Here it is again, the same old story we have seen play out so many, many, many times: instead of taking responsibility for their actions, instead of owning up to what they tried to do for their religion (“the trio travelled overseas, raised money, and trained with weapons to support a jihadist plot to kill perceived enemies of Islam”) and face their punishment like the warriors they claim to be, Islamic jihadists and their supporters claim victim status. They grant nothing, they admit nothing. They are always the innocent victims.
This has the effect of creating more suspicion of Muslims in the U.S., because people aren’t stupid: they see stories like this one and know that racism and post-9/11 paranoia had nothing to do with this conviction, which was based on clear evidence that was duly weighed by an impartial jury. People know that concerns about Muslims in America stem from the numerous jihad terror plots that have been hatched in the name of Islam. And they see the disingenuousness and finger-pointing of Muslim leaders in America who should be, if they really were what they claim to be, acknowledging the problem of jihadist sentiments among Muslims in the U.S., and working sincerely to root it out. If Muslim groups in America ever even once admitted that there really was a problem of young Muslims turning to jihad terror in this country, then a great deal of the suspicion of Muslims in America would dissipate, because non-Muslims would see that Muslim leaders were at least making a good faith effort to deal with the problem. Instead, they don’t even admit that there is a problem.
When suspicions rise, however, even that doesn’t make Muslim leaders in the U.S. start to be more honest. Instead, they ascribe it to a rise in “Islamophobia” — see, for example, Reza Aslan’s outstandingly dishonest presentation here. Aslan pretends that jihad terror plots are not happening, and that concern about Muslims in this country is sheer nativism and bigotry. His sleazy dishonesty then ends up creating more of the concern about Muslims here that he sees as evidence of this nativism, so that actually he himself is responsible for the phenomenon for which he blames “Islamophobes.”
“Family calls prosecutors ‘racist vultures’ as U.S. convicts three Muslims of terrorism,” from ANI, October 14 (thanks to Twostellas):
Washington, Oct 14 : A federal jury has convicted three Muslim men from North Carolina of plotting to attack unspecified targets overseas, and also the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia.
The three ”homegrown terrorists” named Omar Aly Hassan, Ziyad Yaghi, and Hysen Sherifi, were convicted on Thursday of providing material support to terrorists.
Yaghi and Sherifi were also convicted of conspiring to kill, kidnap or maim unspecified people overseas, while Hassan was acquitted on the conspiracy charge, the Los Angeles Times reports.
During the course of the tree week trial, prosecutors said that the trio travelled overseas, raised money, and trained with weapons to support a jihadist plot to kill perceived enemies of Islam….
Friends and family members who attended parts of the trial complained of selective prosecution of Muslims, while Hassan”s father said that the trial had been “a long nightmare” after the verdict.
“Every single witness came out and said they never conspired with my son. Conspiracy is a very elastic word,” he added, while Sherifi”s mother shouted outside the courtroom, calling the prosecutors “racist vultures.”