Science Talk

Ramabriga · Guest

The Lobby: No Mosques Allowed in America

A recent joint poll by Americans for Peace Now and the Arab American Institute [pdf] shows
remarkable convergence in the views of a weighted sample of Jewish Americans and Arab Americans
on Arab-Israeli peace. In contrast to the mainstream American Jewish community, which has
fought tirelessly for justice and tolerance in the US, a small group of fanatics has made a
different impression. http://www.islamophobia.org/news.php?readmore=536

Karin Friedman details a conspiracy by rightwing Zionist groups in Boston to prevent the city's
Muslims from worshipping freely at their own mosque. This article is especially good on the
"David Project," among the ideologically more dangerous hate groups in the US. Friedman writes,

'Many celebrated the construction of New England's largest mosque as proof of "the Muslim
community coming into its own." Yet not everyone celebrated. In 2004, the City of Boston was
sued for selling the land to Muslims. Racist commentators whipped up public hysteria against
the mosque.

"Muslims are very upset," said Mushtaque Mirza, who has lived in Boston for 30 years. "The
mosque is always depicted as [supporting] terrorism." . . .

When in 2005, mosque directors Dr. Yousef Abou Allaban and Ossama Kandil sued Fox News and the
Boston Herald for defamation, analysis of discovery materials exposed a professionally
coordinated network of pro-Israel organizations, mass media, Islamophobic academics, and real
estate developers. The directors accused a growing list of defendants, including Steven
Emerson, the David Project, and Citizens for Peace and Tolerance (CPT), whose president is
Dennis Hale, of "a concerted, well-coordinated effort to deprive ... members of the Boston
Muslim community of their basic right of free association and the free exercise of their religion."

Islamophobia or Anti-Muslimism may be the biggest moral challenge to American values of
tolerance and respect for the rights of all in the 21st century. And, insofar as American
Muslims tend to be endogamous (practice in-marriage), they over time increasingly will form an
ethnic group, so that hatred of them is not just religious bigotry but also racism (i.e., when
acted upon, illegal in US law.)

I have said it before, and I will say it again. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw
stones. Members of the American Jewish community who think it is entertaining to spread hatred
against another minority will eventually discover that the habits of hatred are hard to uproot
and know no ethnic boundaries.

** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Guest

"Ramabriga" <Ramabriga@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1c75d$48688a49$13343@news.teranews.com...
> The Lobby: N<SMAK!>