Arizona Islamist Media- (Issue No. 1.7)-- "Local Muslim Voice defends Hamas, Abu Ali, and global boycotts of Denmark"
May 10, 2006
Arizona Muslim Voice (English, February and March 2006)
The following appeared in the English language Muslim voice February 2006 and March 2006 issues and is distributed widely here locally in Arizona.
Hamas and Western Policies: by Marwan Ahmed
(Muslim Voice, February 2006, page 1- interestingly this piece is not linked on the Muslim Voice website)
"When democracy brings pro-West parties favorable to big business it's a victory, yet when it brings so-called terrorists groups chosen by people at the voting ballots then they threaten to isolate and reverse financial support they pledged for the Palestinian economy? What kind of message is the west sending people of the Middle East? Vote for pro-Western parties or suffer the consequences? What options do they leave them?"
AIFD Comment: The publisher of this newspaper again demonstrates an affinity for a radical ideology. In this brief front page missive the newspaper takes the position that the Palestinians had no other options than to elect the radicalism and intransigence represented by Hamas. Does this represent the opinion of the majority of American Muslims here in the Valley? The big business theory is a common Middle East conspiracy theory about how American policies are set, and yet the newspaper's position conveniently avoids any discussion or discontent with Hamas' extreme radical ideology.
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A Lesson to Anti-Islam (sic) Media by Marwan Ahmad
(Muslim Voice, February 2006 page 1)
"A widespread boycott of Danish products is underway in the Islamic countries, starting in Saudi Arabia, and is expected to spread to over 50 nations. The position of the Danish government is not to prevent freedom of speech even when it comes to mocking religious figures. Until the Danish government and its local paper retracts and denounces their position on Islam and its Prophet there will be more reactions to this escalating situation. We as Muslims need to encourage media to keep religious beliefs and figures out of target lists and playing on people's most sacred beliefs as means of gaining popularity."
AIFD Comment: The Muslim Voice here takes a position which is in line with the demagoguery of Islamists and demonstrates the threat which these ideas and Islamists pose to the stability of secular democracies. Put another way, the Arizona Muslim Voice is stating that Western media and western citizens need to fear worldwide Muslim reaction when they may violate the sensibilities of Islamist demagogues. In fact this paper is threatening on its front page, the Danish government, its local newspaper, and any other media or western citizens who may threaten Islamist sensibilities in the future. It threatens with continued 'Muslim escalating reaction' which can only mean continued national boycotts and economic oppression out of proportion to the supposed 'crime' committed.
Are we as Americans and as moderate Muslim Americans to stand in fear that Islamists when offended again, next time perhaps by a local American newspaper, will act like the Danish Islamists? Will this newspaper gather a group of imams and go to the Middle East (much as a few Danish Islamists did) and rally Muslim radicals and their symbiotic dictatorships to enact boycotts against the United States? Would the Muslim Voice endorse an oil embargo by Middle East oil monarchies of the entire U.S. crippling our economy in order to get retribution for a private newspaper's indiscretions? This is the only assumption which can be made from this position statement of the Muslim Voice.
In effect, for this so-called Muslim Valley newspaper, the lines of religion supersedes any lines of nationality when a simple cartoon offends. Such radical behavior for citizens against the economy of their own nations is not Islamic behavior nor is it in keeping with the Qur'anic direction to abide by one's citizenship pledge. The vast majority of local Muslims cannot believe in such extremism.
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"Human rights abuses high, speaker says" by Mima Mohammed
(March 2006, page 9, found at this link at the Muslim Voice)
"Bray told the story of Ahmed Abu Ali, a 23-year-old American from Texas and resident of Falls Church, Va. In summer 2003, Ali was taking final exams at a Saudi Arabian university where he was studying when Saudi law enforcement officials forcibly removed him from his classroom and subsequently imprisoned him for 24 months. "
"According to Bray, Ali was found guilty by association, but returned to the United States after his friends and family waged a legal battle with the federal government. Once back in Virginia, however, Ali faced federal charges of conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism. Bray said that Ali alleges he was whipped in Saudi Arabian prison and coerced into giving a confession, which was then used by the U.S. government to prosecute him. "
"Bray believes that Ali's shocking treatment should open the eyes of Americans to the illegal actions currently sanctioned by the current administration. Ali is appealing his conviction, but if his appeals are turned down, he could face up to 80 years in prison. "
AIFD Comment: This report was basically a reiteration of Mr. Mahdi Bray's, (Executive director of the Muslim American Society) stance on the Department of Justice's case against Ahmed Abu Ali. The reporter gives Mr. Bray's tired discussion of Mr. Ali's victimization.
It is incredulous that this case clearly, for those who actually take the time to review it, had a preponderance of the evidence which pointed to Abu Ali's involvement in an Al Qaeda plot. The Muslim Voice and the Muslim American Society join global Islamists in exploiting the Abu Ali case to present a false victimization of Muslims. With all of the Muslim American Society's protestations to the Abu Ali case, not once does Mr. Bray criticize the well documented radical ideology of Abu Ali which can certainly be associated with a propensity toward violence not to mention the evidence clearly linking Abu Ali with the actual al Qaeda plot against the President.
