"Salma Habed, 20, of Hoffman Estates said some of the pieces continued with the stereotype that Muslim women are oppressed.

'We go to school. We have careers. It’s not like we’re oppressed like some people feel for some reason,' Habed said...."

Yes, Salma,those of you fortunate enough to live in western countries are free of intimidation and have access to education and careers, but how many millions upon millions don't?

Posted by: waterdragon52 at October 28, 2005 3:12 PM

I only wish that Muslims could see their own hatred staring at them in the mirror, rather than accusing the photographer of "hatred towards Muslims" when he captures their hatred indelibly on film...

Posted by: jsla at October 28, 2005 3:15 PM

'We go to school. We have careers. It’s not like we’re oppressed like some people feel for some reason,' Habed said...."

Hmmm...sounds like a successful brainwashing to me. Let her go to to an extremist country and take that jilbab off. THEN she can tell me she's free from oppression.

Posted by: Constantinople at October 28, 2005 3:17 PM

Wouldn't it be easier for everybody if all infidel activities that might touch on Islam were first cleared by some kind of review board?

It could be called the Dhimmi Control Panel, staffed by Ibrahim Hooper and other knowledgeable secular Moslems, along with some Muftis and Imams for more spiritual guidance. Infidels could appear before the Panel and present their projects, and Panel members could vote on whether to license the event, or suggest modifications necessary to avoid offending Moslems.

That way, we infidels wouldn't have to undergo the embarrassment of cancelled events, and the beleagured Moslem American wouldn't have to take time away from their important work to protest.

I'm sure the vast majority of university presidents in America would endorse this idea.

Posted by: Chaz MarteL 732 at October 28, 2005 3:26 PM

Another student, Hussein Ali, says a number of Muslim students at Harper now are thinking about leaving.

“The Muslim students are thinking about boycotting Harper because of this,” said Ali, 23, of Schaumburg.
Is that all it takes? More exhibits please!

Posted by: Carolyn2 at October 28, 2005 3:29 PM

"..muslim students are thinking of leaving.."

Apparently you don't agree with the principles on which this country was founded.

Bu-Bye.

Posted by: t-ham at October 28, 2005 3:57 PM

Actually, perhaps the problem was with the whole way it was presented. Now if only the gun toters were presented in the context of "resisting" Israelis and other "occupier" forces, or the jilbab wearers were the 40,000 women Iran is recruiting to be suicide bombers in Israel, it might have received a very different reception.

Seriously, I would like to be able to believe that the objections raised came from people like the Al-Sharq Awasat journalist airing her frustrations after 7/7 in response to all the apologists rationalizing suicide bombings, asking if that was the only way they think Arabs are capable of responding, but I don't think that's the case here. These same students probably wouldn't have any objection to photodisplays focusing on IDF forces deployed to destroy bomb-smuggling tunnels, leveling terrorists' hideouts or serving at checkpoints and Israeli Settlers toting rifles as the sum total of what Israel is about.

Posted by: waterdragon52 at October 28, 2005 4:15 PM

Harper Community College is a tax payer supported community college. I know it is tax payer supported because I'm one of the tax payers. It offers two year associate degrees as well as doing adult education programs at night. I took a Chinese cooking class there once.

Another student, Hussein Ali, says a number of Muslim students at Harper now are thinking about leaving.

“The Muslim students are thinking about boycotting Harper because of this,” said Ali, 23, of Schaumburg.

They are welcome to leave. Can we tax payers boycott Harper because of this too? ( I mean the cancellation).

If you are interested in seeing the photos for yourself they a at
No veil is required

To my infidel eyes they seem to be humourous and poignant ... but maybe that is just Shaitan whispering in my ear.

Posted by: Malta_1565 at October 28, 2005 4:17 PM

Yet another example of Muslims attacking and supressing our Western tradition of free artistic expression. Yet another attack on one of our deeply cherished Western traditions.

Ia786, got anything to say about this?

Posted by: Suzan at October 28, 2005 4:30 PM

I totally agree with you Waterdragon.

What do you think the problem is? A serious lack of cajones or a fear of losing Saudi stipends and funding or both?

