Thursday, September 3, 2009

Caliphate or Republic?










homelearnactlocal chaptersContact Congress









Caliphate or Republic?





The observations by Shireen Qudosi below reveal great insight into the
competing value systems of Islamists and those of us in the West.


Qudosi writes about the recent “dust-up” in San Diego between ACT!
for America’s San Diego chapter and CAIR-San Diego (Council on
American-Islamic Relations). In a nutshell:








  • CAIR did a presentation at the public library;


  • ACT! for America’s local chapter asked for and was granted
    equal time to do a presentation;


  • CAIR then tried to prevent ACT! for America’s local chapter
    from doing the presentation, and when that failed, demanded ACT!
    for America include a Muslim representative to provide “equal
    time” in the ACT! for America presentation.

Pass this along to people you know so they can see for
themselves what it is we are up against. Encourage them to log on to
www.actforamerica.org and sign up for our email
alerts.


_________________________________________________________________________________________









SEPTEMBER 3, 2009


“Caliphate or Republic”

How the
Exchange Between CAIR and ACT! For America Highlights the Importance of
Free Speech and Conservative Values.


By Shireen
Qudosi • August 28, 2009

http://qudosi.com/


On July 11, 2009, the San Diego Public
Library hosted CAIR’s SD Director Edward Hopida’s presentation on Islam.
During the presentation, Mr. Hopida took a moment to list a number of
authors whose work he felt should be avoided because (according to him)
their authors possessed “no expertise” on Islam and were published because
they were exploiting 9-11. The list included Steven Emerson, Hirsi Ali,
Noni Darwish, Brigitte Gabriel, Robert Spencer,
and an array of
other writers whose work is of a controversial nature within the Muslim
community.

Whatever one’s opinion may be of these writers, we
cannot ignore the grand irony of suggested book banning in a public
library - an event that, at the end of the day, was sponsored by tax
payers. Hopida’s actions also ignore the efforts dedicated to Islam pre
9-11. His dismissal of Ali, Darwish, and Gabrielle draws attention to a
larger problem of the failure of such associations and ‘experts’ to value
women as witnesses.

Having attended Hopida’s presentation, San
Diego ACT chapter leader Mike Hayutin took it upon himself to offer a
counter argument. He approached the San Diego Public Library Director
Deborah Barrow and requested the same time and sponsorship to speak of
radical Islam. Unlike Hopida, Hayutin was not on a payroll and invested
his own time and resources to exercise his belief in balanced
representation. The request was initially reluctantly received by Director
Barrow, who had likely perceived CAIR as a civil rights group and was
unaware of the controversy surrounding them. However, considerable
community pressure and a call from the mayor’s office facilitated
Hayutin’s request. Hayutin was finally granted his opportunity to present
a two hour presentation on radical elements in Islam.

His appearance however was not
appreciated by CAIR, which filed a complaint letter and submitted a
one-sided press release on their disapproval of Mr. Hayutin’s
presentation, as well as his association with ACT,
which Hopida
labeled as peddling stereotypes by labeling Islam as incompatible with the
West. Somehow, in midst of all this bashing, he seemed to forgotten CAIR’s
own dodgy associations.
CAIR also
contacted the library and insisted they put a “Muslim expert” on the
podium with Hayutin, rather than Hayutin hosting the event on his (as
Hopida did).


The alternate seminar, accurately entitled
“Caliphate or Republic”, offering an alternate view to Hopida’s original
presentation, took place August 15th from 2-4 pm at the San Diego Public
Library. The auditorium was packed and a healthy debate ensued, mixed with
both hard core conservatives and local Muslims attempting to make the case
for Islam. For the most part the Muslim representation was quite positive,
and I had the opportunity to speak with a few of them post event. However,
my advice to them is two-fold: 1) Don’t ambush the speaker; it makes you
look desperate, and 2) if you get the chance to speak, present a solid
counter argument rather than promoting your Muslim bake sale or food
drive; no one is going to come to your bake sale if they still think
you’re a terrorist.

All in all the event went smoothly, brought
together a diverse mix that still at the end of the day agreed to disagree
on most issues. A standing room only crowd also indicates an audience the
library may have been overlooking. The presentation and the subsequent
talks that carried on well past the event, reflected the delicate system
of equality in America where both sides have a right to the soap box, to
assemble freely and have their case be heard – to have a tolerant ear even
if not a sympathetic ear.

However, in light of the struggle for
local resident Mike Hayutin to secure the podium, and in light of Reuters
picking up CAIR’s press release and passing it as ‘legitimate’ news (with
no attempt to contact the other party), the clear issue is the increasing
fragility of our right to free speech and the increasing subjectivity of
news agencies.

The business of subjective information from
authority sources doesn’t just rest with the media. When asked why Mr.
Hayutin took an interest in radical Islam, he noted attending a local
university panel on yet another chapter on the entanglement between
Palestine and Israel. The panel, hosted by three well-respected professors
and attended by hordes of students, was (according to Hayutin) completely
bias in nature and presented the case in a most politically appeasing
pro-Palestine format with absolutely no counter argument. Appalled and
concerned for the lack of balanced information, Hayutin took it upon
himself to be a source of alternate information.

Meanwhile, Hopida’s attempts to regulate
free speech at a public forum is another demonstration of Muslim interest
groups attempting to regulate what can and cannot constitute as valuable
discussion. In short, anything that is subjectively offensive is
considered insensitive and racist. As the track record shows, particularly
among such Islamists, if it doesn’t favor a marginal Muslim agenda and if
it in fact challenges Islamism in any context, it cannot be extended any
measure of freedom. As we have seen time and time again, through protests,
petitions and outright violence, if an act is critical of any element in
Islam, it is not tolerated.


In San Diego, via hundreds of
angry So Cal residents and at the behest of the mayor, free speech
prevailed…today. However, one must stop and consider the environment we
would be in were this a Caliphate in which no alternate view was
tolerated. This is not such a far fetch considering the contortionist
movements by law makers (both in the states and in Europe) to extend
discriminatory version of ‘equality’ to Muslims – acts that immediately
segregate communities and outrightly discriminate against non-Muslims.


Lawmakers insist on cultural and religious sensitivity, but since
when did anything get achieved through sensitivity and mass mollycoddling?


So what is one to do when faced with a very real wolf but with no
one hearing your cries? You start with those who are willing to listen.
Start with think-tanks who don’t believe news should be fictional story
telling, with well-networked lobbies, and the few remaining academics that
are not easily swayed by university politics. Connect with a political
party that appreciates the issue and doesn’t grey-wash threats as paranoia
of hazy near-forgotten days of 9/11 – a recent past that somehow has been
shuffled so far back in history that it’s cataloged with myths of
minotaurs, mermaids and other fantastical creatures; a reality that has
been been butchered by perception into a non-reality.

However, if
as a society we continue to stomp and stampede, with banners of equality
rattling in air, we ensure the inevitable forfeit of freedoms that are the
touchstone of not just the Republicans or the Democratic ideals, but are
the sacrament of what it means to be American.










-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


ACT for
America

P.O. Box 12765
Pensacola, FL 32591
www.actforamerica.org


ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated
to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots
citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to
informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies
that promote America’s national security and the defense of American
democratic values against the assault of radical Islam.
We are only as strong
as our supporters, and your volunteer and financial support is essential
to our success. Thank you for helping us make America safer and more
secure.






HOW CAN I TELL OTHERS ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION?
Send a personalized version of this message to your friends.




HOW CAN I SUPPORT YOUR ORGANIZATION?
Click here to give an online donation.

No comments:

Post a Comment