Getting used to the Perkasa a new world order Zero tolerance at Ground Zero,JUDAISM AMERICA,JUDAISM AMERICA Hindu activis,

Criticism of the proposed Cordoba House near Manhattan's Ground Zero are working to undo significant interfaith work and seek to create a climate which divides American Muslims from their fellow citizens.

BY MOHAMED ELIBIARY AND AMAD SHAIKH, JUNE 11, 2010

	Not your typical New Yorker

DALLAS, TEXAS

A recent effort meant to heal the trauma many New Yorkers continue to feel from the tragic events of 9/11 by building a mosque near Ground Zero named Cordoba House has garnered a great deal of angst. Tensions reached a new low recently when Michael Berry, a Texas radio show host, on air, urged his listeners to bomb the area if it is built. This, along with other charged allegations have been harnessed by Stop the Islamization of America and Tea Party Express Chairman Mark Williams, as an opportunity to express their extreme, arguably Islamophobic, views.

9/11 has left physical and emotional scars on survivors, those who lost loved ones, the psyche of the city and the nation as a whole. Inflammatory remarks are not productive or conducive to a civil public debate. Discussions have lost sight of the motivations behind the proposal, and why, as Americans, we should take this opportunity to reflect on the events of 9/11 and develop a strategy for how to move forward our nation the only way possible, together.

9/11 has made us look internally, to ask ourselves what it means to be American. Its impact was felt across many communities, which affected Americans of all religious faiths, including Christians, Jews and Muslims, and foreigners alike. Nothing can compensate for the lives that were lost and the pain that has endured. We, as American Muslims, come from a community where fellow congregants, family and friends were victims of the attacks. We want to separate ourselves from the violent actions of a few, with whom we do not share any common ground, whilst doing right by our faith and remaining loyal to America and New York.

UMNO MALAYSIA. THE FOLLOWERS OF DEVIANT FAITHS, FROM ISLAM TO JUDAISM AMERICA: THE CHRISTIAN FASCISTS ARE GROWING STRONGER.JUDAISM AMERICA

APCO CEO Staples was among the witnesses scheduled to testify before the committee today They’re sneaky. They lie. They’re evil. They think everyone else is an animal and therefore without souls. They’re the most despicable people on the planet to say the least. These evil doers are behind Hollywood, the porn industry, race mixing,the homosexual … Read more

Polling data continues to show that nearly 40% of American society holds a negative view of Islam by associating it with violence. However, many who were surveyed admitted that they hardly knew anything about the religion or its followers. This is a clear indication that something significant and far reaching needs to be done to develop mutual understanding and respect.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder and Chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, has a long history of opposing violence, reaching out across religious lines and through developing mutually progressive programs committed to bringing Americans, Muslims and non, together. Criticism of the project is working to undo this significant work and alternatively seeks to create a climate which divides American Muslims from their fellow citizens.

This culture needs to be counteracted so that the future of a diverse and cohesive New York City can be realized; where people of all faiths live in accordance with mutual respect and where diversity is celebrated. Cordoba House, as a community driven centre, seeks to contribute to the cultural development of Lower Manhattan. Through its premise of promoting tolerance and education, it is an opportunity for American Muslims to show their fellow Americans the real Islam and improve the perception of their religion, taking the spite out of anti-Muslim propagandist arguments and doing right by the City. As Speaker Christine C. Quinn has recently argued, we should “not let the ignorance of a few undermine the reality that the great majority of Americans – and most certainly New Yorkers – believe in diversity, inclusion and acceptance.”

American Muslims in collaboration with their neighbors want to play a role in “steering the world back to the course of mutual recognition and respect and away from heightened tensions”. This is the time where we can show the international community how America exemplifies the highest global standard of religious freedom for the world to follow.

Mohammed Elibary is a Texan Muslim community leader and National Security Policy Analyst in the USA, advising several Intelligence and Law Enforcement entities on various Counter-Terrorism issues. Amad Shaikh has spent his career in the oil and gas industry, and is the founder of MuslimMatters.org.

The first inquiry into the demolition of the Babri mosque on December 6, 1992 was completed within seven days. On the morning of Sunday, December 13, Sharad Pawar, then defence minister, invited a group of friends and colleagues to the home of an associate MP. He watched a film - live footage of the whole episode, taken by some government agency, possibly intelligence. Those antique reels should still be somewhere in the archives.

Does justice matter after 17 years?

M J Akbar, 05 July 2009,

There was little that any inquiry committee could have added about the sequence of events on December 6 that ended with the fall of the mosque by the evening.

The causes of this historic event were also a matter of public record. L K Advani's rath yatra was not a surreptitious journey. Indeed, extensive media coverage may have been part of the purpose, since he wanted to create mass momentum for his political project. Neither was there any secrecy when Congress laid the foundation stone of the temple to Lord Ram in the middle of the 1989 polls. Babri was a central theme, along with Bofors, of those dramatic elections. The 1989 BJP versions of Varun Gandhi were full-throated, not muted, in their slogans as parties sought votes with a rhetoric that has been subsequently banned: Mandir wahin banayenge! and Mussalman ke do sthaan, Pakistan ya kabristan! No one hid anything: We shall build a temple on that precise spot! Muslims have two options, either Pakistan or the graveyard!

Democracy is a volatile game played in the open. What was there left to inquire into?

All that an official inquiry could do was place a stamp of judicial impartiality on known facts. It did not seem strange, then, that Justice M S Liberhan, appointed on December 16, 1992, was asked to deliver his report in three months. If he had extended it to six months or even a year, it would have been reasonable. Why did he take 17 years?