This situation is the exception rather than rule, but maybe the media and the august bodies look to the White House for leadership, and what do they see there, besides Saudi money and influence, and the Wahhabi Corrider that stretches from Falls Church, VA to Silver Springs, Md.. nothing, but nonsense about a religion of peace and how "extremists are hurting Islam"

Leadership is needed, and leadership starts at the top, and at the top there is no leadership, except when it comes to sending our kids and money into Iraq to deliver a Shi'a Islamic Republic ally to Iran.

Posted by: Nariz at October 28, 2005 4:34 PM

Amazing exhibit!! It can be found here, check it out:

http://www.iranian.com/Arts/2005/October/Normandi/1.html

How can this be shown on an Iranian website, but can't be shown in a US college? Excuse me???!?!?!

Posted by: kelley at October 28, 2005 4:41 PM

I too live in the area and I agree with Malta 1565, can we taxpayers boycot Harper? I will be contacting Harper to protest the closing of the exhibit. It seems that we are being inundated in The Northern Illinois area with this cult and their followers!

Posted by: balticwaves at October 28, 2005 4:47 PM

We could send a civil note to the pres:

Dr. Robert L. Breuder,
President, William Rainey Harper College

rbreuder@harpercollege.edu

Posted by: kelley at October 28, 2005 5:03 PM

Allah Gets What Allah Wants

About one year ago, Princeton featured an exhibit of "art" which desecrated Christian religious symbols. An "artist" took paintings of the Virgin Mary cut them up and pasted them onto a collage with a great deal of obscene material. Some members of the student Christian group protested and you can guess what the result was. The Christian students were told that they had to accept this display as part of the exercise of "free speech."

In a private interview the student leader asked the Dean if the Dean would have allowed a similar "artistic" display that used Muslim symbols disrespectfully. She candidly answered ,
"No."

This was reported on Bill O'Reilly by the students themselves. Unfortunately, they hadn't brought a tape recorder to the interview with the Dean.

I don't really want any limits on free speech and I will tolerate disrespect to religious symbols that I venerate BUT I don't want Muslims exempt from this also. This is an outrage. I hope that local citizens will take some action on this.

Posted by: Athena at October 28, 2005 5:11 PM

The magic behind how Moslems are able to unilaterally constrain free speech is threat to personal safety.

Yeah, yeah, I know they're Moron Multicultralist Marxist Academics, but you don't think the Princeton Dean and Dr. Robert L. Breuder has a little picture in the back of his mind, his spouse splayed on the kitchen floor at home, beheaded? Or maybe a good old bombing on the campus mall?

That's power, and the only way to overcome the Implicit Death Threat that impels Islam is for everybody to speak up at once.

That didn't happen after 9/11 or 7/7; will it the next time?

Posted by: Chaz MarteL 732 at October 28, 2005 5:31 PM

Previewing your Comment
Have these custodians of academe withdrawn the exhibit out of 'sensitivity' or merely caved out of cowardice? If they caved, can't blame them entirely -- could be dangerous if someone pronounces a fatwa or some Muslim reads the Koran too carefully and decides to take action. Wonder what all those righteously non-conformist lefties in academia are going to do about this kind of situation popping up increasingly? When real danger appears, and they get threatened not merely by Republicans and evangelicals saying oh-so-meanie things, but by Muslims who, the better they know the Koran and Hadith, the more likely they are to send jihadis...I hope 'brave' academe's battle for non-conformity won't then collapse into dust like some ancient fragile artifact ever so lightly touched, and that the lefties will stand up when it's no longer just a matter of moral preening and play-acting against their own shadows.

We also have to hope the righties, and we ourselves, have the guts not to conform to a creeping climate of censorship about Islam. None of this would matter if there weren't 1.2 billion Muslims and a 1400 year old Koran-plan to establish theocracy worldwide, next stop Europe in a generation or two according to Bernard Lewis, through fast-breeding and fast immigration by Muslims and slow-breeding by native Europeans. Apparently some good sized cities in Europe are already close to majority-Muslim.

Who would even care about that, except that nations with majority-Muslim populations rarely bother about civil and political rights (as anyone who checks out Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, or Freedom House can discover).

