The Millennium Generation Foundation is a new Foundation. It will mirror the AARP but, for the Millennium Generation defined as born 1980 - 2000. Our web site is under construction but, please take a look at it often to keep up with the changes. www.m-g-f.org or www.millenniumgenerationfoundation.org
This is not the IDF or an Adult with a gun. This is a innocent child riding in a car on her way to a Chanukkah celebration when Palestinian SAVAGES hurled rocks and seriously injured this child. Now you Muslim Supporters say they are freedom fighters. Freedom from what life liberty and rights in exchange for the enslavement of Sharia? Is this what you want here in the USA to also be enslaved by Islamic Radicalism as in other countries in the Middle East or do you hate Jews so much you rather see them all murdered.
This war of hate not love started all the way back to Mohammad when the Jews refused to convert . Islam means SUBMIT not peace and there is no peace in the Koran as they claim
I say stop the violence and learn PA to live with your neighbors in Peace. Even the Countries you came from Syria, Jordan, Egypt don't want you or you wouldn't still be refuges.
This is no different then the black hoodlums who are playing the knock out game against white and Asian Americans.
Baby Seriously Injured in Muslim Rock Ambush
A 2-year-old baby suffered a serious head injury when the car she was in was pelted in southern Jerusalem
By Gil Ronen
First Publish: 11/28/2013, 6:26
A two-year-old baby was seriously injured Thursday when Muslim terrorists hurled rocks at the car she was in, at the entrance to the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood in southern Jerusalem.
A Magen David Adom (MDA) team gave the baby initial medical care and took her to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital. She suffered a serious head injury.
Security forces are combing the area in search of the terrorists.
Refael Herbst, an MDA paramedic who treated the girl, said: "When we arrived we saw a woman holding a baby aged about 2 years, with a bleeding wound in her head. She was apathetic and in a foggy state of consciousness. We gave her medical treatment on the spot. We were told she had been hit by a large rock as she was traveling in the car with her mother and two brothers, who sat beside her in the car's back seat."
"After initial medical care we began the evacuation, and continued giving her care inside the ICU ambulance. On the way to Hadassah Ein Kerem, in the course of the treatment, she began to recover and regained consciousness. When we took her to the trauma room in the hospital she was in moderate condition."
Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) reacted to the attack and said that it joins a long list of similar serious incidents. "I strengthen the prime minister's hands," he said, "[in the hope] for a determined, quick action to put an end to the Stone Age."
Ten residents of Jerusalem's Issawiya neighborhood, aged 15-17, were arrested earlier this week on suspicion that they threw firebombs and rocks at an IDF base on Mount Scopus, at Hebrew University buildings and at police vehicles.
At least two of the teenaged terrorists are linked to the DFLP terror organization.
As you
may know, the ADL is publicly criticizing APT’s campaign to expose the
anti-Israel and anti-Semitic curricula in the Newton public schools.
Below
is a letter we have sent to ADL Board Members in Boston.
Dear
ADL Board Member;
I am reaching out to you, a member of the board of ADL Boston, to set the record
straight about the public joint statement signed by ADL leadership regarding our
ad campaign aimed at exposing the problem of biased curricula in the Newton
public schools.
The joint statement is wrong and unfair.
In a 2010 email to the Temple Emanuel of Newton congregation, Rabbi Gardenswartz
correctly noted the unceasing ideological attacks on the Jewish
state:
“This
constant dumping on Israel, this daily onslaught, drip, drip, drip, that Israel
is an oppressor, that Israel is a strategic liability, that Israel is a human
rights violator, is a big problem that cannot be ignored.” The Rabbi also noted
that “There is a systematic and thoughtful campaign by Israel’s enemies to
delegitimize Israel.”
Unfortunately, the systematic campaign is not just limited to the universities and the media:
While many in the Jewish community know about the problems we have on American
campuses, few realize that a similar problem has been creeping into the K-12
curriculum. I am sure that the ADL leadership is aware of this national trend.
Perhaps it believes that Newton is immune.
In the case of Newton high schools, we – along with parents and other tax payers –
have been protesting for over two years against the inclusion in classrooms of
anti-Israel material.
Subsequent to the community protests, the school committee removed some of the offending materials. While these changes are commendable, the committee has not addressed the more general questions: how did such hateful material get into the
classrooms, and how does it plan to ensure that other biased teaching materials
are not incorporated into the curriculum.
