Thursday, February 21, 2008

Hooliganism, under the pretense of patriotism.

FBI investigates bomb threats against a local mosque.

I would like to apologize to you all. This is not the kind of post I normally like to write, but the circumstances of the last 2 trying days made it seem necessary.

Last Tuesday was like any other workday until I received a call that the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington DC has notified the FBI that two right wing hate sites had comments inciting violence again a St. Louis mosque. A press release was distributed to national media and contained some samples of the hate filled comments, and explicit reference to violence against the Islamic community Center in south St. Louis, MO, with threats of shooting, using dynamite and a plan to "drop bombs from a light plane". The hateful violent threats were posted comments on 2 websites (Little Green footballs, and Gateway Pundits).

These tirades followed a fear-mongering and less-than-insightful article about the new Minaret constructed at that Islamic center. That tiny bit of news was enough for the hooligan-spirited macho fans of those sites to respond with hundreds of hateful comments against American Muslims and their devilish plan to take over America. The knights of the little green footballs and gateway pundits were coming to the rescue of Christianity and the Western Civilization with their brilliant plans for appropriate response (i.e., vandalism, shooting, bombing, etc) commensurate with the magnitude of the crime committed - building a tower for a small mosque after getting all the required permits.

The following morning, the Post-dispatch printed an report by Tim Townsend on the incident and about the progress of the FBI effort thus far. That was followed by a torrent of hate and Anti-Muslim emails sent to the Post-Dispatch for their criminal participation in the CAIR-led conspiracy against the USA. The defenders of Western Civilization also started putting anti-Muslim comments on a truly nice and informative article by Ryan Miller on his Middled blog as they searched my name and found a reference and an interview with me (amongst other St. Louis Muslims) on his blog.

I know that sounds comical, but they are really upset that the Post Dispatch and the local CBS affiliate KMOV, reported that the FBI is investigating a bombing threat against a St. Louis target.
'CAIR’s propaganda also made it to the local CBS affiliate, KMOV, where they uncritically label LGF an “anti-Muslim site” at CAIR’s bidding: FBI investigating threats made against mosque in St. Louis.'
I guess they may see that threatening to bomb a mosque is an act that should be awarded a medal, not investigated. Any media reporting to the contrary should, in their little green minds, be treated as an act of treason not an exercise in the freedom of expression. As for Ryan Miller, his major sin is that one may get the impression after reading his article that Muslims may not all be terrorists. How blasphemous of him.

The good news is that while the little ones (green footballs, pundits or otherwise) carry on with their hate-spreading activities, the FBI will continue investigating, and Tim Townsend will continue the great reporting we are familiar with, and as far as I know, Ryan Miller has already moved on with a new posting of a beautiful and very thoughtful response to the critical comments.

But it cannot stop there. We, Muslims and non-Muslims, need to realize that the serious threat to all of us may not only be coming from the outside. It is also coming from the inside, and it is not from the American Muslims. It is from the hate-filled minds that are incapable of understanding the beauty of diversity and coexistence. It is from the minds of the ignorant, the racist, and supremacists that can never see any possible good in someone that has a different look, a different dress or a different religion. People with such minds that are intellectually lazy and empty. And like all fanatics, they live in closed circles - physically or emotionally- of like minded people, and for them ignorance of the outside is bliss.

We, Muslims and non-Muslims, need to make a goal of ACTIVELY endorsing civility, and expressing discontent with ignorance and indiscriminate hate.
  • Please log on to those hate-filled sites, little greens and little pundits, and leave a rational comment on why you disagree with them, what you really think of them, and why they are a disgrace to the great tradition of this country.
  • Please visit to the Post Dispatch Forum and leave a message of support for Tim Townsend, and reporters like him.
  • Please visit Ryan Miller's Blog and show some support for the spirit of inclusiveness and understanding that he expresses repeatedly there.
And finally: PLEASE spread the word to colleagues, friends and family urging them to do the same. If we just watch from the sidelines, we leave the field to the Hooligans to set the standards for all of us.

khaled

14 comments:

  1. khled, please stop lying, as you well know the comments were deleted as soon as Charles saw them. There is a very special place in hell for lying scumbags such as yourself

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  2. As you well know, the comments were removed almost immediately from the LGF site per the site's posted policy. Your post is a lie by omission.

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  3. It should be pointed out that the Council on American Islamic Relations is a Saudi-funded front group for radical Islam, has been linked to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and remains an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding case. Just for the record.

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  4. Nice try. Disingenuous at best. Perhaps you would like to mention that the "threatening" comments were deleted per the long standing site policy at LGF. A site policy BTW, that is posted at the top of every comment list. But then, that would not fit your agenda, would it?