Even that might not be decisive, if it weren't for the fact that Islam's prime human exemplar became a politico-theocratic dictator himself, apparently in accord with Allah's own will as expressed in the Koran. What hope is there for a culture with that kind of template, that kind of cultural DNA? Coming decades may test whether the humanity of Muslims (most of whom I gather don't know that much detail of what the Koran says) is stronger than orthodox Islam.

Thankfully more and more Westerners are starting to realize that Muslim rule, despite PC myths about it, has historically turned non-Muslims into second-class citizens in a situation as bad or worse than blacks endured under Jim Crow. We are finding out that Muslim Spain had much in common with Jim Crow, and noticing how Muslim nations' histories show steadily declining populations of members of other religions. And we are gradually learning how this came about through flight from humiliating everyday treatment and abuse, and how it came about through conversion endured in order to escape second-class status, status that entailed not being able to testify in courts of law, having to wear distinctive non-muslim dress, having to give up one's seat to Muslims, being subject to physical abuse by Muslims, including by Muslim children, with no legal recourse, having to house and feed muslims for three days upon demand, having to pay a special non-Muslim tax, and so on.

Posted by: eduardo odraude at October 28, 2005 5:42 PM

Eduardo: Thanks for the your excellent post and the analogy of Jim Crow laws. I think that term should be used more often with Americans in the context of discussions about Islam. Sometimes, the word dhimmi, while familar to JW readers, is unfamiliar to others. The term 'dhimmi' can be somewhat confusing. Dhimmi can denote a second-class citizen in a Muslim country, who has no choice, or it can be used to label a person who is a dhimmi by choice, like the administrators at Harper Community College. So, I use the term "Jim Crow laws" whenever I can in discussions of Islam. For most Americans, the places and times of Jim Crow laws are dark corners of our history, not to be revisited. That is unless, of course, the Muslims become the majority, or militant minorities in pockets throughout the USA.

Posted by: maryrose at October 28, 2005 6:20 PM

If these same pictures were displayed with the picture of the bare-breasted Virgin Mary done by a Muslim in Belgian (I believe), would the offense be taken to all of the pictures or still only to those depicting the Muslim women?

Posted by: Lisa at October 28, 2005 6:56 PM

I posted this story and some commentary from Malta.

I suspect that it will take students going into the streets like they did in the 60s to change the social situation in the West. We all have a lot to lose, and if we can convince students that they have the power to stop the loss and increase the benefits of Modernity we might have some radical movers and shakers working hard to change this miserable situation. Hope so. Maybe I'll dig out my love beads and bell-bottoms and join them.

Posted by: sonofwalker at October 28, 2005 9:15 PM

Slippery slope alert:

The comparison to Jim Crow laws understandable, but I have misgivings about this idea -- First, I think it has become such a tired cliche to dredge up some past transgression by America in order to dull the debate or attempt to make us stop criticising something -- Also, the introduction of this comparison instantly opens up a certain implication of parallelism, which is false upon analysis. Discussing dhimmitude, which happens de facto at first, and then de jure under true Sharia, takes one down into the cul de sac of "racism" which in NOT the basis for Sharia laws in Islam -- I think America's racist past, which it shares to greater and lesser degress with every other nation, is not corrct when discussing Islam.

Are you really starting a conversation to explain what you know about Islam, or are you starting a conversation to explain how Islam today is like America 50 years ago ?

Certainly a thoughtful analysis would reveal some definite similarity between Jim Crow laws and dhimmitude pertaining to the net living conditions of a minority under a majority. But the race issue is extremely inconsistent, and completely missing is the difference between the limited and parochial goals of Jim Crow, and the more menacing supremacist goals of Islam dhimmitude, and Sharia - the legal system to make Islam's mandate stick...

Finally, blacks in America couldn't "opt" into white society - whereas non-Muslims have that choice... Certainly this is one case, loathe as I am to admit it, where Islam isn't as bad as race based laws -- Nevertheless -- taken in its entirety -- I think the comparison isn't appropriate... That's my 2 cents!

Posted by: jsla at October 28, 2005 10:36 PM

I think Ill go digging in the Kabul soccer stadium, unearth a few of those female Taliban victims who lost their heads because they dared to show an ankle in public, and ask them how their careers are faring. Then Ill dare that indignant muslim co-ed mentioned in the article to wear a belly-baring shirt in downtown Tehran.