The public joint statement implies that there is no reason to be concerned that
anti-Semitic material could have gotten into the Newton school curriculum since
it was removed – after a year of protest, and after it was stubbornly defended
for all that time by the School Superintendent. It claims that our ad
“misinterprets certain elements of the materials and lacks reasonable context.
And “there is substantial reason to believe that the allegations made in the ad
are without merit.”
These are wrong and harmful messages to send to a Jewish community that is beset with an effort, national in scope, to bias public school teaching against
Israel.
ADL understands the larger context of systematic efforts by organizations hostile to
Israel and her supporters to influence American public schools. In the case of
Newton, a likely source of the biased materials is the Harvard Center for Middle
East Studies Outreach Center (CMESOC). According to its website, “the Outreach
Center has been asked to assist the Newton city high schools to develop new
resources to use in the classroom to teach on the conflict in Israel and the
Occupied Territories. In 2010, Paul Beran (the CMESOC director) presented
to 80 history teachers from the Newton Public Schools
on approaches and resources for teaching about the conflict.” Beran is a radical
anti-Israel activist who promotes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)
movement against Israel. In 2006, he guided the (unsuccessful) Somerville effort
to have that city divest from Israel.
Indeed, the Harvard CMESOC is funded by ARAMCO, the Saudi government oil
company.
While the Jewish community faces this onslaught, why would the ADL spend its time and resources attacking an organization that has successfully exposed anti-Israel,
anti-Jewish activities in the Boston area, most recently at Northeastern
University?
We were surprised when, during the first year of our Northeastern campaign, ADL and
CJP leaders asked us to cease our efforts after we released the first video
expose of anti-Semitism at Northeastern. That video sparked concern in the
Jewish community and led to the dismissal or reassignment of two Northeastern
anti-Israel staffers. Our second video, much of which was shared and discussed
with Northeastern’s attorneys before its release, led to the dismissal of
Northeastern’s radical campus Imam, Abdullah Faaruuq. Ultimately, after we
released our full set of 3 videos (www.shameonneu.com), the CJP and ADL changed
their views of the situation, as you know.
In the case of the Newton public schools, we simply do not understand: Why, among
many other things, is the ADL not disturbed that students in Newton are taught
from The Muslim Primer, whose author boasts that the book is based on the teachings of Yusuf Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who calls for the death of every Jew? Why are students who are given readings from this book not informed about Qaradawi and his vast movement? As some of you may know, Qaradawi was an original Trustee of the Roxbury Mosque, about which ADL leadership has intimate knowledge.
Why would the ADL’s leadership exonerate Newton’s school committee without doing extensive research? Did the ADL get the school committee to give it access to
lesson plans on the Israel Palestine conflict that it has denied Newton parents?
How many teachers, students and parents were interviewed? I wonder. Yet ADL’s
message to the public is “Relax. There is no problem here.”
The “new anti-Semitism” based on hatred for Israel is placing our people in danger
-- in Israel, in Europe, and on America’s campuses. We should not allow this
poison to influence the public schools.
We should be working together on these things.
Sincerely,
Charles
Jacobs, President
Americans for Peace and Tolerance
The Internal Revenue
Service recognizes Americans for Peace and Tolerance as a 501c3 non-profit
corporation. If you would like to donate to our cause, you may send a check to
APT, 15 Main St. Suite 118, Watertown, MA 02472 or donate
online.
Talks like a Muslim, Acts like a Muslim then he is a Muslim and for Converting America to Islam with Islamic lies
Islamic concept of Al-Taqiyah to infiltrate and destroy kafir countries
http://www.fisiusa.org/fisi_News_items/news109
Title: Islamic concept of Al-Taqiyah to infiltrate and destroy kafir countries
Author: Dr. Walid
Publication: BHARATIYA PRAGNA
Date: JUNE 2000 VOLUME 2 NUMBER 6
URL: http://www.pragna.org/Art20615.html
This article by Dr. Walid, a top scholar at the Islamic University, exposes our so-called secular Indian Muslims. By the doctrine of Al-Taqiyah, Muslims dominate crime syndicates, increase population by massive Bangladeshi infiltration and make temporary alliances with Dalits, Christians, etc.
