Tarek Fatah, who has received death threats from Muslims who don't approve of his moderation, speaks with courage and candor, saying things we have said here for years, in "We all have to stand up to Islamists and their apologists" in the Vancouver Sun (thanks to Paulo):
...Among those arrested were Arab professionals, one a neurosurgeon, the other a physician. These were no inner-city sons of impoverished immigrants invoking their right to fight injustice. These were well-placed, Mercedes-driving, upper-middle-class Muslims responding to the call of jihad against non-Muslims, which is the basis of all Islamic terrorism.If the profile of the arrested was unusual, the reactions were predictable. As usual, Islamic groups lined up to utter cliche-ridden denunciations without once attacking the ideology of jihad that provides the fertile soil for Islamic extremism. The condemnations were just enough to put some distance between themselves and the jihadis, and to absolve themselves of any responsibility.
[...]
To make matters worse, Blair endorsed and funded the so-called "Radical Middle Way" for British Muslim clerics. This "middle way" has become a front for all those who provide convoluted academic analysis, explaining the root causes of Islamic terrorism and falsely promising the British taxpayer that they will counter the ideology of hate against secular societies.
But its media savvy scholars promote a very narrow view of Islam, carefully avoiding any rejection of the doctrine of jihad, choosing instead to suggest that Britain's foreign policy is at the root of terrorism.
[...]
Time has come for ordinary Britons and Canadians to say that if our politicians do not have the spine to stand up to the Islamists, we will. We have to say to those apologizing for Islamists, "Enough is enough," and stand up to the Jihadis and Jihadi-Lites.
We should not hesitate to say to those who will not embrace the principles of secular democracies, "shape up or ship out."
This victimhood mentality forced on young Muslim men, mixed with the exaltation of martyrdom and the doctrine of jihad, has been at the root of Islamic terrorism in Britain.
When prosperous young Muslims use Mercedes as car bombs in London and Glasgow, the groups who instilled in them this frenzy are equally guilty of the crime, if not more.
Those who incite young Muslim men in Britain and Canada into believing that western society is satanic and that the West is waging a war against Islam have a moral obligation to take responsibility when these same men become suicide bombers and terrorists.
Muslim organizations in Canada must do more than simply pay lip service to cliche-ridden patriotism while preaching against the values and foundations of this great country.
Muslim organizations must come out and state clearly that the only laws that matter in Canada are the laws of this country, not medieval shariah laws of the ninth century.
If they do not reject the doctrine of jihad as an option for Muslims, they should be considered part of the problem, not the solution.
beautiful.
and when the call is ignored, when the smiling apologists avoid expressing disgust with the tradition they represent... can we please revoke from Islam the special civil-rights protections that are appropriately offered private religions? their way is a supremist political way, and we need not apologize for seeing through claims such as, "There is no compulsion in religion."
As usual, it's the Muslims themselves, either the apostates or the sorely disillusioned, who are the hope of the future. Change has to come from within.
Of course, we Infidels can give it a little push.
Monitoring the Mosques to figure who is a "good" Muslim vs a "bad" Muslim is futile.
Outlaw the damn "religion"!
A Proposed Constitutional Amendment
Background and justification to Amendment 28
Whereas Religion is defined as an institution dedicated to improving social conscience and promoting individual and societal spiritual growth in a way that is harmless to others not participating in or practicing the same;
Whereas the United States of America was founded on the ideals of individual rights, including the individual right to practice one’s religion of choice, or no religion, and that there would be no compulsion of religion, nor state sanctioned religion, nor a “religious test” for participation in the body politic;
Whereas Islam includes a complete political and social structure, encompassed by its religious law, Sharia, that supersedes any civil law and that Islam mandates that no secular or democratic institutions are to be superior to Islamic law;
Whereas Islam preaches that it and it alone is the true religion and that Islam will dominate the world and supplant all other religions and democratic institutions;
Whereas Saudi Arabia, the spiritual home of Islam does not permit the practice of any other religion on its soil and even “moderate” Muslims states such as Turkey and Malaysia actively suppress other religions;
Whereas Islam includes as its basic tenet the spread of the faith by any and all means necessary, including violent conquest of non-believers, and demands of its followers that they implement violent jihad (holy war) against those un-willing to convert or submit to Islam, including by deception and subversion of existing institutions;
Whereas on 9/11/2001 19 Muslim hijackers acting in the name of Islam killed 3,000 Americans, and numerous other acts of terrorism have been directed at the American people around the world;
Whereas representatives of Islam around the world including Osama Bin Laden (architect of 9/11), the government of Iran including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, HAMAS, Hezbollah, and other Islamic groups have declared jihad (war) on America, and regularly declare that America should cease to exist;
Whereas there is no organized Islamic opposition to violent proponents of Islam;
Therefore: Islam is not a religion, but a political ideology more akin to Fascism and totally in opposition to the ideals of freedom as described in the United States Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights.
