Human Events
In spite of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s recent New York Times op-ed written to calm American concerns about the Ground Zero mosque, as the bright light of public scrutiny shines on this proposed mosque, Americans are discovering elements of radical Islam previously unknown to them.
The controversy has led countless Americans, puzzled and disturbed by the motivation and insensitivity of Imam Rauf and his backers, to begin evaluating the threat of radical Islam beyond the isolated context of terrorism.
Islam’s history has shown, for example, there is powerful symbolism in choosing where to construct mosques. Built on sites of military victories, mosques have traditionally symbolized the triumph and supremacy of Islam over all other religions and people: Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem was built on top of Solomon’s Temple; the Umayyad mosque in Damascus is over the church of St. John the Baptist; more than 2,000 mosques are on the footprints of Hindu Temples in India.
While America does not have a religious center per se, in the eyes of radical Islam our “religion” is capitalism and the destruction of the World Trade Center was like the sack of Constantinople.
Does Ground Zero mosque Imam Rauf view his proposed mosque through this lens? Honestly, we can’t know for sure.
But even if he doesn’t, there is no doubt that many in the Muslim world will regard the construction of a mosque at Ground Zero as a tribute to Islamic victory over “infidel” America. Islamist leaders worldwide will employ the symbolism of a mosque at Ground Zero as a recruiting tool to jihad, swelling their ranks and escalating the threat against America.
This debate is forcing the American people to take a long- overdue look at the harsh reality of a political ideology which is in its very nature antithetical to the fundamental values of liberty and justice as practiced in America and Western societies.
People are asking the kinds of questions I had to confront decades ago: What exactly is “sharia law?” Why is there such an increase in homegrown jihadists today than ten or even five years ago? Who are the “moderate” Muslims, and why aren’t they speaking out more aggressively against the “radicals?”
Rauf and his supporters certainly did not anticipate the degree and intensity of the blowback they are getting. On the contrary, he quietly greased the skids for this project, meeting behind the scenes with various elected officials and opinion leaders to get their blessing.
Unfortunately, those he met with failed to do the due diligence that would have exposed his real agenda. They accepted at face value his soothing platitudes of tolerance and interfaith dialogue, platitudes for which he has shown contempt in writings and statements in the Arabic world.
Imam Rauf repeats these platitudes in his lengthy New York Times op-ed, clearly hoping that Americans will believe him. But thanks to probing investigations done by investigative reporters, bloggers and watchdog organizations, a robust debate has surrounded the proposed mosque.
More Americans now know that Rauf, as recently as March, said in Arabic that he opposes interfaith dialogue. They know he is a vocal supporter of sharia law, that he says governments which do not employ sharia law are “unjust” and that he has refused to label Hamas a terrorist organization. They know he has refused to sign the “Freedom Pledge,” issued by Former Muslims United, which pledges to oppose retaliation and punishment toward Muslims who leave Islam. The more Americans learn, the more concerned they become.
As a Lebanese immigrant I am as proud to be an American as at any time since I arrived in this great nation. Grassroots America is rising up in opposition to this symbol of Islamist victory, ignoring the hectoring and name-calling of our politically-correct “elites.”
Undoubtedly there are different reasons for why 70% of Americans oppose the building of the mosque. But whether the motivation is concern for the 9/11 victims or concern about the advance of sharia law that Imam Rauf advocates, the American people are saying “enough is enough.”
That is the only language Islamists understand.
Terrorists are only one manifestation of radical Islam. As Americans look even closer they will come to realize that the same ideology that produces a terrorist also produces a seemingly moderate Muslim who is dedicated to the advancement and imposition of sharia law. They will learn that the Islamist in a suit and tie, who wants to replace the Constitution with sharia law, differs from the terrorist only in the means to the end, not the end itself.
Socialism is not the Answer 
Is this The Future of America ?????
VERIFIED @ SNOPES.COM
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/wilders.asp
will give you the chills….about Islam, Muslims, Europe & Israel
This is a very brave man with huge insight and a very interesting biography and his speech IS chilling.