It may come down to the Chinese and Indians to put some sand in these islamic gears; the muslims may be moving west but they will have a huge problem moving east.

Will the europeans be allowed to use the Moorish invasions as a pretext to violence the way muslims use the crusades?

Posted by: Dead Infidel Walking at October 28, 2005 10:47 PM

Robert, Hugh, the rest of the Zionist cabal which drives and funds Jihad / Dhimmi Watch.

I propose a new award for dhimmitude.

The Harper's, or, 'Harpy' for Dhimmitude.

Posted by: Beagle at October 29, 2005 12:41 AM

My feelings on a possible Harpy Award.
LGF

The Harpy should be limited to dhimmitude in academia. While Harper has made a strong case, there are other good contenders, and a few months left in Fall semester. We should not let the name of the trophy obscure the rightful winner.

Posted by: Beagle at October 29, 2005 12:54 AM

Oh no, they're not thinking about leaving! That would be tragic; they must remain, if for no other reason than to guard against future insults to Islam and muslims.

When muslims threaten to boycott or to vacate an institution or area, do they think it will cease to exist or collapse in their absence?! If they knew how insignificant they really are and how little we like them, want them, or respect them, would that encourage them to not only leave this school, but to leave the country? I didn't think so.

America grew and prospered for over two hundred years with no help from muslims or Islam, and their arrival en masse during the last thirty years has done nothing to enrich, enhance, or improve this country. With every passing day, their presence further pollutes, divides, and polarizes a formerly united nation. I truly pity the people in areas like D.C., Virginia, Michigan, California, and other places that have suffered muslim invasions. These poor people have helplessly watched as their communities were literally taken over by bellicose foreigners who dismantled neighborhoods and created third-world hovels identical to the ones they left behind.

I hope they all boycott this school and every other school in America. Let them get their educations in distinguished M.E. universities with the help of Saudi oil money instead of the sweat off the backs of American taxpayers.

Posted by: Susanp at October 29, 2005 1:52 AM

to jsla:
You're partly right. You are right to point out the differences between dhimmitude and Jim Crow. I think I should have done that. But it would be wrong to say that a comparison should not be made, simply because there are differences between the things compared. Perhaps you meant the comparison should not be made if one does not mention the differences (I didn't mention them), and then I see your point. But every comparison is a comparison between different things, or else it is an unenlightening comparison. Every analogy breaks down at some point. Every metaphor has its limits. If analogies didn't break down at some point, the things analogized would be indistinguishable, and there would not be analogy between them but identity -- and nothing to be gained from comparing them. But as I write this it occurs to me that you didn't really mean to use the word 'comparison', you probably meant something like 'equation' or 'identification'. And if I seemed to equate Jim Crow with dhimmitude, I see that you were right to point out the flaws in that equation.

Posted by: eduardo odraude at October 29, 2005 2:33 AM

To Susanp:
I agree with some of your post, and I think I would prefer if we could stop Muslim immigration to the West until such time as a majority of Muslim-majority nations are liberal democracies that respect religious freedom. But when you say,

their arrival en masse during the last thirty years has done nothing to enrich, enhance, or improve this country

allow me to quibble. That statement seems too blanket. Let's help each other to be precise here. I've certainly been helped by other posters here to be more precise in what I say. So perhaps you will be open to consider that that statement might be too total. For example I'm an American, born here, who happens to know a Muslim who has enriched me somewhat, and for whom I feel a certain affection. But maybe he's not what you would mean by a Muslim.

The more precisely we all can speak here, and the less we speak in sweeping emotional strokes, the more allies I think we will win, and the better it will be for anti-dhimmitude. There is nothing wrong with emotion, provided it is tied to specifics and not to universal generalizations it cannot justify upon reflection.

Posted by: Eduardo Odraude at October 29, 2005 3:38 AM

The double standard -- "art" mocking Christians is freedom of speech that's allowed while that offensive to Muslims must be banned on multicultural grounds -- is sickening. This has to stop. If Islamists' delicate sensibilities towards everything dealing with their religion make their living in a democratic society uncomfortable, they should return to countries where they wopn't have this problem, say Saudi Arabia, Sudan or Iran.