Be it resolved that the following Amendment to the Constitution be adopted:
Article I
The social/political/ideological system known around the world as Islam is not recognized in the United States as a religion.
The practice of Islam is therefore not protected under the 1st Amendment as to freedom of religion and speech.
Article II
As representatives of Islam around the world have declared war, and committed acts of war, against the United States and its democratic allies around the world, Islam is hereby declared an enemy of the United States and its practice within the United States is now prohibited.
Article III
Immediately upon passage of this Amendment all Mosques, schools and Muslim places of worship and religious training are to be closed, converted to other uses, or destroyed. Proceeds from sales of such properties may be distributed to congregations of said places but full disclosure of all proceeds shall be made to an appropriate agency as determined by Congress. No compensation is to be offered by Federal or State agencies for losses on such properties however Federal funding is to be available for the demolishing of said structures if other disposition cannot be made.
The preaching of Islam in Mosques, Schools, and other venues is prohibited. The subject of Islam may be taught in a post high school academic environment provided that instruction include discussion of Islam’s history of violence, conquest, and its ongoing war on democratic and other non-Islamic values.
The preaching or advocating of Islamic ideals of world domination, destruction of America and democratic institutions, jihad against Judaism, Christianity and other religions, and advocating the implementation of Sharia law shall in all cases be punishable by fines, imprisonment, deportation, and death as prescribed by Congress. Violent expressions of these and other Muslim goals, or the material support of those both in the United States and around the world who seek to advance these Islamic goals shall be punishable by death.
Muslims will be denied the opportunity to immigrate to the United States.
Article IV
Nothing in this amendment shall be construed as authorizing the discrimination against, of violence upon, nor repudiation of the individual rights of those Americans professing to be Muslim. The individual right of conscience is sacrosanct and the practice of Islam within the privacy of home and self is strictly protected to the extent that such individuals do not violate the prohibitions described in Article III.
see it on-line at http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2007/02/proposed-constitutional-amendment.html
Everything Tarek Fatah says is both obvious and amazing. The obviousness of his analysis will be clear to many of those who routinely come to this site. The amazingness consists in the fact that he not only set it all out so lucidly, the lucidity of someone not about to mince words, someone throughwhose prose runs the poetry of relentless no-nonsense, but most importantly, managed to have it published in a major paper in the confused and frightened and denying West.
It's not just Muslims of the CAIR variety who appear to endorse if not become apologists for terrorists.
Moments ago CNN interviewed Fawaz Gerges of Sarah Lawrence College. He promotes Hamas. Hamas, the terrorist organization dedicated to wiping Israel off the map, Fawaz characterizes as "moderate." Sure. And what's next? Expressing support for Osama bin Laden?
These apologists for terrorists (which include Muslims, Christians, non-Muslims, atheists, NDP leaders, etc.) must be confronted. They are as much the problem as are their Muslim terrorist pals.
We are going to have to get the rulers of Saudi Arabia to shape up and ship out then...
Thank you for posting this.
Well done, Tarek Fatah.
"Moments ago CNN interviewed Fawaz Gerges of Sarah Lawrence College. He promotes Hamas."
-- from a posting above
The oily Fawaz Gerges managed to pull the wool over a number of faculty eyes when he slithered up the tenure pole at Sarah Lawrence, a school where Adda Bozeman once taught, and where her papers (the curator being Prof. Adams) can now be found. A Russian emigre, Bozeman was among the very first to describe the immutable problem of Islam, the violence and agression of Islam, the fact that Islam is not like any other belif-system that we call a "religion." Indeed, Samuel Huntington borrowed, it is clear, much from her.
