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Not long ago the local paper here in Secure Undisclosed Locationville ran a large photo of a pair of hijab-wearing Muslim ladies happily looking at a book. The caption explained that the local library had recently accepted a donation of books on Islam from the Council on American Islamic Relations's Library Project. The library was happy to be able to provide library patrons with information about this faith that it was so important for Americans to understand.
The problem, of course, is that CAIR's booklist is severely flawed, giving no hint of why or how tenets of Islam gave rise to a global network of terrorists. Anyone who reads only CAIR's books about Islam will come away with no understanding of how the war on terror came about, or what can be done about it.
But now there is an alternative. The Free Congress Foundation, of which I am an adjunct fellow, has put together an alternative list of books to give libraries a more balanced view of Islam. I am grateful to see that my new book Onward Muslim Soldiers is on the list, which is a particular honor given that classics such as Bat Ye'or's Islam and Dhimmitude and David S. Margoliouth's The Early Development of Mohammedanism are also included.
Paul Weyrich and FCF don't have Saudi millions behind them to get these books into libraries for free, but you can help them with donations and by getting the word out to your local library that if they stock CAIR's books, in the name of fairness they should stock these alternatives also.
Posted by Robert at November 1, 2003 3:26 PM
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I was not aware of CAIR’s program of filling America’s libraries with Islamic propaganda and its false portrait of Islam being a “peaceful religion.” Discovering this sends chills up my spine and adds more to my frustration at how America continues to forget 9/11 and ignore the truth that Islam is a “hateful religion” – a religion that condones the murder of innocent people all over the world.
My frustration comes from the feeling that the Muslim assassins will indeed attack our nation again while our people still preach tolerance for the Islamic religion. I will not go into detail here on what I think we need to do to make our borders more secure, instead I will focus on CAIR’s donation of library books, which is the crux of this commentary by Mr. Spencer.
In the Washington Times article, “Libraries Revisit Islam” (which was linked from this Dhimmi Watch commentary) it quotes Ibn Warraq, "In a democracy, you cannot stop groups like CAIR from sending their propaganda. Hopefully, the libraries will be more critical in what they accept. I hope they are careful these books [from CAIR] are not full of anti-Semitism, hatred against the West and non-Muslims." While Warraq’s ideal is sound, we cannot realistically expect our librarians to read all these books to make proper judgments.
What can we do about this? I’ll tell you what I will do and I ask everyone that agree with me to do the same. I will donate two books to my local library that incorporate the true story of Islam instead of the rosy picture CAIR want portrayed.
The books I will donate are: Robert Spencer’s, Islam Unveiled, and Ibn Warraq’s, Why I Am Not a Muslim. You may choose the same or you may have two books that you feel more appropriately relate the other side of the story about Islam. If we all do this, then we might make a dent in CAIR’s project. I know it will make the frustration I feel over this issue a little less.
Thanks,
Bob
Bob, don't be surprised if your librarians thrown your donated books away. They are likely to be leftists who will view the books as racist.
Posted by: Jim at November 2, 2003 2:37 PMThat would suck big time!!
Posted by: Bob at November 2, 2003 3:25 PM
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