In the early years of the Islamic conquest of the Arabian peninsula and in the Fatah (Arab-Islamic invasion and conquest of the upper Middle East and the outside world), a Muslim concept was devised to achieve success against the enemy (non Muslims), Al-Taqiyah. Al-Taqiyah, from the verb Ittaqu, means linguistically dodge the threat. Politically it means simulate whatever status you need in order to win the war against the enemy ...
According to Al-Taqiyah, Muslims were granted the Shar'iyee right (legitimacy) to infiltrate the Dar el-Harb (war zone), infiltrate the enemy's cities and forums and plant the seeds of discord and sedition. These agents were acting on behalf of the Muslim authority at war, and therefore were not considered as lying against or denouncing the tenants of Islam.
They were "legitimate" mujahedeen, whose mission was to undermine the enemy's resistance and level of
mobilization. One of their major objectives was to cause a split among the enemy's camp while downplaying the issues related to Islam ("Oh, I am not religious." "Oh, that is not Islam, you are mistaken, there is so much
misinformation." "Oh, it is in the interpretation." "Brother, Islam is all about peace and love and music just like in the 60s.") In many instances, they convinced their targeted audiences that Jihad is not aimed at them, that
indigenous people are not targeted. Meanwhile the (allegedly) "un Islamic" Muslims continued their attacks on the target's property and life (e.g. Lashkar-e Toyiba, Mujahideen and Osama Bin Laden's declaration of war against innocent American civilians
They convinced many Jews that they will be protected from Christians, and they convinced many Christians that Jews were the mortal enemies, because they killed Issa (Jesus). They convinced the Aramaics, Copts, and Hebrews that the enemy is Greece, and signed peace agreements with the Bysantines Greeks at the expense of Maronite Aramaics, etc.
They convinced the knitted diversity of India to degrade into civil war by introduction of a variant Buddhist /
mystical Islam (Sufism which is decried as "deviant Islam" used to ease the transition of new recruits from local communities) creating divisions (based on Muslim - Non Muslim) eventually fomenting unrest and chaos in the land to prepare it for waves of armed Invasion (Mohammad bin Qasim, Mahmud Ghaznavi, etc.).
Even today, India is bitterly divided and getting slowly Islamised as battle lines form between hordes of
overzealous Muslims (armed and trained in madrasahs) and the more pacifist civilians of urban dwellings
This Jihadic agency of subversion was one of the most fascinating and efficient arms of the conquest. In less than four decades, the Middle East fell to the Arab-Islamic rule [since Arab society was divided again between pagan and Muslim resulting in nephews and sons killing their uncles and fathers in cold blood] followed by North Africa and Central Asia [this was the era of hordes like tribal conquests where barbaric savages invaded pacifist civilians in towns of major civilizations; the same scenario replayed itself against the Arab-Islamic world with the Invasion of the Mongolian hordes].
Al-Taqiyah was a formidable weapon, used by the first dynasties and strategists. Today, scholars may identify it as deception. But the Jihadic deception was and still is more powerful than the James Bondian methods of Western classical intelligence tactics, for the simple reason that it has a civilizational, global dimension versus the narrow State interest of the regular Western subversive methods.
Al-Taqiyah is still in use today (and is widely practised and acknowledged by the Shi'ite sect) but not necessarily State-organized. Arab-Islamic missionaries are slowly converting the disillusioned criminal classes of the Western world by feeding them a Western "moderate" version of Islam (at the same time denouncing the actions of Muslims in the rest of the world as Un Islamic e.g. Taliban, GIA & FIA [Armed Islamic Front] of Algeria, Hamas, Lashkar -e Toyiba, Bin Laden and company, etc.) It is done to prevent the new converts from seeing the real face of Islam; at least until their faith or mental conditioning is strong enough to make them turn against their own country and people.
A good example is the growing influence of Islamists in the Americas. On the one hand, American embassies, trade facilities, soldiers and intelligence infrastructures are under attack (but denounced as un-Islamic for the benefit of the new American converts).
On the other hand, the multiplying Islamic community (due to illegal immigration, paper marriages, religious visas granted to the religious men) attempts to pass itself off as "peace loving" and patriotic. In their own circles, the same community will liberally and violently denounce America, the West and its values (freedom, individualism, secularism, capitalism, scientific materialism, benign rehabilitation of criminals, prevention of cruelty against animals, women and gay rights).
One can easily detect Taqiyah in the two discourses used by Islamist strategists. On the one hand, one
comprehensive Islamist theory is attempting to mobilize the Middle East, and sometimes Western Christian leaders and intellectuals, against "evil Jews".
