The Myth of Modern Jihad

It would be an understatement to say that Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber, pleaded guilty last week. “I’m going to plead guilty a hundred times over,” Shahzad told the judge. Why so emphatic? Because Shahzad is proud of himself. “I consider myself a Mujahid, a Muslim soldier,” he said.

This got some fist pumps in right-wing circles, because it seemed to confirm that America faces all-out jihad, and must marshal an accordingly fierce response. On National Review Online, Daniel Pipes wrote that Shahzad’s “bald declaration” should make Americans “accept the painful fact that Islamist anger and aspirations” are the problem; we must name “Islamism as the enemy.” And, as Pipes has explained in the past, once you realize that your enemy is a bunch of Muslim holy warriors, the path forward is clear: “Violent jihad will probably continue until it is crushed by a superior military force.”

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

Congressional Candidate Opposes Construction of Mosque

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee Republican candidate for Congress says plans to build a mosque in a Nashville suburb pose a threat to her state’s moral and political foundation.

In a Thursday evening statement, 6th District candidate Lou Ann Zelenik said she stands with those who oppose building what she calls “an Islamic training center.” She says the center is not part of a religious movement, but a political one “designed to fracture the moral and political foundation of Middle Tennessee.”

“Until the American Muslim community find it in their hearts to separate themselves from their evil, radical counterparts, to condemn those who want to destroy our civilization and will fight against them, we are not obligated to open our society to any of them,” Zelenik says in the statement.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RELATED ARTICLE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

Christian-Muslim Relations in Palestine

An overview of the Christian presence in Palestine

The estimated number of Palestinian Christians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem is 51,710, making the percentage of the Palestinian Christians in the Occupied Territories two percent of the Palestinian population.ⁱ There is, in contrast, a higher percentage of Christians in Israel. The percentage of the Arab Christians in Israel – including Israeli Occupied Jerusalem – is 1.66, according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Bethlehem, which traces its roots to the very origin of the Christian faith, is the home to the highest percentage of Christians in Palestine (43.4%), followed by Ramallah (24.7%), then Jerusalem (17.9%).

FULL ARTICLE FROM MIDDLE EAST MONITOR

Muslim Organization Sees Bigotry in Opposition to Staten Island Mosque

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Citing what he sees as “religious bigotry” and “hatred,” Ibrahim Ramey, the human and civil rights director for MAS Freedom National — the advocacy arm of the Muslim American Society — penned an open letter today regarding opposition to a plan to build a mosque at the former St. Margaret Mary’s R.C. Church convent in Midland Beach.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Four Christian Missionaries Arrested at Dearborn Festival

By NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Four Christian missionaries trying to convert Muslims were arrested and jailed Friday by Dearborn police for disorderly conduct at the Arab festival in Dearborn, police said.

“We did make four arrests for disorderly conduct,” Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad said today. “They did cause a stir.”

David Wood and Nabeel Qureshi, with a Christian group called Acts 17 Apologetics, and two others helping them film, Negeen and Paul Rezkalla, were arrested on Friday after they were said to be causing disruptive behavior. They were later released.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE FREE PRESS (DETROIT)

Evangelicals and Muslims, Part 1: Conversations on Respect, Reconciliation and Religious Freedom

“Evangelicals and Muslims” is a two day event bringing together Evangelicals and Muslims from a variety of perspectives to discuss the issues and that divide and unite these two great religious traditions.

Part 1 is entitled “Public Forum.” Opening remarks by Dr. Paul Manuel of the Institute for Global Engagement. Panelists include Dr. John Esposito, Georgetown University; Dr. Chris Seiple, Institute for Global Engagement; Imam Dr. Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa, Interfaith Mediation Centre; Dalia Mogahed, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; and Dr. James Movel Wuye, Interfaith Mediation Centre.

The event was sponsored by the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University and the Center for Global Education at the Institute for Global Engagement.

LINK TO VIDEO FROM THE PRINCE ALWALEED BIN TALAL CENTER FOR MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

Cordoba House, Ground Zero and the American Fear of Islam

On June 6 several organizations, such as Stop Islamization of America, Jihad Watch and the Tea Party movement, organized a demonstration in New York to protest the building of a cultural and community center called the Cordoba House, two blocks from the World Trade Center site. The center’s founder, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, has said that one purpose of the Cordoba House is to “bridge and heal the divide between Muslims and other Americans.”

The resistance to building the Cordoba House has demonstrated the need for such a center, which can educate and inform Americans about Islam and show that Muslims are partners in building a prosperous and peaceful America. The protesters, however, were concerned that the center will be disrespectful to the lives lost on 9/11 and will fuel terrorism, a claim that not only incites tensions between the local Muslim and non-Muslim community, but distorts the image of Muslim Americans.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE DAILY STAR

Suspect’s Mom: Son ‘Stupid Kid’ not a Terrorist

New York (CNN) — The mother of one of the two New Jersey men arrested last week at a New York airport allegedly on their way to fight with an al Qaeda-affiliated group in Somalia says the two men are guilty of stupidity — but not of the sinister plan described by authorities.

“Anything makes him angry. But he’s not a terrorist, he’s a stupid kid,” Nadia Alessa said of her U.S.-born son, Mahmood.

FULL STORY FROM CNN

North Jersey Muslims and Arabs Shocked and Frustrated by Terrorism Charges

The arrests of two New Jersey men accused of planning to join a terrorist group in Somalia to kill people brought a mix of horror and exasperation to Arabs and Muslims in North Jersey.

“My thought was they are young, they are stupid and foolish,” said Mohammad Qatanani, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, a mosque in Paterson that the two men, Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, had attended a few times. “We need to reach out to all the young generation to educate them. We are dealing with thousands in the young generation in the United States and outside, and we don’t want them to be victimized by bad people who have an incorrect understanding of the Koran.”

FULL ARTICLE FROM NORTHJERSEY.COM

Western Aid Groups Deny Religious Agenda in Afghanistan

Two Western aid organisations have denied allegations they were engaged in Christian proselytising in Afghanistan after the government suspended their activities following a television report.

Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid said they had been operating in Afghanistan for decades and their work was entirely humanitarian.  “Norwegian Church Aid has no mandate to influence people’s religious beliefs in any part of the world – neither in Afghanistan,” the organisation said on its website.

A private Afghan television said the two groups were trying to convert Muslims, triggering a government investigation. Proselytising is an offence punishable by death in Afghanistan.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE HINDUSTAN TIMES