The key actors were known and available. No sleuths needed here. Why did Liberhan take more than nine years to obtain V P Singh's deposition, and nine-and-a-half for P V Narasimha Rao's? Surely they were not evading his orders? Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti were ministers in a BJP-led government when they gave evidence. Former RSS chief K S Sudarshan appeared only on February 6, 2001. Rao could have said all he had to long before April 9, 2001, four years after he lost his job as prime minister.

Had the commission already served its first purpose by 2001? It had outlived Rao's term in office and thereby, ensured that its findings could not be used to demand Rao's resignation. Rao survived December 6, 1992 by the cynical expedient of buying out those he feared most, Muslims within the Congress. Some inside government were given promotions; most outside were inducted in a January 1993 reshuffle. Conscience purchased, life went on.

It would be interesting to know if the Liberhan Commission has disclosed the one mystery of December 6: what was Rao doing that entire day? Babri was not destroyed by a sudden, powerful, maverick explosion. It was brought down stone by stone, the process punctuated by the rousing cheers of kar sevaks.

So, what was Rao doing during those minutes and hours from morning till sunset? Sleeping. That is what his personal assistant said to the many agitated Congressmen and women who phoned to ask why the government was asleep. They were shocked to learn that this was, literally, the official explanation. Their agitation cooled when they realized that the party would have to pay a horrendous price if government was destabilized. Plus, of course, there were concrete benefits in silence.

There may not be a rational explanation for a 17-year inquiry, but there is a political explanation. Every government between 1992 and 2004 had a vested interest in delay. The minority governments of H D Deve Gowda and Inder Gujral could not have survived a day without support from the Rao-Sitaram Kesri Congress. (Mrs Sonia Gandhi was not party president then.) Neither Gowda nor Gujral would have wanted a report that indicted their benefactors.

The BJP-led coalition that ruled for six years had the guilty on its front row. Only Uma Bharti has been candid enough to say that she was delighted when the mosque fell ("I'm ready to own up to the demolition and will have no problem even if I'm hanged". Justice Liberhan could have punched mortal holes into the BJP front row when it was in office. And so when he sought one extension after another, there was public silence and private relief.

Whether advertently or inadvertently, Justice Liberhan protected politicians on both sides of the great divide. There remains a curiosity question. Why did he not submit his report in 2004? Admittedly Dr Manmohan Singh was finance minister in the Rao government, but he had nothing to do with the politics of Babri. When delay becomes so comfortable, why bother?

Previous 'The Siege Within' articles.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did not teach this!From the QURAN: Ya Sin (The heart of the Quran)watch this

Ramadan is a test for one's patience, perseverance for peace and not an occasion to parade one's arrogance and ignorance over the medium and message of Islam. I refer to Malaysia's "cow head" protest march over the relocation of a Hindu temple. Educate, not aggravate. Wage peace, not war. Help the Malaysian Indians, not further incite hate on them. Resolve this issue through peaceful means.

Cow-head politics: Fear not, those who misrepresents Islam
by Azly Rahman


In the name of Allah Most Gracious Most Compassionate

1. By Al-'Asr (the time).

2. Verily! Man is in loss,

3. Except those who believe (in Islâmic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth (i.e. order one another to perform all kinds of good deeds (Al-Ma'rûf)which Allâh has ordained, and abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds (Al-Munkar)which Allâh has forbidden), and recommend one another to patience (for the sufferings, harms, and injuries which one may encounter in Allâh's Cause during preaching His religion of Islâmic Monotheism or Jihâd, etc.).

-- Surah AlAsr (Time)

For Muslims (those who submit to the Will of Allah) and those who are embarking on a journey of peace, Ramadan is a time for deep reflection and contemplation on the sufferings of the self and of others. It is a month in which the oftentimes arrogant, boastful, aggressive self retreats to this Inner Cave and work hard towards cleansing the body, the mind, the spirit, and the soul. It is a long but reflective journey Muslims believe must be taken.

The incident of a group of 50 Malaysians carrying a severed cow head, marching to the Selangor State Government’s Office is an example of a misrepresentation of Ramadan. It is a dangerous act that disrespects the holy month. Muslims should be outraged at the gross misrepresentation of Islam. One must read The Sepoy Rebellion during British India in order to understand where this might lead us to, in the worst case scenario. One must also not forget Malaysia’s Kampong Medan incident a few years back in order to understand the anatomy and chemistry of hate.

The "cow-head march" incident is a mindless act and Malaysians are becoming weary of these stunts that seem strange and timely and seem to become more and more hideous as we see the intensification of campaigns to take over this or that government. The phrase “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Great) is abused. The greatness of Allah lies not in allowing a group of people to humiliate the religion of others. Allah’s greatness lies in the guide given to us to respect the religion of others, and to understand what the universal message of Islam is. Everything is good in the hands of the author of things, everything degenerates in the hands of Man, said the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau. In Islam, Evil is the work of Man, and Good comes from the Creator. Those who humiliate others are those who allow nafs amarrah (lowest/animalistic stage of the soul) to take charge of their actions.

Muslims should condemn the group of 50 and the authorities including the religious authorities should investigate if this is a seditious act against Islam.

I do hope that the protesters who abuse Ramadan ask themselves what is triggering their intent to march and what forces, if any, are behind their act. If necessary, the group can seek legal help in resolving this.

Non-Muslims need not fear the consequences of these antics or the action of the few who are misrepresenting Islam. You have the brotherhood and sisterhood of thinking and feeling Muslims who know what is acceptable and what is not in a multiracial society.