They are forming alliances with everyone from Animal Rights' groups (to attack the Jewish tradition of slaughter which is ironically similar in cruelty to the Islamic way) to Far Right fundamentalists (to push for censorship of critiques of Islam and attack every forward thinking movement like women's rights and gay rights).
We see considerable success on that level. And on the other hand, another Islamist comprehensive theory is
attempting - with success also - to mobilize the Jews against "evil and pagan Christians".
One can easily detect the sophisticated work of Taqiyah, for the strategic objective of Islamists is to destroy the foundations of the non Muslim civilizations, as a prelude to the defeat of an isolated Israel, India, United States of America, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Egypt, Afghanistan, etc.
Taqiyah is not a unique phenomenon in history. Many strategists from all backgrounds implemented subversion .But the uniqueness of today's Taqiyah is its success within advanced and sophisticated societies. Taqiyah is winning massively because of the immense lack of knowledge among Western elites, both Jewish and Christian.
For interesting examples of Taqiyah methods, visit Christian discussion groups and forums and note the discourse of Islamist visitors aimed at undermining the Christian perception of Jews, and visit Jewish discussion groups and forums and note the subtle anti-Christian discourse of Islamist visitors. It is really informative and fascinating.
Top:
Desecrated graves in Sousse, Tunisia. Bottom: Some of the last Jews of
Yemen
1. Graves were desecrated for the second time in a month in
Tunisia, amid rising antisemitism and tension incited by Islamists. The
assassination of the secular opposition leader has heightened anxiety for the
2,000 Jews still living in the country.
2. A Jew is in serious condition
after being beaten up in the Yemen town of Raida, where 100 Jews still remain.
Following the Yemen government's announcement that it is withdrawing stipends
from the 50 remaining Jews living in Tourist City, in Sana'a, the capital, it is
expected they will leave for Israel.
3. A poll has found that 79 percent
of Egyptians don't want Jews to return. The issue has been simmering since an
ex-aide to President Morsi said he wished to see Egyptian Jews in Israel and
Palestinians exchange places.
4. The Libyan-born Jew, David Gerbi, who
aided the anti-Gaddhafi rebels during the Libyan war, was warned not to attend a
Berber (Amazigh) conference at which he was due to speak.
For links
to all these stories, scroll down to Press Review below.
DATES FOR YOUR
DIARY
LONDON
Harif and Spiro Ark's panel memorable discussion on 6
February 'Interfaith Dialogue: Does it work?' attracted
70. Report here.
Sephardim of England: a 50-year
retrospective. Emeritus Rabbi
Abraham Levy of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation in conversation
with Alan Bekhor. Tues 19 February. The Sephardi Centre, 2
Ashworth Road, London W9 1 JY. In association with
Standpoint. £10. 7.30pm. www.lauderdaleroadsynagogue.org (click on events) or
ring 0207 432 1316 Suitcase
or coffin? 50 years since the exodus of the Jews of Algeria.Wednesday 20 February.
8pm. Illustrated talk by Lyn Julius. Harif/Spiro Ark. Of
the 850,000 Jews who left Arab countries, the Jews of Algeria were unusual –
most resettled in France. Hampstead Garden Suburb
synagogue, Norrice Lea, N2. £10. Book through Spiro Ark on 0207289 6321
(education@spiroark.org <mailto:education@spiroark.org> ) or Harif on 07506033848
(info@harif.org).
*The Aleppo
Codexwith Matti Friedman, author of a new book.
Sunday 24 February. 3.30pm. Jewish Book Week.
Www.jewishbookweek.com. Chair: Deborah Kahn-Harris. How did this unique document
move from a dark grotto in Aleppo to Jerusalem in the 1950s? £9.50. King’s
Place, London N1 9AG.
*On the trail of
Turkey’s Donmeh.Wednesday 27 February.
8pm. A second chance to hear Harif’s intrepid and entertaining emissary, Dr Saul
Zadka, give an illustrated talk on the ‘false messiah’ Shabbetai Zvi and his
followers, the Donmeh. Hampstead Garden Suburb synagogue, Norrice Lea, N2. Book
through Spiro Ark on 0207289 6321 (education@spiroark.org <mailto:education@spiroark.org> ) or Harif on 07506033848
(info@harif.org
<mailto:info@harif.org> ).
