ISLAMIC FASCISTS
TO CELEBRATE 911 TERRORIST ATTACK
What will it take for Muslims to realize there is a large evil
movement that is turning what was a peaceful religion into a cult?
“Islamist terrorism represents one of the most lethal threats to the stability of the
civilized world,” said Kamal Nawash, the Palestinian leading the Free Muslim
Coalition Against Terrorism. “Democracy can not succeed unless terrorism is defeated
and Islamic extremism is discredited.”
Islamist Celebration of 9/11 Attacks Upsets Mainstream Muslims
London - A mainstream Islamic group has denounced plans for a "celebration" of
the 9/11 attacks set to take place here on Saturday evening, saying ordinary Muslims were
taking flak as a result of the extremists' activities.
The radical al-Muhajiroun movement announced this week that it plans to hold a conference
to commemorate the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Lectures and films will
look at al-Qaeda activities and the focus will be on the anniversary of the day that
"separated the world into two great camps -- the camp of faith and the camp of
unbelief."
Al-Muhajiroun leader Omar Bakri Mohammed, a highly-controversial figure, told the London
Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the 9/11 attacks were "a cry of jihad against
unbelief and oppression." The aim of remembering it was to "revive the
commandment of jihad among the youth."
In recent years, Bakri's Islamist group has garnered headlines around the world as a
radical sect that advocates the imposition of strict Islamic law. Although derided by
mainstream Muslim organizations as a marginal group with only a handful of actual members,
al-Muhajiroun and its leader have shown a knack for attracting attention.
Last year, the group announced similar conferences to be held at the same time in four
British cities but cancelled them at the last minute, claiming police interference.
In September 2002, another conference organized by al-Muhajiroun in North London attracted
crowds of protesters from the far-right British National Party and the Anti-Nazi League.
Police then intervened, reportedly to keep the two factions from fighting each other.
Last night, Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, said that the
only thing al-Muhajiroun ever accomplished was to help inflame prejudice against ordinary
followers of Islam.
"It's left to ordinary Muslims to take the heat," Bunglawala said. "For the
life of us, we can't understand what game they're playing at."
Each year, he said that his group - which claims to represent over 400 affiliated
organizations, mosques, charities and schools - urged the media to ignore al-Muhajiroun.
In reality, he said the group could barely muster a few dozen members and was currently
affiliate with no known mosque.
"In terms of having foot soldiers, they're absolutely miniscule," he said.
The Syrian-born Bakri, who lives in north London, came to the United Kingdom in 1985 after
being deported from Saudi Arabia, allegedly for his connection to another banned group. He
has since been given permission to remain but the government is reportedly reviewing his
status.
He frequently speaks to groups of supporters outside London mosques after Friday prayers.
According to published reports, police and intelligence agencies estimate he has between
300 and 800 adherents.
Neither Bakri nor any al-Muhajiroun representative could be reached for comment.
Speaking to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, an Al-Muhajiroun official, said that a "large
hall" had been secured for the convention in the East End of London but that its
exact location was not being released generally for fear of trouble with the police.
In a press release posted on the Internet announcing the four-hour conference,
Al-Muhajiroun refers to the 9/11 hijackers as "those 19 brave and courageous Muslims
who forwent the enjoyment of the life of this world and sacrificed that which is most
sacred i.e. their very lives, in defense of the life and wealth, honor and dignity of the
Muslims worldwide."
Referring to the locations of some of the most deadly terror attacks since 9/11, including
"Bali, Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Madrid," the group calls on "Allah
[to] destroy the enemies of Islam" and teach infidels "many more lessons that
will make them forget all about the 11th of September."
By Kevin McCandless CNSNews.com Correspondent
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Christians slaughtered by terrorists in Beslan, Russia. Nepalese Hindus butchered by
terrorists in Iraq. Jews suicide-bombed in Beersheba, Israel.
On this third anniversary of 9/11, adherents of a radically and rabidly politicized
version of Islam are still not discriminating – they are attacking innocents of all
races, creeds and colors.
But the hopeful news is that within the Muslim world voices are beginning to speak out
against the terrorists, the nihilist barbarians who – if not stopped – will
damage both the causes they claim to champion and Islam itself.
“We cannot tolerate in our midst those who abduct journalists, murder civilians,
explode buses,” wrote Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, the general manager of Al-Arabiya news
channel. “We cannot accept them as related to us, whatever the sufferings they claim
to justify their criminal deeds.”