The local Muslim Voice had no qualms with publishing an apologetic from Mr. Bray about this convicted American traitor.
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Cartoons don't kill, bombs do! By Mohammed Riyad (Muslim Voice, March 2006, page 16, also found at this link)
"There are other aspects that need to be considered here: The Muslim world has been under assault from western, Christian crusaders for a thousand years. They've colonized and despoiled their lands. Many in America regard the Muslim's oil as rightfully there's (sic)--"The Americans" -- an underlying if not complete explanation for George Bush's war of conquest."
"The Westerns (sic) have carved up the Middle East, overthrown democracies, and fostered despots to suit the West's imperial aims. And Westerns still wonder why THEY don't like us, and why THEY take insults from us so seriously. However, it's worth saying that American Muslims' reaction to the cartoon was very different from their brothers in the rest of the world. While poor Muslims failed to mobilize any protest to the "assaulted" cartoon. Muslim "so called" civil rights organizations have been failing their poor fellows by falsely alleging that the administration is siding with Muslims in this crisis!…."
"That, of course, making this argument suggests that the Muslim world should passively accept an intentional provocation, one that intentionally attacked one of the religion's strictest prohibitions."
"I personally believe that the cartoon violence is more an expression of rage against the West, than a defense of the dignity of the prophet. And who can blame this rage? Over 100,000 Iraqis have been killed and at least thrice that number maimed. Citizens are worse off now than under the time of Saddam--less oil, less electricity, less clean water, less security."
"In the TV footage of rioting Muslims in Syria, one placard stood out: The West has entered a Dark Age. That much is true."
AIFD comment: This extreme op-ed by a frequent contributor to the Muslim voice and also one of its advertisers basically legitimizes the violent riots ("who can blame this rage?" it says). It is a reckless, baseless, anti-American rant based on blind rhetoric and complete falsehoods borrowed from the tired Islamist line against the U.S. Al-Jazeera would be proud. Writing from the comfort of his local American legal office, the writer makes the incredulous statement that the West is in the dark ages. He lays the complete blame of the ills of the Muslim world upon the west's doorstep starting with the crusades from a thousand years ago. This diversionary dishonest technique is a pathognemonic indicator of a radical Islamist. The writer is loose with historical facts and inappropriate associations. This frequent Muslim Voice columnist is unwilling to point to our global community's own failures and that of our coreligionists which led them to the current situation of ignorance and failure. This denial continues all the while columnists like this live and benefit from the freedoms of America.
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This report is provided as a service to our community. We pray that this type of extremism and lack of moderation in opinion does not represent the majority of Muslims and Arabs in our community. See "Why AIFD provides the 'Arizona Islamist Media Reports" for our commentary which clearly explains our intentions in providing these reports.
Hamas and Western Policies: by Marwan Ahmed
(Muslim Voice, February 2006, page 1- interestingly this piece is not linked on the Muslim Voice website)
"When democracy brings pro-West parties favorable to big business it's a victory, yet when it brings so-called terrorists groups chosen by people at the voting ballots then they threaten to isolate and reverse financial support they pledged for the Palestinian economy? What kind of message is the west sending people of the Middle East? Vote for pro-Western parties or suffer the consequences? What options do they leave them?"
AIFD Comment: The publisher of this newspaper again demonstrates an affinity for a radical ideology. In this brief front page missive the newspaper takes the position that the Palestinians had no other options than to elect the radicalism and intransigence represented by Hamas. Does this represent the opinion of the majority of American Muslims here in the Valley? The big business theory is a common Middle East conspiracy theory about how American policies are set, and yet the newspaper's position conveniently avoids any discussion or discontent with Hamas' extreme radical ideology.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Lesson to Anti-Islam (sic) Media by Marwan Ahmad
(Muslim Voice, February 2006 page 1)
"A widespread boycott of Danish products is underway in the Islamic countries, starting in Saudi Arabia, and is expected to spread to over 50 nations. The position of the Danish government is not to prevent freedom of speech even when it comes to mocking religious figures. Until the Danish government and its local paper retracts and denounces their position on Islam and its Prophet there will be more reactions to this escalating situation. We as Muslims need to encourage media to keep religious beliefs and figures out of target lists and playing on people's most sacred beliefs as means of gaining popularity."
AIFD Comment: The Muslim Voice here takes a position which is in line with the demagoguery of Islamists and demonstrates the threat which these ideas and Islamists pose to the stability of secular democracies. Put another way, the Arizona Muslim Voice is stating that Western media and western citizens need to fear worldwide Muslim reaction when they may violate the sensibilities of Islamist demagogues. In fact this paper is threatening on its front page, the Danish government, its local newspaper, and any other media or western citizens who may threaten Islamist sensibilities in the future. It threatens with continued 'Muslim escalating reaction' which can only mean continued national boycotts and economic oppression out of proportion to the supposed 'crime' committed.