Yet here is the oily Gerges, not only teaching young girls (and now boys) at Sarah Lawrence -- a school that during the war, and for at least a decade after, profitted from the refugees from the Nazis, and then the Communists, on its staff. It was also a place where some of the ills of the modern American university first could were detected - the smiling vacuous university president, the general atmosphere of wallowing in "tolerance" (to be replaced later on by "diversity"), all acidulously etched by Randall Jarrell in "Pictures From An Institution." Were Jarrell alive today he would have fun taking apart the likes of Fawaz Gerges.
Gerges, apparently a smooth man, is also a greedy one. A few years ago he was asked to write a letter on behalf of an Egyptian Christian, who needed evidence that, were he returned to Egypt, would suffer as a Copt. Gerges was apparently prepared to do it, to write that one-page letter -- but only if he were to be paid $5,000, or $15,000 (I can't remember which). The poor Egyptian couldn't afford that.
And of course, Gerges is one of the many sly ones who has managed to convince some network -- ABC? -- to put him on a retainer as an "expert" on "terrorism" or "Islam" or something. Most of them are merely silly repeaters of the obvious, but Gerges is more than that. He's a sly and determined apologist for Islam and the Islamic worldview, and therefore of no value to an audience of Infidels, who desperately need a little instruction, whatsoever. He's a guide to nothing and nowhere, and it is at this point insulting to all of us that he is still retained, on his fat retainer, to present his misleading lessons in understanding.
We demand you let us teach and work in your country. You islamophobic, supremest, racist, ba$tard$!
A related story.
Check out the interview with author, Ed Husain. His book just came out. He used to be a jihadi.Follow the links on this site.
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/
There is a video piece and also a transcript.
The good news is that many islamists like him are now seeing the error of their ways.
Balsy Tarek
CAIR continues to ramp up their campaign on islamophobia. For any who may be interested in attending:
CAIR-Florida to Co-Host Islamophobia Symposium
6/19/2007
CAIR-FLORIDA & THE IMAN AT NOVA HOST ISLAMOPHOBIA SYMPOSIUM
Speakers:
* Dr. Robert Pape, ’Why the War on Terrorism is Heading South’
* Dr. Mohammed Nimer, Islamophobia & Anti-Americanism: An Action Agenda
* Dr. Aisha Musa, Islam in the popular media: The problem of pseudo-scholarship and misinformation
WHERE: Nova Southeastern University, Steele Auditorium in Terry Bldg. 19E, 3301 College Avenue, Ft Lauderdale, FL
WHEN: Saturday, June 30, 2007, 2 - 4:30 p.m.
RSVP: Free admission. Limited seating. RSVP mandatory at (954) 272-0490.
DR. ROBERT PAPE is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago specializing in international security affairs. His most recent book is dying to win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (Random House, June 2005).
DR. MOHAMED NIMER is research director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, DC. His research has focused on Muslim politics and development and the American Muslim experience. His most recent publication is the forthcoming edited volume 'Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism: Causes and Remedies' (Amana Publications, 2007).
DR. AISHA MUSA is an Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at FIU. She received her PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. Her forthcoming book, 'Hadith as Scripture,' explores the development of the doctrine of duality of revelation and issues surrounding the relative authority of the Quran and the Prophetic Traditions in Islam.
CONTACT: Altaf Ali, CAIR-FL Executive Director, Tel: 954-272-0490, Email: aali@cair.com
Main Office, South FL :: 954-272-0490 :: info@cair-florida.org | Regional Office, Central FL: 813-514-1414 :: tampa@cair-florida.org
He is out of step with the majority of musims. He is an apostate', not a 'moderate', that's why the death threats. He apparently is a liberal, he say's Blair 'lied' about WMD. A typical liberal assumption, without proof.
Talk is cheap...lets see some action that doe's something...
Whoops! Sorry , didn't register the date on the Florida CAIR event above. It was several weeks ago. My apologies.
Anyone hear anything about it?
