Pot Meet Kettle, The Hypocrisy of Islamic Journalism

The Arab News Daily yesterday published an article by Linda Heard that twists all reality to argue that a culture of hatred against Muslims is growing in America. Heard's rant seems to be based entirely on press releases issued by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)- a poor choice of sourcing. It is well documented, by Anti-CAIR for example, that CAIR, originally funded by Saudi Arabia for the purpose of spreading Islam in America, has Islamist sympathies and a ferocious intolerance for those who question the supposedly peaceful nature of Islam.

In the opening paragraph of her article, Heard mentions "radio talk show host Jay Severin who... claimed that Muslims want to take over America even if it takes centuries, adding “I’ve got an idea. Let’s all kill Muslims”. Heard writes, "Amazingly Severin is still in his job, although he has been forced to apologize on air." I haven't the faintest idea who Jay Severin is, but the latter quotation, "Let's all kill Muslims" is intolerable regardless of context. But what of his first assertion that, "Muslims want to take over America even if it takes centuries?" Heard's source for the quotations is CAIR, which includes Omar Ahmad and Ibraham Hooper amongst its founders and executive members. Ahmad once said, "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faiths, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." Hooper has been quoted as saying, "" I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future...But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education." Severin would seem to be right- these are hardly the sentiments of people committed to integrating into American pluralistic society.

Given the appalling record of human rights violations in every Islamic republic round the world, Americans are well advised to fight the import of Islamism- not through violent reprisals against Muslims in the United States but through intellectual clarity. Most Muslims in America are committed to pluralism and tolerance. Those Muslims who would impose Islamic law on America, however, are a threat to our freedom. We can see examples of the intolerance they favor in the violent bigotry and racism that permeates society in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran and Sudan. Agents of Islamism, CAIR included, should be challenged and discredited in their every attempt to spread their flavor of Islam. This is free speech, not hatred.

While it is legitimate to question the content and tone of public discourse about Islam in America, foreign based news organizations that do so should pay equal or greater attention to the content and tone of discourse regarding non-Islamic faiths in their own countries- more often than not the need for such introspection can not be underestimated. Islam and Islamic republics have little or no tolerance for public questioning and often are purposeful exporters of the intolerance practiced within their borders. This may explain why Heard is carrying water for CAIR and Saudi Arabia. America is a country where Muslims can build mosques, worship, and evangelize with the same legal and social protections enjoyed by all members of society. Contrast this with condition of religious minorities in Saudi Arabia where, for example, Christians may not build churches or worship in public, and converts from Islam to Christianity are punished as apostates under the law.

Americans cherish and make good use of the First Amendment right to speak freely. It is unfortunate and inevitable that random acts of hatred occur in diverse societies. Heard mentions a few such acts including threats and vandalism (there are lots more) but she does not mention that when they occur in America we apply the law against the perpetrators. Most of her article, however, attempts to label as hatred the free exercise of speech by assorted talk radio hosts and the Islamic scholar, Daniel Pipes, whom CAIR obsessively attacks and attempts to discredit. The free exercise of speech is not to be confused with hatred- questioning Islamic history and practice is not hateful.

Toward the end of her article, Heard mindlessly repeats the assertion that Islam is a peaceful religion. She would make better use of her time by exploring the basis for the perception in America and the West that Islam is not a religion of peace. She does not mention the fact that Islam has bloody borders. She does not mention the fact that Islam has at its theological root intolerance for non-Muslims. She does not mention the fact that countries where Islamic law prevails have, with few historical exceptions, always codified intolerance. She does not mention the undiluted hatred that spews from minbars throughout the Islamic world during Friday sermons. Finally, she ignores the fact that Saudi Arabia, the country from which the Arab News Daily originated, has institutionalized hatred as both social contract and compulsory religion, and is the world’s largest exporter of bigotry and intolerance.

Posted by publius at July 7, 2004 08:57 AM