CAIR continues its efforts to limit free speech and open discussion about Islam and the elements of Islam that give rise to terrorism. From the Washington Post, with thanks to all who sent this in:
A local radio talk show host touched off complaints from an Islamic civil rights organization yesterday after repeatedly describing Islam on the air as “a terrorist organization” that is “at war with America.”
The organization, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), asked the station to take disciplinary action against Michael Graham, who hosts WMAL-AM’s late-morning call-in program.
A station executive, Randall Bloomquist, said yesterday that Graham’s comments were “amped up” but justified within the context of the program. He said the station, which is owned by the Walt Disney Co., had no plans to reprimand Graham.
The show host touched off the flap during a discussion of the Muslim community’s response to recent acts of terrorism. Graham suggested the fault lies with Muslims generally because religious leaders and followers haven’t done enough to condemn and root out extreme elements. “The problem is not extremism,” Graham said, according to both CAIR and the station. “The problem is Islam.” He also said, “We are at war with a terrorist organization named Islam.”
CAIR denounced the comments yesterday as “hate-filled” and “Islamophobic” and asked its members to contact the station’s advertisers to express their dismay.
“It’s amazing,” said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s communications director. “I talked with Mr. Bloomquist and asked him if he would reprimand someone who used the n-word on the air. He said yes. I asked him if he would reprimand someone who read [approvingly] from the [anti-Semitic] ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion.’ He said yes. So I asked him if he would do the same if someone had called Islam a terroristic organization. Well, he said, it’s all about context, but he never quite explained it to me.”
Added Hooper, “The First Amendment allows people to be idiots and bigots. All you can do is embarrass people and have them defend their reputation. If WMAL doesn’t feel embarrassed and doesn’t want to defend its reputation in the face of anti-Muslim bigotry, then there’s not much we can do about it.”
The question is: what is Hooper doing, what is CAIR doing, what are Muslims doing to fight terrorism within Islam? Not just words, but deeds. If they are indeed doing little or nothing, on what grounds can they protest rhetoric such as this?
ADDENDUM: Here is Graham’s explanation of his words:
If the Boy Scouts of America had 1,000 Scout troops, and 10 of them practiced suicide bombings, then the BSA would be considered a terrorist organization. If the BSA refused to kick out those 10 troops, that would make the case even stronger. If people defending terror repeatedly turned to the Boy Scout handbook and found language that justified and defended murder — and the scoutmasters responded by saying “Could be” — the Boy Scouts would have been driven out of America long ago.
Today, Islam has whole sects and huge mosques that preach terror. Its theology is openly used to give the murderers their motives. Millions of its members give these killers comfort. The question isn’t how dare I call Islam a terrorist organization, but rather why more people do not.