This guy just seems to pop up in the most unlikely places!

flipflop on February 5, 2007 at 9:20 AM

Why should they accept the blame for their own actions when the MSM is a willing participant in placing the blame on Bush?

csdeven on February 5, 2007 at 9:33 AM

Reporting on Muslims while Jewish
Differing reactions to the author of a book on American Islam show the religion is anything but monolithic.
By Paul M. Barrett, PAUL M. BARRETT is the author of “American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion.”
February 5, 2007

…

Not all of his followers [Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid] emulate his ecumenical inclination. On several occasions before or after prayer services at the mosque, my religion sparked a discussion about what “really happened” on Sept. 11, 2001. I was challenged about how “those 4,000 Jewish workers knew not to show up that morning at the World Trade Center,” a surprisingly enduring fantasy in some Muslim circles. Those who buttonholed me believe (and I doubt that I changed their minds) that Israel engineered the attack and warned all the Jews to stay home. After all, who benefited the most from American anger toward Arabs and Muslims?

At other stops on my journey, the message was decidedly different. Imad Hamad, a Michigan civil rights organizer of Palestinian descent, admitted that when he married his first wife, a Jewish American woman some years back, her family had taken it better than his. (She and he divorced amicably.) Hamad has been praised by the FBI for serving as an honest broker between U.S. law enforcement and Muslims.

Khaled Abou El Fadl, a professor of Islamic law at UCLA, recounted how, in late 2001, his calls for Muslims to take responsibility for reining in extremist rhetoric led to violent threats by fellow Muslims. His voice heavy with emotion, the Egyptian American scholar told me that the only person who volunteered to shelter his family during that dark period was an Orthodox rabbi with whom Abou El Fadl had lectured. “You can make this your home,” said Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, who pointed out that the last place menacing Muslims would look for Abou El Fadl would be the living room of a Jewish clergyman.

Elsewhere, I was surprised to find myself looking into what was more a mirror than a window on an alien culture. Zafar Nomani, a retired biochemist in West Virginia, introduced himself to me with a combative series of lectures on America’s many sins in the world. I sensed that a certain tension dissipated when I told him that his family’s obsession with higher education and seeing the next generation outdo the last reminded me of the concerns of my Jewish grandparents. Gradually, Nomani began admitting how much he admired American freedoms of speech and religion, the nation’s (relatively) orderly elections and public services, which usually work.

During my several visits to their home in Morgantown, Nomani and his wife, Sajida, never failed to fill my stomach with spicy ground beef kebabs, chicken tikka masala, heaps of naan and Indian sweets. “Have more, have more,” Sajida insisted. My Jewish grandmothers would have smiled and nodded.

AP has a good “gotcha” about this Imam who led the prayer at the DNC meeting.

But the quoted part above can show another side to American Muslims. Hopefully the side that prevails. Moderate Islam vs Radical Islam.

EFG on February 5, 2007 at 9:49 AM

The thing is, this is not news. As I’ve written over the years about Husainy, he constantly spews these Zionist conspiracy theories.

The problem is with the article and its author, Paul M. Barrett. Barrett has always been an apologist for Islamofascists, like Imad Hamad, about whom his reporting in this article, which I read with jaw dropped early this morning, is entirely inaccurate. Hamad was a terrorist, and Barrett conveniently forgets the facts about him and his phony marriage.

Debbie Schlussel on February 5, 2007 at 10:00 AM

Hey, is somebody going to point out to the Democrats that they had a loony-tune, Jew-baiting, evil, deluded conspiracy theorist delivering prayers at their meeting? And this time, it’s not Jimmy Carter!

morganfrost on February 5, 2007 at 10:11 AM

If Jews didn’t exist, who would they have to whine about?

GT on February 5, 2007 at 10:21 AM

Hindus, Buhdists, Atheists, Christians, Nudists, Homosexuals, you name it, it’s on their list somewhere.

Lawrence on February 5, 2007 at 12:10 PM

The more I learn about Muslims the more I come to understand the so called moderates are a very small minority. I have said for a long time now this a war of cultures not a war against terror. In Scotland today a letter bomb was found. The officials quickly came out to say this was not a terror attempt. What did that mean? The sender didn’t want to spread terror? The sender was not a Muslim? Please explain this to me.

Grayzel on February 5, 2007 at 3:31 PM

Well, my observation has been that everytime a “moderate” Muslim cleric speaks, it only takes a little tugging for his moderate pose to unravel and his true radical personna to be revealed. However, Husainy’s unravelling is particularly revealing, isn’t it?

This Frontpage Magazine interview with Bill Warner, the director of the Center for the Study of Political Islam (CSPI), contains some rather penetrating analysis of the Muslim mind and Islam. In particular, it explains how Muslims can believe irrational things, even fervently believe two things are true which contradict each other.

Tantor on February 5, 2007 at 6:20 PM