Russian version
Ask hard questions about Islam, get sued
- Информация о материале
- Автор: Jeff Jacoby
Jewish World Review Jan.
11, 2007 / 21 Teves 5767
Speaking at a State Department forum in 1999, Muhammad Hisham Kabbani,
a Sufi sheik and leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, sounded
an alarm about Muslim houses of worship in the United States.
"The most dangerous thing that is going on now in these mosques . .
. is the extremists' ideology," he said. "Because they are very active,
they took over the mosques; . . . they took over more than 80 percent of
the mosques that have been established in the US." He warned ominously
that "a danger might suddenly come that you are not looking for . . . we
don't know where it is going to hit."
When Kabbani was condemned by other Muslim organizations, he stood
his ground. His assessment of the leadership of US mosques, he said, was
based on having visited scores of them. In a 2000 interview he explained
the extremists' pattern of infiltration.
Muslim immigrants to the United States "came with a good heart . .
. and they wanted a place to pray," Kabbani told the Middle East Quarterly.
"They collected money and they built mosques in their community. Slowly,
certain Middle Eastern groups seized these mosques, promoting political
and ideological agendas rooted in their home countries' problems. . . .
Slowly, such groups took over many mosques either directly or by unseen
pressure on the moderate board members, and now an antagonistic mentality
controls them. The extremists — not ordinary believers — changed the use
of American mosques into centers of intolerant political dogma."
At the time, Kabbani's charges may have seemed little more than inside
Muslim baseball. After Sept. 11, it became clear that mosques dominated
by radical clerics were a potentially lethal threat. Many such mosques
are funded by Saudi Arabia, which spends heavily to propagate Wahhabism,
a fanatic and aggressive strain of Islam. The Saudi government, reported
the 9/11 Commission, "uses zakat" — Islamic charity — "and government funds
to spread Wahhabi beliefs throughout the world, including in mosques and
schools. . . . Some Wahhabi-funded organizations have been exploited by
extremists to further their goal of violent jihad against non-Muslims."
Its findings were reinforced by Freedom House, which in 2005 documented
the penetration of US mosques by Saudi-supplied Wahhabi hate literature.
It is against this background that the $24 million mosque and cultural
center being built by the Islamic Society of Boston has generated such
controversy.
Questions have been raised about the Islamic Society's past and present
leaders, some of whom have supported Islamist terrorism or indulged in
virulently anti-American and anti-Semitic rhetoric. There are concerns
about the sweetheart deal in which the land for the mosque was acquired
from the City of Boston for a fraction of its value. A devout Muslim scholar,
Ahmed Mansour, examined the ISB's library and found books and videos promoting
"fanatical beliefs." Especially disturbing has been the Islamic Society's
response to its diverse critics: a lawsuit accusing all of them — even
Mansour — of anti-Muslim conspiracy and libel.
That libel, the lawsuit charges, included claims that the "ISB receives
funds from Wahhabis and/or Muslim Brotherhood and/or other Saudi/Middle
Eastern sources" and that "the ISB Project was supported financially by
donors from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states 'with known connections to
radical Islamists.' " Given the Saudi role in disseminating jihadist fanaticism,
it might indeed have been defamatory to falsely accuse the ISB of financial
ties to Saudi Arabia.
But those ties are all too real.
According to financial documents supplied to The Boston Globe, major
funding for the mosque is being provided by the Islamic Development Bank
in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In December 2005, for example, two payments of
approximately $250,000 each were wired from Jeddah to the Citizens Bank
account of the mosque's general contractor in Boston. Messages confirming
the payments were faxed from Jeddah to the Islamic Society of Boston on
Dec. 19. Other documents suggest that subsequent payments have been made
as well. Yesterday, the ISB for the first time acknowledged receiving $1
million in financing from the Saudi bank.
The Islamic Development Bank is a subsidiary of the Organization of
the Islamic Conference, and each of the conference's 56 member nations
are shareholders. But the largest shares are owned by Saudi Arabia, Libya,
and Iran, which together control 48 percent of the bank's stock. Saudi
Arabia, Libya, and Iran are also three of the world's foremost sponsors
or incubators of terrorism. It is perhaps not surprising that the Islamic
Development Bank, through its Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa funds, has become a leading
funder of Palestinian suicide bombing, paying large financial subsidies
to the families of terrorists.
The Islamic Society of Boston didn't return my calls, but its website
notes that all donors are cross-checked against the government's terrorist
watch list, and that funding is accepted only "with no strings attached."
It notes too that it "rejects any interpretation of Islam that is considered
fundamentalist, oppressive, radical, anti-Western, or anti-Semitic."
But questions remain. More questions will come. Suing the good people
who ask them won't make the questions go away. Answering them candidly,
on the other hand, just might.
© 2006, Boston Globe
Russian version
Russian version
An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman
Haim Goldman
Dear Friends,
Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with
-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).
Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.
The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.
“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.
One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.
There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.
The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.
You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].
Sincerely,
Haim Goldman
28.10.2006
REFERENCES:
[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a