This Will Give You Cold Chills!
Geert Wilders is a Dutch Member of Parliament.
In a generation or two, the US
will ask itself: Who lost Europe ?’
Here is the speech of Geert Wilders, Chairman, Party for Freedom, the
Netherlands , at the
Four Seasons, New York , introducing
an Alliance of Patriots and announcing
the Facing Jihad Conference in Jerusalem
.
Dear friends,
Thank you very much for inviting me.
I come to America
with a mission. All is not well in the old world. There
is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be
optimistic. We might be in the final stages of the Islamization
of Europe. This not only is a clear and present danger to the
future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer
survival of the West. The United States as the last bastion of
Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe.
First I will describe the situation on the ground in Europe . Then, I will say a few things
about Islam. To close I will tell you about a meeting in Jerusalem .
The Europe you know is changing.
You have probably seen the landmarks. But in all of these
cities, sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination,
there is another world. It is the world of the parallel society
created by Muslim mass-migration.
All throughout Europe a new reality
is rising: entire Muslim neighborhoods where very few indigenous
people reside or are even seen. And if they are, they might
regret it. This goes for the police as well. It’s the
world of head scarves, where women walk around in figureless tents,
with baby strollers and a group of children. Their husbands, or
slaveholders if you prefer, walk three steps ahead. With
mosques on many street corners. The shops have signs you and I
cannot read. You will be hard-pressed to find any economic
activity. These are Muslim ghettos controlled by religious
fanatics. These are Muslim neighborhoods, and they are
mushrooming in every city across Europe
. These are the building-blocks for territorial control of
increasingly larger portions of Europe
, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city.
There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe
. With larger congregations than there are in churches.
And in every European city there are plans to build super-mosques
that will dwarf every church in the region. Clearly, the signal
is: we rule.
Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam , Marseille and Malmo
in Sweden
. In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is
Muslim. Paris
is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods. Mohammed
is the most popular name among boys in many cities.
In some elementary schools in Amsterdam
the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning
the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims.
Many state schools in Belgium
and Denmark
only serve halal food to all pupils. In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays
are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims. Non-Muslim women
routinely hear ‘whore, whore’. Satellite dishes are not pointed
to local TV stations, but to stations in the country of origin.
In France school
teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims,
including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin .
The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of
Muslim sensitivity.
In England
sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system.
Many neighborhoods in France
are no-go areas for women without head scarves. Last week a man
almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels , because he was drinking
during the Ramadan.
Jews are fleeing France
in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism
since World War II. French is now commonly spoken on the
streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya
, Israel
. I could go on forever with stories like this. Stories
about Islamization.
A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe
. San Diego University recently calculated that a
staggering 25 percent of the population in Europe
will be Muslim just 12 years from now. Bernhard Lewis has
predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.
Now these are just numbers. And the numbers would not be
threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to
assimilate. But there are few signs of that. The Pew Research
Center reported that half of
French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their
loyalty to France
. One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide
attacks. The British Centre for Social Cohesion reported that
one-third of British Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide
caliphate. Muslims demand what they call ‘respect’. And
this is how we give them respect. We have Muslim official state
holidays.
The Christian-Democratic attorney general is willing to accept sharia
in the Netherlands
if there is a Muslim majority. We have cabinet members with
passports from Morocco
and Turkey
.
Muslim demands are supported by unlawful behavior, ranging from petty
crimes and random violence, for example against ambulance workers and
bus drivers, to small-scale riots. Paris has seen its uprising in the
low-income suburbs, the banlieus. I call the perpetrators
‘settlers’. Because that is what they are. They do not
come to integrate into our societies; they come to integrate our
society into their Dar-al-Islam. Therefore, they are settlers.
Much of this street violence I mentioned is directed exclusively
against non-Muslims, forcing many native people to leave their
neighborhoods, their cities, their countries. Moreover, Muslims
are now a swing vote not to be ignored.
