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Denial, Malaysia’s Newest River
The world’s Islamic nations must take steps to erase the smear associating their religion with violence, especially after the September 11 strikes in the United States, Muslim leaders said Thursday.
Is it a smear if it is true?
A summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) heard that such an image must be countered by addressing the root causes of fanaticism and zealotry and by a campaign against the general association of Islam with acts of violence.
The ’root causes’ of religious fanaticism and zealoutry are religious fanaticism and zealoutry.
"The more serious challenge ... facing our Muslim peoples is the unjust accusations that Islam and Muslims are being subjected to, and the continuous efforts to link Islam and Muslims with terrorism," Jordan’s King Abdullah said.
Abdullah "my wife is beautiful, thus I’m good" fails to mention examples of unjust accusations against Islam and Muslim. Until he does that, he deserves no response.
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan said the OIC "has to tell the world that terrorism does not represent Islam, that terrorism is the enemy of Islam."
No Hamid boy, telling is one thing--ask Yasser Arafat--acting is another.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said there was an "urgent need" for Islamic countries to explain Islam at home and abroad, as well as combat distortions by some Western institutions.
Let’s bash Bashar already.
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri said terrorist acts "have not only caused loss in human life and property but also have created false perceptions about Islam as a religion of violence and aggression."
Similarly, my continuous denunciations of Islam have created the false impression that I do not consider Islam the one true religion. Geez.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, noted that Muslim countries also have rejected acts of terrorism. "In this respect, we declare our support of, and backing to all measures taken to put an end to this phenomenon, and our resolve to positively contribute to the international efforts to this end. At the same time, we reject dealing with double standards with this phenomenon, or relating it to any specific religion or culture."
Ah, those pesky Jews again.
Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano, chairman of the African Union, called for a coordinated effort to combat the menace under the auspices of the United Nations.
The only "menace" the UN can fight is wealth creation.
OIC Secretary-General Abdelouahed Belkeziz said "smear campaigns and blatant discrimination" against Muslims in some countries have intensified after the September 2001 attacks on New York’s twin towers and the Pentagon in Washington, which were blamed on Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.
Were blamed on Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda? What planet are this people from?
"More damaging to the reputation of Islam and Muslims is the upsurge in religious extremism, fanaticism and zealotry, which have been recently associated with violence and terrorism," he said, citing the Bali attacks and other bombings in Riyadh and Casablanca.
A note of sanity from the current Secretary General of the OIC. That might be why he will be substituted by the THE MOST POPULAR LEADER of the Islamic World, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Posted by: Sorge 2003-10-17
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=20015