Posted by: Redhand at October 29, 2005 4:31 AM

Eduardo:

It is well and good to have this discussion about symantics, but I think there is a larger picture when contemplating concepts like "dhimmitude" and "Jihad."

First, as I said above, I think it is important to consider the consequences of creating parallels where there are none, or where those comparisons might serve to divert the discussion into a non-topical cul-de-sac... Such a thing may do more to deflect and obscure, than to illuminate. If you prefer to use such a comparison, then YES -- it's important to point out where the analogy falls apart...

But there is a larger issue at stake in this conflict between Western secularism and pluralism and Islam. I was struck in my own experience how hard it was to grasp the Muslim mindset -- and I am still learning. Initially it was nearly impossible for me to grasp what motivated 19 hijackers and hundreds of accomplices (most of whom have never been caught...) to fly those planes into those buildings...

The terms of the enemy are largely opaque to us and alien -- they are not our words, our concepts -- they don't represent our cultural mores, they are inimical to the way we think --

There seems to be no term in English for "Jihad" for example. The Muslims, in what I believe is a concerted effort to obfuscate and confuse, oblige the ignorant Westerner, and define the word using the insidious definition of "internal struggle..." They are saying, in essence -- 'be comforted -- don't believe what the violent terrorists are saying -- don't believe what your eyes are seeing -- don't believe what you are hearing from their lips -- these terrorists, these perverters of Islam are misusing the term "Jihad" ' -- Pure hogwash -- yet most Westerners seemed lulled by this comforting and sinister obfuscation --

I can't think of a real parallel in English -- To me, the term Jihad applies to an overarching idea in Islam which places Islam above all things. This is a complex idea which includes the imperative to be a 'good' Muslim (whatever THAT means -- much of the horror seems to arise out of exactly what this requires...) , and the notion that the Koran and its teachings are the supreme and final word for interpersonal relationships, law, spirituality, language, the name you have, your eating habits, the clothes you wear -- on and on and on..... Also, (and here's another aspect that tends to cause mayhem the world over...) Jihad seems to exhort the Muslim to adopt the promulgation of Islam as a top priority... the method of promulgation is up for grabs -- mostly we notice when there are pools of blood, severed heads, and mangled body parts lying about -- the rest of this promulagation seems like a relief because it appears tame by comparison...

Several words come to mind for translating "Jihad" but each one only captures a small snapshot of the overarching concept -- Crusade. Indoctrination. Propagandizing. Brainwashing. Supremacism. Utopianism. Suppression. Demagogy. Totalitarianism. Cultism. Infantilism. Terrorism. Fascism.

There are other aspects of the concept of "Jihad" -- including the terms "taqiyah" and "kitman." Again, one can approximate a translation, generally "dissimulation" or "hiding" -- but these translations fall far short of the connotative reality for these concepts, which are actually taught to Muslims formally. Again, there is much more to these words than just "dissimulation" and "hiding." "Taqiyah" also means "infiltrate with intent to destroy"... What word do we have to convey this idea!? I can't think of any... Partially because we don't really have this concept in the West of 'dissimulation and deception with the intent of infiltrating in order to destroy...' Spying? Psyops? Insurgency? Sedition? Treason? Yes to each, but overall taqiyah and kitman are essential and pure Muslim ideas -- They also are included in the concept of of "Jihad."

So Western concepts or words don't really capture the nature of the word "Jihad." I can imagine that some Muslims really do believe that Jihad is properly a personal battle to be 'good' -- But does ANYONE doubt that those same Muslims, the ones who will tell the Westerners this specific definition, the "moderate Muslims" are also fully aware of these other definitions of "Jihad." This is one of the reasons I don't trust Muslims. Their velvet pronouncements have no crediblity if one becomes aware of their thought process, once one begins to understand what the true nature of Islamic Jihad is.

Posted by: jsla at October 29, 2005 1:34 PM

OMG -- i can't believe I spelled semantics "symantics" -- too much reading the stock ticker lately... SORRY!

Posted by: jsla at October 29, 2005 1:35 PM

Funnily enough, this exhibit wasn't removed because of offense caused by the "art" :

http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/003984.php

Perhaps this would be more to the liking of Harper College's Muslim students?

Posted by: libbysmom at October 29, 2005 3:00 PM