The Canadian Islamic Congress: An Islamist Apology
- Информация о материале
- Автор: Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
July 19, 2005
Something possibly unprecedented has occurred in the battle with radical
Islam. A leading Islamist organization has retracted its slurs against
me and issued a public apology. This offers a small but important step
in blocking the advance of Islamic extremism.
The imbroglio began more than two years ago, when President
Bush nominated me for a position in the federal government. Leftists
and Islamists opposed my
appointment; one tactic they used was to try to get
me to say things that would get me into trouble. And so it was that
I was asked in April 2003 if I condoned the internment of Japanese-Americans
during World War II. I avoided the question, saying I lacked the knowledge
to reply.
My curiosity was roused, though, so I read Michelle Malkin's book,
In Defense of Internment (Regnery) and wrote about it in late 2004,
concluding that given what was known (and not known) in the early 1940s,
FDR's internment decision was "correct and sensible."
Juan Cole of the University of Michigan seized upon this assessment
and distorted it, alleging that I have "fond visions of rounding up Muslim
Americans and putting them in concentration camps." To this inaccuracy,
I immediately replied:
"I am not calling for the internment of Muslims. I am calling for an ideological
war on radical Islam and the understanding that Islamists are our enemy.
I see anti-Islamist Muslims as critical to the war on radical Islam and
far from wanting them interned, see their active participation as critical
to winning the conflict."
But the cat was out of the bag. Now, 350 websites
have repeated the falsehood that I want American Muslims in concentration
camps. A cartoon even appeared in Islamist publications that has a caricature
of me advocating "Muslim internment camps in the USA (the sooner the better)."
From endorsing concentration camps, it was but a short step to portraying
me as an advocate of mass murder. Wahida Valiante of the Canadian Islamic
Congress, an Ontario-based group, on April 29, 2005, wrote in her organization's
weekly bulletin that I am a follower of Hitler, that I use the tactics
of Hitler, and that I want "to ethnically cleanse America of its Muslim
presence."
Did I really need to point out that this representation of me is, in
the words of a National
Post editorial, "a vicious calumny that Ms. Valiante plucked from thin
air"? Must I insist that I really do execrate Hitler? Aver my horror of
genocide? Protest that I never espoused expelling or murdering Muslim Americans?
I thought not. Rather than take these demeaning and surely futile steps,
I took a different route. Backed by the Heenan Blaikie law firm of Toronto
and the CanWest Global Communications Corporation, Stan Fisher of Heenan
Blaikie sent a libel notice in early May to Ms. Valiante, the CIC, and
the CIC's chairman, Mohamed
Elmasry.
On June 10, the CIC published
an apology and retraction: "The Canadian Islamic Congress and Ms. Valiante
apologize without reservation and retract remarks in the column that suggest
that Dr. Daniel Pipes is a follower of Hitler or that he uses the tactics
of Hitler or that he wants to ethnically cleanse America of its Muslim
presence." The CIC also sent funds to cover my legal expenses and made
a donation in my honor to a Canadian charity.
The CIC's action is, to the best of my knowledge, without precedent.
Western Islamist organizations until now have relentlessly attacked,
successfully extracting apologies from media figures like Paul Harvey and
Mortimer Zuckerman, from businesses like Amazon and Nike, from pastors,
columnists, and even from state politicians, a top U.S. general, and the
president of the United States.
Never before have they apologized for having libeled someone. The CIC
retraction breaks the Islamists' spell of privilege and their miasma of
immunity. It establishes, at least in Canada and at present, that Islamist
groups do not have impunity to fabricate lies about their opponents. The
rule of law does prevail and it applies even to them.
For those who fear the growth of radical Islam, this episode offers
encouragement that its forces can be contained and defeated. I hope others
will join me in standing up to the new totalitarianism.
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