*Evening of Iraqi-Jewish
Food, Music and Culture. Thursday 7
March. at 6.30pm: Sara Manasseh: ethnomusicologist, performer and
author with her ensemble Rivers of Babylon. Linda Dangoor: designer, painter,
potter and author of the cookbook Flavours of Babylon Tickets, to include
food, £25/person and £12/student. Proceeds to the synagogue.
Tickets/Information: golda@chelseasynagogue.co.uk 020 8203 9061; 07980 965171.
Chelsea Synagogue, Smith Terrace, Smith Street, Chelsea, London SW3
4DL
*The Forgotten
Refugees. 7.30pm. Must-see film by Michael
Grynszpan (courtesy of JIMENA). Tuesday 12 March 2013 ,Followed
by Q&A with Lyn Julius of Harif.The Pointer’s School, 19 Stratheden Rd,
London SE 3 7TH. Harif/Maoz. Admission free. Refreshments. To book contact
Helen@maozisrael.org 0208 692 2831, 07735 018 919.
*My ordeal in a Libyan jail:Rafram Chaddad tells his
story. Wednesday 13 March.
Tikun, Finchley Road,London NW11. On a rare visit to London, Rafram Chaddad,
an Israeli artist and cook with dual Tunisian-Israeli citizenship, will tell the
story of his imprisonment by the Ghaddafi regime in 2010 and how he was finally
released. Rafram has now written a book about his ordeal. Spiro Ark/Harif.To
book ring Spiro Ark on 0207 289 6321 or Harif on 0750603848
* ‘Baghdad Mon Amour. Launch of
book by Shmuel Moreh, Emeritus Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at
the Hebrew University. Tuesday 19 March. Professor Moreh
will discuss his memories of Baghdad, positive and negative, with two non-Jewish
Iraqi writers, scholar Mazin Latif and poet Jabbar al-Din, who we hope will be
able to join us from Iraq for the occasion. The Sephardi Centre, Maida Vale,
W9. Harif/The Sephardi Centre. More details to come. Harif
0750603848.
*Mizrahi star Alabina Ishta at Israel's 65th
Yom Ha'atzmaut Concert16
April. - Wembley Arena. www.zionist.org.uk . 0208 202
0202.
OXFORD Silent Exodus: Pierre Rehov's
acclaimed film at Mosaic, Oxford Jewish Centre. Q & A with Lyn Julius.
17 April. TBC
Harif events are listed at the
Harif website http://www.harif.org/
ISRAEL
Second Exodus Conference . 9.30
- 19.30, 11 March. Feldman Hall, Bar Ilan University. Details:
dahan.center@mail.biu.ac.il or 03 -
5317959 ***************************************
CALIFORNIA
JIMENA
EVENTS: Details from www.JIMENA.org:
Middle East Expert Joseph Braude -
Scholar in Residence - February 15, 2013 Yehuda Tassa at Limmud - Bay Area -
February 17, 2013 Middle East Expert Joseph Braude Speaks at Stanford Hillel
- February 19, 2013
***************************************
RESOURCES
*UK SPEAKERS’ BUREAU: Harif will be embarking
on a systematic campaign to educate schools and universities about the plight of
Jews from Arab countries. If you are a Jew from an Arab country or Iran and
would like to join our Speakers’ Bureau, please contact info@harif.org <mailto:info@harif.org> .
*SEPHARDI VOICES: Sephardi oral
history project. To assist the project, or to have yours or a relative’s story
recorded, visit www.sephardivoices.org.uk <http://www.sephardivoices.org.uk <http://www.sephardivoices.org.uk/> >
Most of the following articles, and much more - at the
frequently-updated weblog, Point of No Return. http://www.jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/ Follow on Facebook and
Twitter.
