Solsticewitch13's BOS: [unitedstatesaction.com news] An Open Letter to the Anti-Jihad Community

An Open Letter to the Anti-Jihad Community

September 6, 2010

by Jeffrey Imm, UnitedStatesAction.com

This is Jeffrey Imm and I am writing this letter to those who may view themselves in
the "anti-jihad community." As many know, I have spoken out against extremist
groups and ideologies for many years. I have provided emergency preparedness
information to the public. I have tracked and researched information on
terrorist threats around the world for 9 years, with nearly 20,000 postings on
this topic over the past 8 years. In that time, I have provided research on
terrorist threats from many different avenues, from political terrorists, from
racial terrorists, and from religious terrorists. What I have seen and proven
repeatedly is that there is no identity group, no race, no religion, that is
free from those radicals who seek to promote violence and hate. We have seen
this around the world, and we have seen this in the United States.

Our Struggle Against Terrorism and Hate

My focus in reporting on terrorist and hate group threats has never been
isolated to only those threats from any one identity group. Terrorism is
terrorism. Hate is hate. To those who believe that only one brand of violence
and hate matters, I urge you to educate yourself about terrorism and hate from
other groups. No one of them is right. No one of them belongs in a civil
society. If we truly are against such terrorism and hate, it is essential that
we are against it consistently and without question.

To those concerned about the global threat of violent jihad, I understand your
deep concern and frustration with the inability to get consistent and meaningful
reporting on these issues. I understand your deep concern and frustration with
the frequent failure of the mainstream media to report on those who promote the
ideological underpinnings that are used to rationalize hate and violence.

To those whose frustration and concern has led them to believe that we can successfully fight
hate with hate and violence with violence, I deeply disagree and urge them to
reconsider. Mahatma Gandhi said "an eye for an eye will make the whole world
blind." I see too many Americans today failing to heed such a call for reason
and compassion in an ideological struggle that is not about terrorists of any
brand - but is really a defining moment about us as Americans and whether or not
we have the courage of our convictions on what we believe about equality and
liberty for all.

Our Defense of the Constitution and Our Freedoms

Today, there are those who seek to deny
Constitutional rights of
freedom of religion
to other Americans.
There are those who seek to defy
the federal law (U.S. Code Title 42, Chapter
21C), the Religious Land Use act, and who seek to manipulate zoning laws and
other local laws to discriminate against Muslims who seek to build mosques in
eight states across America.

I support the United States Constitution, and I stand behind the law of
land,
which applies to all Americans. Those who commit crimes and those who
conspire
to commit crimes should be punished, regardless of what rationale they
use, and regardless of what religious beliefs that they may hold.

Such support for the law does not conflict with supporting freedom of religion,
freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience for all. In any religion or
belief, there will be those that represent radical views. If they break the law
or conspire to break the law,
they should be punished - just like anyone else. But unless a crime is committed, their Constitutional
First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression must be
defended - just like YOUR Constitutional rights are defended. Such commitment to
the U.S. Constitution, the law, and our freedoms are not "right-wing" or
"left-wing" values. These are American values, and American law - for all
Americans.

If we decide to choose to only have Constitutional rights for some, where will
that end? What will happen when someone seeks to take your Constitutional rights
away? I and many others will continue stand in support and in defense of the Constitution
of the United States and the law for all Americans.

Those Who Seek A War Against Islam

In addition to those that seek to defy Constitutional rights for Americans,
there are also those whose frustration and concern has led them to join a war on
Islam. I deeply disagree and urge them to reconsider. Across America today, we
are seeing those who state that Muslims should have no right to practice their religion
anywhere in America. We are seeing those condemning all sects and views of Islam
with a broad brush of demonization, and promoting hatred against Muslims. We are
seeing those committing violence against Muslims and against Islamic houses of
worship. We are seeing those in the anti-Islam movement who argue that those
committing terrorism are practicing "pure Islam," an argument that ironically is
the same one made by Al-Qaeda.

A "war against Islam" is a dead end. It seeks to divide America, seeks to divide
the world, attacks a religion of 1.4 billion people, makes a mockery of our
commitment to human rights and freedom, and will ultimately do more to promote
extremism than any argument radicals have made in the past. It will undermine and destroy the efforts of those seeking reform, peace, justice, and hope for people around the world.

A war against Islam is also a movement that has attracted the interest and
attention of open hate in America. We have seen many times that hate attracts
hate.

There are some in anti-Islam movements that have promoted the most vulgar,
obscene, and troubling views against Muslim Americans. Some have taken pride in
debased comments and vulgarities. At one "Stop Islamization" Internet site, an
anti-Islam supporter wrote under one of many twisted, vulgar images attacking Muslims: "I am glad
to know we have some capable of being able to reach them on the only level they
seem to understand; total debasement."

There are some individuals in anti-Islam movements who are readily working together
with those who promote racist views. As I have previously mentioned to some, I
have personally been the target of such racists, who sought to promote attacks
against me and my family when I challenged the ideological views of racist
groups in our nation's capital. I have continued to see racist comments and
links to racist web sites on other anti-Islam web pages over the past several
weeks, including racial slurs made by an individual leading an effort to burn
Qur'ans on September 11.

There are some in anti-Islam movements that also promote anti-Semitism,
including some also promoting the apocryphal Protocols of the Elders of Zion
that was promoted by Adolf Hitler. I have seen others in the anti-Islam movement
attacking Hindu prayer, attacking Chinese Americans that have fled Communist
totalitarian persecution for their beliefs. Those attacking the freedom to
believe do not limit themselves only to Islam. Perhaps your beliefs are
next.