Kudos to Tarek Fatah and his courage. He and other Muslims like him face the sobering dilemma of whether they're willing to fight and die for their version of Islam against extremists in their midst who've already shown willingness to fight and die for theirs. Nearly all Muslims we read about boldly declare their right of self-defense "to the death" against any aggressors. However, the context usually equates "aggressors" to non-Muslims. But does this theological policy apply equally to aggressors who happen to be Muslim? The extremists think so....they'll just conveniently declare non-extremist Muslims to be "apostates", making it easier to off them along with non-Muslims. So, do non-extremist Muslims value their moderate version of Islam enough to take a similar, "defend-their-faith-to-the-death" stance against their extremist brethren, esp. with the whole world watching? That is the prime challenge facing the ummah today.
"We demand you let us teach and work in your country. You islamophobic, supremest, racist, ba$tard$!"
havekoranwilltravel
Sure, come on over. BTW, can you teach me to make a bomb from dog turds? Hey! who said muslims dont invent anything!
I just saw this linked in a comment over at LGF. It could be titled: Robert Spencer has been right all along. I'd expect those apologies to come rolling in any day now, Robert.
Not really of course.
Kudos to this Tarek dude.Thank you JW for posting this article.
He is right on.
It is we the people who have to act to insist that the buggered politicians listen to us.
Think of the immigration debate in the US Senate and then think of the arrogant beltway whores (like Kennedy and Reid) who went down to defeat.
Saudi funded mosques must be legislated closed.
If jihadism isnt rejected, those proponents must be invited to leave the West.
"If they do not reject the doctrine of jihad as an option for Muslims, they should be considered part of the problem, not the solution."
People have been saying this for years. What has it gotten us? Fine words, but where do we go from here?
"We should not hesitate to say to those who will not embrace the principles of secular democracies, "shape up or ship out."
Fine words but also empty rhetoric when citizens have rights under the law and even a person who is in the country illegally cannot be deported without due process. Non-Muslims who do exactly as he calls for are branded as haters and discredited. (Robert can tell you. So can Tom Tancredo.) Exactly who does he mean by "WE"?
Only the Muslim community can fix itself. It may not like the outcome if it shrugs off its responsibility once again and forces others to act.
I applaud the sentiment but actions speak louder than words. Too many false hopes have been raised by articles like this one.
Before you exalt Mr.Fatah too high in the air I'd like to point out his dual positions on Islam and the West.
First off he was a avid fan of the redefining of marriage in Canada to the new version of Two-Persons or any gender , and while he toured the Gay friendly Churches appeasing homosexuals about their Rights and how Islam would protect them he has also attacked Irshad Manji for being a Lesbian Muslim and accused her of being a agent for the Zionists and turning her back on her People in Palestine.
Mr.Fatah also failed to denouce Dr.Mohummed Elmasry when Elmasry was on the Coren-Live show and declared all Israelis over 18 as valid targets for murder by suicide bombers , and when Tarek Fatah was on a TVO special with 4 other Muslims he not only blamed Christians for murdering close to 100 million people in the last Century but he let it slip that when Muslims become the majority in Canada they will have no choice but to obey the Quran and create a Caliphate and later on make canada an Islamic state with Sharia law.
Yes folks, the wolf in sheeps clothing loves to play both side of the issues and even on his
TV show I have heard him say the exact opposit
of what he spewed on the MSM debates or interviews.
Fatah's website still posts his rant about the RCMP being Racists for removing 26 Illegals from canada because 19 of them were young/sunni/males/pakistanis from a know terrorism producing area and that they had fake ID and expired Student Visas for a bogus store-front College and they had fake passports.
Last year in June when 19 Muslims were arrested for a Jihad plot with 6600lbs of amonium Nitrate
it was Fatah that cried racism and islamophobia until the evidence unfolded that the Jihadist bragged about truck bomb and beheading oue Political leaders , then Fatah praised the RCMP for catching these males that would have smeared the peaceful image of Islam and caused Backlash to all good Muslims in canada.
All of my claims are from actual TV shows and Media articles and in todays hightech news reporting it is dangerous to assume that some comment from 5 years ago is buried in a archive and about to be shredded for the junkyard of History and nevr heard again.
