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2004-12-14 6:30:36 PM  

#10  Dr. Zogby said that authors of three best selling books on Islam in the US have never been to Saudi Arabia

probably because your 7th century hotbed of ignorance, intolerance and blame/humiliation are afraid to let anyone in who may have diferent ideas in
Posted by: Frank G   2004-12-14 6:23:07 PM  

#9  That darn media has created a climate of hate. On the hother hand - how should the media report Muslims in the streets cheering 9/11; fatwas declared by clerics to kill infidel Americans; Muslims in a great debate over whether beheadings carried out by terrorists are countenanced under Islam; Muslims looking the other way after the murder of school children in Russia; the murder of Van Gogh followed by Muslims looking the other way; the continual cold blooded murder of Iraqis citizens by terrorists followed by the cheering of Muslims; ... ? Yeah, the media has created quite a problem for the Muslims.
Posted by: HANK   2004-12-14 6:05:41 PM  

#8  I'm amazed at the folks who scream about how Islam is "misunderstood", who will then scream bloody murder when you start quoting chapter and verse from the Koran, hadith, and sira that justify everything you've said.

And will shriek all the louder when you point out that Islamic societies always seem to organize themselves around those verses -- and their worst interpretations -- than around the sweetness and light ones they like to quote.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2004-12-14 6:02:07 PM  

#7  Dr. Zogby said that authors of three best selling books on Islam in the US have never been to Saudi Arabia

But isn't Islam, as practiced in the US, Islam? And if the imams in US mosques happen to be preaching hate and death-to-jooooos, isn't that what Islam is?

Another ROP'er who has to keep reminding us that islam is the ROP, lest we conclude otherwise, based on facts.
Posted by: PlanetDan   2004-12-14 5:55:01 PM  

#6  I'm sold. I'll just hop on the next plane to Riyadh and take the first available camel to Mecca, so I can learn all about Islam.
Posted by: Seafarious   2004-12-14 5:26:19 PM  

#5  A bright family :-)
Posted by: True German Ally   2004-12-14 5:03:05 PM  

#4  That's his brother TGA.
Posted by: tu3031   2004-12-14 4:55:40 PM  

#3  Poor damn Muslims. When they aren't being persecuted or victimized, they're being misunderstood. The way people talk, you'd think they might've blown up some buildings and killed a buncha people or something...
Posted by: tu3031   2004-12-14 4:54:54 PM  

#2  I'm sure President Kerry agrees with your predictions, Mr. Zogby.
Posted by: True German Ally   2004-12-14 4:51:37 PM  

#1  Dr. Zogby said that authors of three best selling books on Islam in the US have never been to Saudi Arabia.

BFD. And most Catholics never make it Rome.

As someone who has lived in an Arab country and has visited 3 others, I can assure all of you that one's view of Islam does not improve with the decrease of distance or the increase of time.
Posted by: Dreadnought   2004-12-14 4:49:39 PM  

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