He added: “These are the people who have smeared Islam and stained its image. We
cannot clear our names unless we own up to the shameful fact that terrorism has become an
Islamic enterprise; an almost exclusive monopoly, implemented by Muslim men and
women.”
Such courageous responses are long overdue -- as Nonie Darwish, self-described
“daughter of an Arab warrior,” has noted. “The world has been seeing Arab
radical terrorism growing without much international outcry for half a century,” she
wrote. “Many thought it is only against Israel and its interests and ignored
it.”
True, such voices are still a minority. Many leaders in the Arab and Muslim worlds avoid
taking positions that might anger radicals. And there are still those who defend
terrorism.
Known as “the spiritual leader” of the Al-Muhajiroun sect, Omar Bakri Mohammed
lives near London, where last weekend he told an interviewer that he would not condemn the
massacre of hundreds of Russian children. On the contrary, he would support similar
attacks elsewhere – including in Britain where he has been granted asylum.
"If an Iraqi Muslim carried out an attack like that in Britain, it would be
justified,” he declared, “because Britain has carried out acts of terrorism in
Iraq.” Mohammed noted, he will be appearing at a 9/11 event to commemorate not the
victims, but the perpetrators.
Of course, it is not just Islamists who condone terrorism. Darwish observes that
“many in the West and the UN are still finding excuses for terrorism.”
Take Michael Kinsley, one of America's leading public intellectuals. He has written:
An illegitimate tactic used in a legitimate cause, as part of a conflict with legitimate
and illegitimate tactics and aspirations on both sides, is different from an illegitimate
tactic used for purposes that are utterly crazed and malevolent.
How is that different from Omar Bakri Mohammed's view?
Similarly, editors at the Reuters news agency long ago pronounced that “one man's
terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.” They will not judge whether those who
murder children in classrooms, decapitate hostages and blow up buses are any worse than,
say, George Washington or Mahatma Gandhi.
By contrast, Egypt's Grand Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi has accused the killers in Russia
of “taking Islam as a cover -- and it is a deceptive cover; those who carry out the
kidnappings are criminals, not Muslims."
Certainly some terrorists have legitimate grievances and the causes they claim to
represent may be just. The plight of the Chechens falls into such a category.
Chechyna, a mostly Muslim land, resisted Tsarist Russian conquest until the middle of the
19th Century. During World War II, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin exiled hundreds of
thousands of Chechens to Siberia, believing them to be likely Nazi allies.
In 1991, as the Soviet Union was collapsing, Chechnya briefly achieved independence. But
Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first post-Soviet president, used an iron fist to restore Kremlin
rule. Vladimir Putin, Russia's current leader, has been equally brutal. Since 1994, more
than 80,000 Chechens have been killed.
Still, nothing suggests that most Chechens support the Beslan atrocities. Exiled Chechen
president Alsan Maskhadov does not condone the mass murder of children. His London
spokesman said the terrorists are harming the cause of Chechen independence. "But, of
course, their demands have all to do with Chechnya,” he acknowledged, “so
whatever has happened the Chechens will be held responsible. That's what I'm afraid
of."
The Chechen terrorist leader, Shamil Basayev, seeks more than an independent Chechnya.
Like his al Qaeda allies, he wants a new Islamic caliphate that would expand well beyond
Chechnya's borders.
Hamas, the Palestinian organization that claimed responsibility for the Be'ersheba
bombing, has similar ambitions. Reuters is reluctant to tell you what Hamas wants: not an
independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but an Islamist state in place of Israel,
one that would kill or ethnically cleanse its non-Muslim population.
As for the butchering of the Nepalese in Iraq, that was carried out by Ansar al Islam, an
al Qaeda affiliate that was based in north-eastern Iraq while Saddam Hussein was in power.
For Ansar the question is not, “Why kill minimum-wage workers from Nepal?” but
“Why not?”
On the third anniversary of 9/11, self-proclaimed jihadis -- “holy warriors” --
are engaged in a World War against Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and, not least,
moderate Muslims.
“Islamist terrorism represents one of the most lethal threats to the stability of the
civilized world,” said Kamal Nawash, the Palestinian leading the Free Muslim
Coalition Against Terrorism. “Democracy can not succeed unless terrorism is defeated
and Islamic extremism is discredited.”
It helps that more people like him are joining the battle.