CAIR is also on a video from the Glenn beck show and they declare both Tarek and Irshad apostates of Islam so at least CAIR is consistent with their hatred and bigotry , but this brings little comfort because we in the West may be victims of the Islamic infighting like in Iraq where Muslims bomb each others Mosque for being the enemy of Allah and the fake Muslems that are really Apostates that deserve to die.
Tarek can't be a little pregnant , he either abhores Sharia and all violence or he embraces some violence if the cause is right and it's for Allah's use.
Pick one Mr.Fatah.
It is we the people who have to act to insist that the buggered politicians listen to us.
Think of the immigration debate in the US Senate and then think of the arrogant beltway whores (like Kennedy and Reid) who went down to defeat.
dgene,
Sorry, but they'll never go down to defeat where it matters - at the ballot box. Until they do, the rest have no reason to listen to us. Our protests are hollow because we won't back them up - with a vote.
Ala-sux...thanks for that info. It disresses me some when fellow posters fawn over any muslim who talks nice. I know we are desperate for a 'moderate' muslim, any 'moderate' muslim, but are we so desperate that we take them at face value? And then, drat it, find out that they aint that good after-all? A muslim, is a muslim, is a muslim. Has it ever been any different?... Ala-sux makes the case...
duh_swami, I don't think many Muslims approve of Tarek because of his open support of homosexuals (that's really what gets him into hot water).
Anyway, Gerges is unctuous and hideous (I watched the interview again -- CNN repeated it). Now there's a slime ball. Especially his anxious smiling as he "explains" that Hamas is such a bringer of "law and order" to Gaza -- as I laugh. Yeah, guess that must consist of binding people by hand and foot and throwing them off buildings. Or dragging them out of hospital beds and pumping bullets into their heads. All right! That's "law and order" Gerges style! Lynch mobs. Such an out and out liar. Disgusting. And disgusting of CNN to present this!
ala-Sux: "...he let it slip that when Muslims become the majority in Canada they will have no choice but to obey the Quran and create a Caliphate and later on make canada an Islamic state with Sharia law."
ala-sux - I am not familiar with the man or your sources but will merely note that upon my very first reading of this article I noticed one glaring ommission. While he indeed says:
"If they do not reject the doctrine of jihad as an option for Muslims, they should be considered part of the problem, not the solution"...
I immediately noticed that he made no mention of rejecting Sharia law.
It simply isn't good enough to reject violent jihad. As we all know by now, violent jihad is merely a means towards an end, which is Sharia law. Any genuine moderate is going to have to publicly repudiate Sharia law as well, otherwise savvy readers (whose numbers are growing) might get the impression that such purported moderates might merely reject violent means towards that end while still supporting the end goal of subjugating infidels under Islamic rule. While this man may well be a genuinely moderate Muslim who does indeed reject Sharia law, this statement is too ambiguous to establish where he actually stands on that score. So overall, my response to this public statement is that while good, it is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
My apologies - I will certainly acknowledge that I am wrong when I am!:
Mr. Fatah clearly said: "Muslim organizations must come out and state clearly that the only laws that matter in Canada are the laws of this country, not medieval shariah laws of the ninth century."
I still wish, however, in the light of ala-sux'a comments, that he could state this a little more forcefully. Not just "the only laws that matter in Canada are..." (which is indeed true in the present sense) but rather something more along the lines that the only laws that should EVER matter in Canada are...and that all Muslim citizens of Canada should reject and work against any Muslim attempts to ever establish Sharia law in Canada. If this is what he meant in his statements, then my sincere apologies to Mr.Fatah, who I am sure already has it rough enough without getting squeezed by both sides!
... saying things we have said here for years, in "We all have to stand up to Islamists and their apologists"
You haven't been saying Islamists have you?!
The correct phrase would be ... stand up to Moslems and their apologists.
Christianists... Buddhistists... Hinduists... Zoroastrianists... Atheistists... you get the idea.
Language, and the tireless manipulation thereof, is the key to attaining global Sharia. Hell, even the crowd in this blog seems to comply.
* 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 *
Call a spade a spade. Call a Jihad war terrorist a Moslem activist. Call Moslem inactivists silent conspirators in the Jihad terror war.
Please.
