NEW YORK – Nine years of denouncing terrorism, of praying side-by-side with Jews and Christians, of insisting "I'm American, too." None of it could stop a season of hate against Muslims that made for an especially fraught Sept. 11. Now, Muslims are asking why their efforts to be accepted in the United States have been so easily thwarted.I already have problems with this opening paragraph:
1) How come I haven't read/ heard these calls denouncing terrorism.
2) This "season of hate" has been shown to be fictitious. As the LA times reported (and ElderofZiyon shows the graphs), while hate crimes against Muslims rose tremendously after 9/11, they dropped tremendously the year after, and hovered around 100 ever since. This is in stark contrast to anti-Jewish hate crimes which, after 9/11, were twice as much as anti-Muslim hate crimes, and are currently around 6 times as much as anti-Muslim hate crimes.
3) As far as I am concerned, the Muslims never made any efforts to be accepted into the US.
4)As far as I know, the Muslim population, like any other religion, is accepted in the US.
Then we have a quote from an Imam:
"We have nothing to apologize for, we have nothing to fear, we have nothing to be ashamed of, we have nothing that we're guilty of — but we need to be out there and we need to express this," said Imam Mohammed Ibn Faqih in a sermon at the Islamic Institute of Orange County in Anaheim, Calif., the day before the 9/11 anniversary.I would disagree with this statement also, and the fact the the journalist didn't jump on this is appalling. Of course you have something to be ashamed of! Be ashamed that you are associated with these people who do violent crimes in the name of your religion! Be ashamed that the perpetrators of 9/11 did so in the name of your religion! Be ashamed, not for your own actions, but the actions of others in the name of the religion you adhere to!
But he's right, also. He has nothing to fear. The Muslims in America have nothing to fear, because freedom to practice your religion is something that Americans respect, and those that are, in fact, afraid of Islam, will do nothing violent against them. These citizens who fear the spread of Islam will raise the awareness of the other citizens to the actions of Muslims in America, but will not raise their hands against them in intolerance.
Images of violence overseas in the name of Islam have come to define the faith for many non-Muslims at home. The U.S. remains at war in Afghanistan, and although America has formally declared an end to its combat operations in Iraq, U.S. troops there continue to fight alongside Iraqi forces.
Some U.S. Muslims say their national organizations share the blame, for answering intricate questions about Islam with platitudes, and failing to fully examine the potential for extremism within their communities. Muslim leaders often respond when terrorists strike by saying Islam is a "religion of peace" that has no role in the violence instead of confronting the legitimate concerns of other Americans, these Muslim critics say.I like that. Some, not all, Muslims understand the reason behind the understanding of the American public.
U.S. Muslim condemnations of terrorism have failed to persuade other Americans.
This year, in response to recent cases of young Americans lured into jihadist movements by Internet preaching, nine prominent U.S. Muslim scholars made a YouTube video denouncing radicalism. Other American Islamic scholars have written edicts, or fatwas, saying violence is contrary to Islamic teaching. The Islamic Society of North America dedicated its 2005 annual convention, which draws tens of thousands of Muslims, to fighting terrorism and extremism.I haven't checked up on this. But I think that even if it is true, Americans are only seeing a minority of people associated with Islam as non-violent.
However, suspicion persists among other Americans that Muslims say one thing in public and something different among themselves. U.S. Muslim groups that still accept foreign funding are the most vulnerable to this charge. Many critics, within and outside the Muslim community, also find the condemnations so broad that they are meaningless since they rarely denounce specific terrorist groups, including al-Qaida.Absolutely perfect. I love truthful statements. Repeatedly we have seen lying Muslims and their right to lie, so kudos to this author for getting it right.
Then we have a series of non-sequiturs to end off the article...
It doesn't help that many of the statements against violence are delivered in heavily accented English at a time of heightened anti-immigrant feeling in the United States.
"I think that part of the reason the general American public is not listening is the common human impulse to fear and mistrust what we don't know or understand," said Abdullahi An-Na'im, an expert in Islam and human rights at Emory University School of Law.
Throughout the recent anti-Muslim outburst, American Muslim leaders have taken pains to acknowledge that many in their community have prospered in the U.S., and that Muslims have more freedom here than they would in many other countries.
At the same time, fatigue is setting in. They wonder: How many more times will they have to condemn violent extremism before non-Muslim Americans believe them?And I'll end off with all my responses to the above statements.
1) Anti- Immigrant feeling has nothing to do with the righteous fear of many Americans. What we see happening to Europe and the way Muslim countries act does.
2) In response to Abdullahi An-Na'im's statement, see above sentence.
3)Yup, Muslims have it better in America. But they have it better in Israel, too, and look at what happens there.
4) Muslims, all Muslims, must stand up and denounce violent crimes against humanity, including those happening in Israel, every time that such an act is commited
(Read the whole Associated Press article here.)
Update: I found a video where Muslims say they have it better in America than anywhere else...but after you see it, continue watching:(about 2:09 in)
(h/t 1389)
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