Are we as Americans and as moderate Muslim Americans to stand in fear that Islamists when offended again, next time perhaps by a local American newspaper, will act like the Danish Islamists? Will this newspaper gather a group of imams and go to the Middle East (much as a few Danish Islamists did) and rally Muslim radicals and their symbiotic dictatorships to enact boycotts against the United States? Would the Muslim Voice endorse an oil embargo by Middle East oil monarchies of the entire U.S. crippling our economy in order to get retribution for a private newspaper's indiscretions? This is the only assumption which can be made from this position statement of the Muslim Voice.
In effect, for this so-called Muslim Valley newspaper, the lines of religion supersedes any lines of nationality when a simple cartoon offends. Such radical behavior for citizens against the economy of their own nations is not Islamic behavior nor is it in keeping with the Qur'anic direction to abide by one's citizenship pledge. The vast majority of local Muslims cannot believe in such extremism.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Human rights abuses high, speaker says" by Mima Mohammed
(March 2006, page 9, found at this link at the Muslim Voice)
"Bray told the story of Ahmed Abu Ali, a 23-year-old American from Texas and resident of Falls Church, Va. In summer 2003, Ali was taking final exams at a Saudi Arabian university where he was studying when Saudi law enforcement officials forcibly removed him from his classroom and subsequently imprisoned him for 24 months. "
"According to Bray, Ali was found guilty by association, but returned to the United States after his friends and family waged a legal battle with the federal government. Once back in Virginia, however, Ali faced federal charges of conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism. Bray said that Ali alleges he was whipped in Saudi Arabian prison and coerced into giving a confession, which was then used by the U.S. government to prosecute him. "
"Bray believes that Ali's shocking treatment should open the eyes of Americans to the illegal actions currently sanctioned by the current administration. Ali is appealing his conviction, but if his appeals are turned down, he could face up to 80 years in prison. "
AIFD Comment: This report was basically a reiteration of Mr. Mahdi Bray's, (Executive director of the Muslim American Society) stance on the Department of Justice's case against Ahmed Abu Ali. The reporter gives Mr. Bray's tired discussion of Mr. Ali's victimization.
It is incredulous that this case clearly, for those who actually take the time to review it, had a preponderance of the evidence which pointed to Abu Ali's involvement in an Al Qaeda plot. The Muslim Voice and the Muslim American Society join global Islamists in exploiting the Abu Ali case to present a false victimization of Muslims. With all of the Muslim American Society's protestations to the Abu Ali case, not once does Mr. Bray criticize the well documented radical ideology of Abu Ali which can certainly be associated with a propensity toward violence not to mention the evidence clearly linking Abu Ali with the actual al Qaeda plot against the President.
The local Muslim Voice had no qualms with publishing an apologetic from Mr. Bray about this convicted American traitor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cartoons don't kill, bombs do! By Mohammed Riyad (Muslim Voice, March 2006, page 16, also found at this link)
"There are other aspects that need to be considered here: The Muslim world has been under assault from western, Christian crusaders for a thousand years. They've colonized and despoiled their lands. Many in America regard the Muslim's oil as rightfully there's (sic)--"The Americans" -- an underlying if not complete explanation for George Bush's war of conquest."
"The Westerns (sic) have carved up the Middle East, overthrown democracies, and fostered despots to suit the West's imperial aims. And Westerns still wonder why THEY don't like us, and why THEY take insults from us so seriously. However, it's worth saying that American Muslims' reaction to the cartoon was very different from their brothers in the rest of the world. While poor Muslims failed to mobilize any protest to the "assaulted" cartoon. Muslim "so called" civil rights organizations have been failing their poor fellows by falsely alleging that the administration is siding with Muslims in this crisis!…."
"That, of course, making this argument suggests that the Muslim world should passively accept an intentional provocation, one that intentionally attacked one of the religion's strictest prohibitions."
"I personally believe that the cartoon violence is more an expression of rage against the West, than a defense of the dignity of the prophet. And who can blame this rage? Over 100,000 Iraqis have been killed and at least thrice that number maimed. Citizens are worse off now than under the time of Saddam--less oil, less electricity, less clean water, less security."
"In the TV footage of rioting Muslims in Syria, one placard stood out: The West has entered a Dark Age. That much is true."
AIFD comment: This extreme op-ed by a frequent contributor to the Muslim voice and also one of its advertisers basically legitimizes the violent riots ("who can blame this rage?" it says). It is a reckless, baseless, anti-American rant based on blind rhetoric and complete falsehoods borrowed from the tired Islamist line against the U.S. Al-Jazeera would be proud. Writing from the comfort of his local American legal office, the writer makes the incredulous statement that the West is in the dark ages. He lays the complete blame of the ills of the Muslim world upon the west's doorstep starting with the crusades from a thousand years ago. This diversionary dishonest technique is a pathognemonic indicator of a radical Islamist. The writer is loose with historical facts and inappropriate associations. This frequent Muslim Voice columnist is unwilling to point to our global community's own failures and that of our coreligionists which led them to the current situation of ignorance and failure. This denial continues all the while columnists like this live and benefit from the freedoms of America.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This report is provided as a service to our community. We pray that this type of extremism and lack of moderation in opinion does not represent the majority of Muslims and Arabs in our community. See "Why AIFD provides the 'Arizona Islamist Media Reports" for our commentary which clearly explains our intentions in providing these reports.