Tarek Fatah was head of the Muslim Canadian Congress. He and this group fought successfully against the institution and legitimization of Shariah law in Ontario, Canada. This was tremendously important work.
As a civilian, Tarek Fatah is speaking out against the funding of faith-based schools in Ontario, something that John Tory, a Conservative politician, is saying that he wants to do. Mr. Fatah said on the Michael Coren show recently that it would be a mistake to fund separate Islamic schools (I don't remember his exact words). This is another very important issue facing us here in Canada.
Mr. Fatah quit his position with the Muslim Canadian Congress because of death threats against himself and his wife and children. Now he is writing a book.
Hi PMK
It was the votes that had these beltway whores lose the immigration vote (should have included Lindsey Graham in the group); it was also the more conservative Dems recently brought on board by the lib Dems who needed voting bodies in Congress, who being conservative,balked at the party line.
A site like JW helps create the votes that result in survival.
One can remember when one felt like a lone voice in the wilderness; but now, a lot of people are waking up and there are many good voices.
This is the good fight and it is worth winning. One can be optimistic.
And what of his relationship with Allah? He opposes that which Allah supports. Being a muslim means more than agreeing with Allah, or not agreeing with Allah, it means submission to Allah. What doe's the slavemaster do with an unruly slave? If he is negating sharia, he is opposing Allah. That makes him an apostate. Or am I missing something here?
Is it possible to oppose Allah, and still be a muslim?
dgene,
I wish I could be optimistic, but I'm not. They tried to do this last year, right before an election, and four GOPers who voted against the bill were defeated. Not a single Dem who voted for it was defeated, not even the ringleader - Teddy Kennedy.
Two GOPers - Trent Lott and Jon Kyl, suddenly decided the new bill wasn't so bad, only after they won reelection by campaigning vociferously last year against amnesty. People in NJ voted for Menendez knowing full well what he wanted to do.
The American people are two-faced: Congress is full of scoundrels but our own representatives are God's gift to America. The American people made a lot of phone calls but they won't make any of these people pay at the ballot box. No one who supported this bill went down to defeat. The bill may have but their views didn't, and they'll try again. The only way to get them to stop is to remove them from power and we won't. We had a golden opportunity last year and we blew it.
This appears to represent somewhat of a change in Mr. Fatah's position. As I've noted elsewhere in these pages he has been somewhat a part of the problem himself.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/015749.php
His resentment at the suggestion of acknowledgement of Muslim complicity in the holocaust is a case in point.
http://www.canpalnet-ottawa.org/fatah.html
Nonetheless he does seem to be getting it at last. Perhaps the death threat he and other members of the Muslim Canadian Congress recently received have prompted him take stock.
By the way, Fatah used to have a strong affiliation with the NDP (for the benefit of American and other international readers who may not be familiar with it, that's the farthest left of the major Canadian political parties - the "New Democratic Party", variously described as either "Social Democratic" or "Democratic Socialist") and was a Bob Rae supporter in the Federal Liberal leadership race. (Again for the benefit of those not familiar with Canadian politics, Rae was the leader of the leader of the Ontario NDP during the four years when it disastrously governed that province in the early 90s who subsequently abandoned the party and turned to the Liberals, calling the NDP an irrelevant protest party determined to remain on the fringes). I've often argued, despite my own disgust with the Left and my growing rejection of it over the last several years, that we should not write off the left as a movement altogether. There is reason to hope that at least some significant elements of the Left can be gotten aboard in this struggle, even if the Left in general may not (and even that may be too pessimistic) so I'm hoping this supports that view.
It took a long time for the Left to get behind the war effort in the 1930s and 40s, despite the agitation of a handful of left wing leaders who warned about the growing Hitler menace but it eventually arrived there, despite some recalcitrant elements who remained opposed. Time will tell, and there's still a very long way to go, but hopefully there'll be more of that sort of movement and the Left will prove to be undergoing a change in its position that will make opposition to Islamist aggression much stronger than it is the political culture across the Western world.
I do think we should continue to reach out to them and encourage this kind of change.
Oops. Typing error:
" ... Rae was the leader of the leader of the Ontario NDP ..."
hould be "... was the leader of the NDP" (period). Sorry.