JEWS FROM ARAB COUNTRIES AND
IRAN
YEMEN
TUNISIA More
graves desecrated in
Tunisia http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/more-jewish-graves-desecrated-in-tunisia.html Sousse
cemetery
vandalised http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/sousse-jewish-cemetery-vandalised.html EGYPT 79 percent
of Egyptians would not allow Jews to
return http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/79-of-egyptians-would-not-allow-jews-to.html LIBYA David
Gerbi snubbed by Libyan
Amazighen http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/david-gerbi-snubbed-by-libyan-amazighen.html YEMEN A Jew is
beaten up in
Yemen http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/jew-is-beaten-up-in-yemen.html Israel
is safe haven for Jews fleeing
Yemen http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/israel-is-safe-haven-for-jews-fleeing.html Yemen
halts funding for Jews in
Sana'a http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/yemen-halts-funding-for-jews-in-sanaa.html
NON-MUSLIM / NON ARAB
MINORITIES
Of Kurdish barbers and Jewish
converts http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/of-kurdish-barbers-and-jewish-converts.html Two
Copts killed in
Libya http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/01/01/head-of-libyas-copts-speaks-out-on-misrata-killing/ Warning
signs of
genocide http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/in-egypt-the-warning-signs-of-genocide/#.UQTa3rvfKXo.facebook The
Iranian regime’s war against a peaceful
minority http://www.propagandistmag.com/2013/01/24/iranian-governments-war-against-peaceful-religious-minority?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+propagandistmag+%28The+Propagandist%29 US
pastor sentenced to eight years in
Iran http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/27/american-pastor-iran/1868841/ Yemen’s
forgotten
Christians http://www.meforum.org/3437/yemen-christians
PALESTINIAN
REFUGEES
Israel
wants Palestinians fleeing Syria to renounce ‘right of
return’ http://www.yalibnan.com/2013/01/26/israel-wants-fleeing-palestinians-to-renounce-right-of-return/
Dearborn Muslim Calls for
Killing Anti-Islam Protesters
A recent Dearborn
Patch article addressed concerns about the location of the annual Dearborn
Arab Festival. For several years, the festival has been held on Warren Avenue.
However, because the sidewalks adjacent to the festival remain public property
during the event, criticism and protest are protected by the First Amendment. In
2012, a group of anti-Islam protesters showed up with signs
condemning Muhammad (not to mention a
pig's head on pole), and some young Muslims responded violently. Mayor
John O'Reilly, a notorious defender of the city's
campaign against free speech, hopes that organizers will consider moving the
festival to a closed location, where the city will not be responsible for
handling protesters.
Of course, the only reason protesters show up at the festival is that Dearborn
leaders (with occasional help from the American Arab Chamber of Commerce) spent years violating the
Constitutional rights of U.S. citizens. I attended the Arab Festival in 2008
and 2009, and I didn't see any protesters. In 2009, however, the Police
Department declared that Christians
wouldn't be allowed to distribute pamphlets or Bibles, even on the public
sidewalks around the festival. This was the same year we
were attacked by security for asking a question at a booth that invited us
to ask questions. The following year, we were arrested for
having a peaceful discussion with some Muslim teenagers who approached us with
questions about Christianity. Two days later, police took us into custody
again for attempting to distribute Bibles outside the festival
News (and videos) spread about Dearborn's contempt for the First Amendment, and
this drew a number of protesters to the city (including Terry Jones, who was convicted
and jailed for planning to protest outside a mosque). Now that the
city has gained worldwide attention for its stance against free speech, city
leaders want to move the festival in order to escape the consequences of their
actions.
The local population is divided over whether to move the
festival, and, even more importantly, over how Muslims should respond to
protesters. The Dearborn
Area Community Members Facebook group hosted a discussion about the move,
and some of the comments were enlightening. A Muslim named Aboudi Berro
suggested moving the festival to an area where protesters could be more easily
murdered:
Muhammad Khatib, by contrast, advocated keeping the festival at its regular
location. However, he suggested arming the security guards (the gang of
thugs who assaulted us in 2009):
Perhaps the most encouraging comment came from a young Muslim who defended the
First Amendment rights of Islam's critics. Ali Sayed Ahmad wrote
And here we see the great divide that plagues the once great City of Dearborn.
On the one hand, there are many Muslims who genuinely love America and the
rights it guarantees. (Here I should include Majed Moughni, a local Muslim
lawyer who spoke
out on our behalf after police threw us in jail.) On the other hand, there
are some who would gladly execute protesters who criticize Muhammad, and more
who want
such criticism outlawed
In a sane world, politicians, police, and the media would support and encourage
those who believe in freedom of speech and freedom of religion. In actuality,
leaders do everything in their power to appease the most hateful voices among
us. With better leaders in place, I think there would be hope for Dearborn. But
with Mayor O'Reilly, Judge
Mark Somers, and a corrupt police force in charge, things just can't move
forward. Perhaps instead of changing the location of the Arab Festival in order
to silence critics, the city should instead focus on changing the behavior that
led to the protests