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  5. A few comments from some unhinged freak (or someone with a poor poor sense of humor) do not define a blog, the person that runs the blog, or the community that reads the blog.

    The comments were deleted.

    You are trying to gain traction with this...and you are failing.

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  6. I fail to see how you can label a website based on the comments that are left there (and deleted as soon as the owner of the site finds them) by random people on the internet.

    The saddest part is, both this site and LGF are on the same side... they are both anti-terrorism. LGF looks down upon terrorist organizations, not Islam, just like this site.

    It is so sad to see people on the same side fighting each other.

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  7. Just FYI from LGF:

    CAIR’s Khaled Hamid, of course, knows very well that the comments he’s writing about in this post at his blog were deleted almost immediately from LGF, and at least one person was banned, but for some reason that information doesn’t make it into his post: Hooliganism, under the pretense of patriotism.

    I guess they may see that threatening to bomb a mosque is an act that should be awarded a medal, not investigated.

    What absolute garbage.

    First, the few comments in question did go over the line of acceptability at LGF (thats why they were deleted the same day they were posted, before CAIR launched their smear campaign), but there was no “threat to bomb a mosque.” Hamid’s entire post is full of this sort of hysterical exaggeration and misrepresentation.

    Second, there is a clear policy statement at the top of every page of comments that makes it clear such comments are not welcome, and will be deleted; but it doesn’t serve Khaled Hamid’s agenda to tell the truth, so he simply repeats CAIR’s smear job in even more exaggerated terms, and praises St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Tim Townsend for being a good little CAIR PR agent.

    Third, it should be pointed out again that the Council on American Islamic Relations is a Saudi-funded front group for radical Islam, has been linked to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and remains an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding case. Just for the record.

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  8. Dear Sir, Why can't you just be honest and mention ALL the facts surrounding this issue in your blog column?
    PMB
    Los Angeles, California

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  9. You fail to mention that at the top of every page on LittleGreenFootballs is this statement:

    * Comments are open and unmoderated, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Little Green Footballs.
    * Obscene, abusive, silly, or annoying remarks may be deleted, but the fact that particular comments remain on the site in no way constitutes an endorsement of their views by Little Green Footballs.
    * Posts that contain phone numbers, addresses, or other personal information will also be deleted, as will posts that consist only of a variation on the word, "First!"
    * Comments that advocate violence will be cause for immediate banning with no appeal.
    * REMEMBER: posting comments at LGF is a privilege, not a right. Abuse that privilege, and your account will be blocked.

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  10. Bah. That's not how we deal with things, at least those of us who love our country. And who love truth. :) You are funny.

    sincerely,
    Ma Sands

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  11. mr khaled to classify the lgf or any other site as racist or extremist(which sence you work with CAIR ike me tellin somebody they need to lose weight while eatin a hoe hoe...btw wth is a hoe hoe? is it like a twinky?)simply becasue one of its posters said a racist or extremist post is ludicrist. Youtube which i often visit for anything from music to stupid little movies has racist or extremist veiws on many different videos. should it also be banned? The ppl at youtube try to delete these comments but simply isnt possible to do because of the amount. Mr johnson deleted these post when he found them to say he in anyway suports them is stupidity.

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  12. "It is from the hate-filled minds that are incapable of understanding the beauty of diversity and coexistence. It is from the minds of the ignorant, the racist, and supremacists that can never see any possible good in someone that has a different look, a different dress or a different religion."

    Ahhh, sounds like Saudi Arabia. Or perhaps, let's quiz the Coptic Christians in Egypt. Or let's see if someone in Pakistan can openly change from being born Islamic to no religion, or Christianity. Or Judaism.

    It certainly doesn't sound like America, where mosques are built in every major city, and every human being's individual rights as a human being are protected, instead of being subsumed to the Ummah and the Mohammedian practice of slaughtering those who refuse Islamic overlords.

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  13. "It is from the minds of the ignorant, the racist, and supremacists that can never see any possible good in someone that has a different look, a different dress or a different religion."

    Hey, don't go bashing your imams now. And I thought you liked going to Friday prayers. Next think you know you're going to tell them to stop brandishing the occasional AK-47 and chanting "death to the infidels!" What is the world coming to?

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  14. I have to give you credit for leaving up the rebuttals, but I half suspect you'll take them down a little later.

    But that still doesn't make up for the lies and half-truths in your post.

    You owe an apology to Charles Johnson for your slanderous claims.

    I wonder what good muslims would think of your taqqiya...

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