The second thing you need to know is the importance of Mohammed the
prophet. His behavior is an example to all Muslims and cannot
be criticized. Now, if Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us
say like Ghandi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no
problem. But Mohammed was a warlord, a mass murderer, a
pedophile, and had several marriages – at the same time.
Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in battles, how he had his
enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war executed.
Mohammed himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza.
If it is good for Islam, it is good. If it is bad for Islam, it
is bad.
Let no one fool you about Islam being a religion. Sure, it has
a god, and a here-after, and 72 virgins. But in its essence
Islam is a political ideology. It is a system that lays down
detailed rules for society and the life of every person. Islam
wants to dictate every aspect of life. Islam means
‘submission’. Islam is not compatible with freedom and
democracy, because what it strives for is sharia. If you want
to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or
national-socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies.
Now you know why Winston Churchill called Islam ‘the most retrograde
force in the world’, and why he compared Mein Kampf to the
Quran. The public has wholeheartedly accepted the Palestinian
narrative, and sees Israel
as the aggressor. I have lived in this country and visited it
dozens of times. I support Israel . First,
because it is the Jewish homeland after two thousand years of exile
up to and including Auschwitz, second because it is a democracy, and
third because Israel is our first line of defense.
This tiny country is situated on the fault line of jihad, frustrating
Islam’s territorial advance. Israel
is facing the front lines of jihad, like Kashmir, Kosovo, the Philippines , Southern Thailand,
Darfur in Sudan , Lebanon , and Aceh in Indonesia
. Israel
is simply in the way. The same way West-Berlin was during the
Cold War.
The war against Israel
is not a war against Israel
. It is a war against the West. It is jihad. Israel
is simply receiving the blows that are meant for all of us. If
there would have been no Israel , Islamic
imperialism would have found other venues to release its energy and
its desire for conquest. Thanks to Israeli parents who send
their children to the army and lay awake at night, parents in Europe
and America
can sleep well and dream, unaware of the dangers looming.
Many in Europe argue in favor of abandoning Israel
in order to address the grievances of our Muslim minorities.
But if Israel were, God forbid, to go down, it would not bring any
solace to the West It would not mean our Muslim minorities would all
of a sudden change their behavior, and accept our values. On
the contrary, the end of Israel would give
enormous encouragement to the forces of Islam. They would, and
rightly so, see the demise of Israel as proof that the
West is weak, and doomed. The end of Israel would not mean the
end of our problems with Islam, but only the beginning. It
would mean the start of the final battle for world domination.
If they can get Israel
, they can get everything. So-called journalists volunteer to
label any and all critics of Islamization as a ‘right-wing
extremists’ or ‘racists’. In my country, the Netherlands
, 60 percent of the population now sees the mass immigration of
Muslims as the number one policy mistake since World War II.
And another 60 percent sees Islam as the biggest threat. Yet
there is a greater danger than terrorist attacks, the scenario of America
as the last man standing. The lights may go out in Europe faster than you can imagine. An
Islamic Europe means a Europe without freedom and democracy, an
economic wasteland, an intellectual nightmare, and a loss of military
might for America
– as its allies will turn into enemies, enemies with atomic
bombs. With an Islamic Europe, it would be up to America alone to preserve the heritage
of Rome , Athens
and Jerusalem
.
Dear friends, liberty is the most precious of gifts. My
generation never had to fight for this freedom, it was offered to us
on a silver platter, by people who fought for it with their lives.
All throughout Europe , American
cemeteries remind us of the young boys who never made it home, and
whose memory we cherish. My generation does not own this
freedom; we are merely its custodians. We can only hand over
this hard won liberty to Europe ‘s
children in the same state in which it was offered to us. We
cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams. Future generations
would never forgive us. We cannot squander our liberties.
We simply do not have the right to do so.
We have to take the necessary action now to stop this Islamic
stupidity from destroying the free world that we know.
Please take the time to read and understand what is written
here, Please send it to every free person that you know, it is so
very important.
In God We Trust!
From the Desk of
Frank Maraffino
When the Power of Love Overcomes the Love of Power,,,, The World will know PEACE…