On September 11, 2010, in New York City, a group associated with violent
protests has been invited to join a protest against an Islamic Center. The
English Defence League (EDL) group has been repeatedly associated with violence
against police, chanting vulgar and hateful remarks, and terrorizing the elderly
with their violent protests. In April 2010, the
Daily Mail reported on the EDL
violently breaking through police barriers, resulting in the panic attack of an
elderly woman who had been shopping in the area. In July 2010, the
Birmingham
Mail reported on EDL supporters "throwing bricks and metal security fences at
riot police." In July 2010, the

UK Sun reported on EDL members that had been arrested and questioned on plot
against a mosque, but were then released due to insufficient evidence. The Daily Mail, the Birmingham Mail,
and the Sun are not "left-wing" media.
The UK Guardian has had investigative reports on the EDL, with a
video showing
violent, hate-filled, and obscene EDL members making threats against others.
A recent British blog
shows other EDL members with swastika tattoos and making Heil
Hitler salutes. But this
same organization is being invited to a 9/11 protest in
New York City regarding the Park Place Islamic Center, apparently without
objection by those in the "anti-jihad movement."

Any one of these should be a wake-up call for those that have embraced the
growing anti-Islam movement. But too many are accepting recent anti-Islam
campaigns and are willing to ignore all of this and "look the other way." It is a disgrace and an
embarrassment for America and for those genuinely concerned about defending our
freedoms from radicals that seek to attack such freedoms.

It is no small irony that nine years after 9/11, while I have reported on
extremists that seek to defy our human rights and law, it is only after I have
challenged the growing anti-Islam movement's defiance of rights for Muslims in
America that one of my main web sites was
attacked and disabled. Apparently
defending the First Amendment of the Constitution is too much for some.

Remember What We Are Fighting For

After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, there were those individuals who were genuinely
concerned for their fellow Americans' and fellow human beings' safety and
welfare. There were those who also were committed to recognize that such violent
hate was more than random "isolated incidents," but recognized that
there was violent hate which used common themes and messages as their
rationalization. There were those who realized that a struggle against
these messages of hate required a response from us with a consistent view on human rights and a consistent
commitment to equality and liberty. Some wrote on these concerns for years, not
for themselves, but for their concerns for the next generation, and out of
concern for America itself. They did so because they saw no one else doing it,
and they felt that someone had to do something.

Over the years since 9/11, many have asked me if I am "conservative" or
"liberal." My answer has always been the same: "American." We must continue to
remain a UNITED States of America.

In the days after the 9/11 attacks, when I created UnitedStatesAction.com to
help inform and educate our fellow Americans on preparedness information,
emergency plans, and research on radicals of all types, it never occurred to me
that America would come to this. I never thought that hundreds, thousands would
seek to deny the U.S. Constitution or the law across the United States. I never
thought that some of my fellow Americans would
seek to choose a path of "debasement." I never thought that some would choose to
interpret "never forget" to mean "never forgive."

I never thought there would be Americans who would want to prove that we are no
better than the terrorists themselves, who would adopt messages of hate and
violence, who would throw pipe bombs and commit arson against Muslim houses of worship, and who would
seek to attack people in the street for being Muslim. The America I know is a different America.
The America I know is better, stronger, more courageous than this. The America I
know is the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I believe that is also the America that you know also. I believe that, in your
heart, such commitment to the truths that we find self-evident is what you know
to be the definition of what it means to be an American. I believe that, in your
conscience, you know that being an American is not limited to any race,
nationality, or religion - because such pluralism is what America is all about.

There are some who will see our differences today and claim that there are two
Americas. But you and I know differently. We know that there can only be one
America - a United States of America. We know that Americans have gone the route
of division before and we know the painful scars and wounds that it left behind.

The enemies of America are no doubt pleased to see our division again today. The
enemies of America are hopeful that we will turn upon one another. The enemies
of America are even more hopeful that we will turn against the Constitution and
the truths we hold self-evident of equality and liberty for all - that binds our
diverse nation together - so that we ourselves can destroy what it means to be
American from within. Surely there can be no more nefarious plot to
destroy America than by our own hands, by Americans ourselves attacking our Constitution and attacking our values of equality and liberty.

We must not give our enemies the ultimate victory by destroying the very
identity of America itself, and its basis in our shared freedoms, our
Constitution, our law, and the freedom of religion and worship that was so much
a part of our nation's founding.

Americans still have the opportunity to pursue a productive path of being true
to ourselves, and to the truths that we find self-evident.

On September 11, this
Patriot Day, when we will
continue to mourn the victims of the 9/11 attacks,
we urge you to join us in a national community service to
rededicate ourselves toward the America we know, the America we love, the
America that so many have died for, and the America that we must continue to
dedicate our lives to defend.

This Patriot Day, remember that our freedoms are for all Americans, not just
those we like or those like us, not just for those we agree with or we find
agreeable.

This Patriot Day, remember that no matter how many terrorist attacks happen in
America, the terrorists cannot take away our identity as Americans
who believe in liberty, equality, and justice for all. We have proven that
Americans can survive and overcome terrorist attacks on our nation. What
we now need to prove is that Americans can survive and overcome attacks on our
Constitution and efforts to divide us as people from our identity, laws, and
equality and liberty that we jointly share as our American identity.

That commitment to our
American identity as individuals and as a nation is what we must recommit
ourselves to, so that we protect the most valuable asset in our nation, one that
we cannot allow campaigns of anger, frustration, and even hate to take away from
us. We must recommit to our national security in protecting our Constitution,
the truths that we hold self-evident, and equality, liberty, and yes, religious
freedom for all.

May God Bless the United States of America.