Posted: 7/12/2004 8:13:10 AM EDT
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Muslims say help ignored TERROR: Leaders in the U.S. want backing for a plan to fight extremism in their communities. 11:43 PM PDT on Sunday, July 11, 2004 By BETTYE WELLS MILLER / The Press-Enterprise LOS ANGELES - American Muslims must reinforce in the nation's mosques the Islamic beliefs on tolerance and against terrorism, Muslim leaders said Sunday. But the leaders say they are frustrated that their new plan to fight terrorism from within their communities has received no public acknowledgement from national figures responsible for homeland security. "We have more at stake than the average American," Maher Hathout, senior adviser to the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said in a town hall meeting at the Islamic Center of Southern California. The meeting included a teleconference with Muslims in six cities nationwide. "It is our name and the reputation of our religion" that are tarnished by Islamic extremists, he said. The three-pronged plan calls for reinforcing the concept of struggle, or jihad, in Islam as one that precludes violence and terrorist acts, preventing the use of mosques to plan or encourage violence, and teaching Muslims how to detect criminal activity in their communities. "We will go from organization to organization, mosque to mosque, offering training," said Hathout, who is coordinating the national campaign. "We will create a culture that does not allow ideas that foster terrorism to flourish." An estimated 5 million to 7 million Muslims live in the United States. Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said national recognition of the willingness of American Muslims to help fight terrorism would reduce misperceptions many non-Muslims have of Islam and its adherents, he said. Agent Matt McLaughlin of the FBI's Los Angeles office endorsed the council's plan as "an important piece of work" and said he believes national security officials will support it, too. In the last two months the FBI has begun meeting with local Muslims, Sikhs and Arab-American groups, he said. "These are frightening times," McLaughlin said. "It's important to understand who the enemy is. It's the terrorists, and those who would commit similar acts." Terrorism is a problem for all Americans, Al-Marayati said. "American Muslims are ready, for political, religious and social reasons, to lead the country in community policing," he said. Decade of effort Nearly a decade before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, American Muslim leaders said, they began meeting with national law enforcement officials and started working to reclaim their faith from extremists. "American Muslims have been discussing this for quite a while," according to Michael Wolfe, a Muslim who edited "Taking Back Islam," a collection of essays from Islamic scholars. "The vast majority of Muslims here are really glad to be here," he said by phone Friday. "About half of those folks have come from somewhere else. A lot of those places make them deeply appreciate the freedom of speech and being able to meet without being called conspirators." Although Muslims around the country repeatedly have denounced al-Qaida, many Americans still ask why Muslims have not condemned the terrorists, Hathout said. "I can raise my voice, but I cannot cure deafness," Hathout told more than 70 people at Sunday's town hall meeting. "This was not political correctness" when he and other Muslims denounced terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks. "This is against our religion." American Muslims have a unique opportunity and responsibility to emphasize Islamic teachings of tolerance, mercy and compassion as well as religious pluralism, Hathout said after the meeting. "It is easier to explain Islam in a free society than in a closed or repressive state," he said. There's a lot of confusion in Muslim literature, Wolfe said, much of it the result of dictators who corrupted the sacred texts for their own purposes. "There were reactionary influences among religious leaders that took hold and created a body of text and apparent authority thatseems to justify violent attacks on noncombatants. That is completely forbidden in the Quran and not allowed in Islamic law. There are people who have taken this religion and made it political for their purposes. They turned it into a flag for them to wave. We don't like that here." Terror alerts Southern California Muslims attending Sunday's meeting said they are frustrated that national leaders have not consulted with them in the fight against terrorism. Some said that frequent terror alerts and statements by Attorney General John Ashcroft that al-Qaida has completed 90 percent of a plan to attack the United States this summer frighten everyone and terrify the Muslim community. Ashcroft issued a statement Friday restating concerns about a terrorist attack, but noted that security officials were "reaching out to our partners in the Muslim and Arab-American communities for any information they may have. Their assistance has proven valuable in the past, and we continue to seek their help in this time of enhanced threat." Amal Akalla, an Irvine resident and member of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said her children are afraid to go to school when new alerts are issued because they don't know how classmates will respond. In recent months there have been attacks on mosques and individual Muslims across the country. The terror alerts "are terrorizing us, too," Akalla said. "This needs to be brought out. We're trying to have a decent life and live without terrorism." Wolfe said the lack of media attention to efforts by American Muslims to denounce and fight terrorism, coupled with detentions under the Patriot Act, is troubling. "They're being mistaken for a fifth column," he said. Kamran Memon, a Chicago lawyer, said in the teleconference that Muslims need to be re-educated about the peaceful tenets of the faith. "I know we have a silent majority that should start speaking out," Hathout responded. "The point is to knock on the door of ignorance boldly and say, 'I challenge you.' " |
Two words: Bill Clinton 
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That's what I was thinking. They seem to have gotten the message. Either you seperate yourself from these "extremists" or we consider you part of the problem. |
Talk is cheap. Get busy, and you'll get noticed. Otherwise, FOAD. |
Those were some real "Go for Broke" Americans. I don't see muslims doing anything like that, especially after reading the info from these sites... http://forums.gawaher.com/index.php?showtopic=14966& http://forums.gawaher.com/index.php?showtopic=14689& |
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No, you don't see that. In fact what you see is muslims fragging their buddies, passing along intel to their jihadi pals, and now possibly deserting. Does anyone know if the Japanese in the US military during WWII ever pulled this kind of shit? I mean documented cases similar to the above mentioned. I've actually wondered about this for a long time. |
 What did that SOB do in the office, other than Luwinski?
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