Read By Alec Rawls
My fellow anti-Islamofascists!
Unfortunately, for security reasons, we are unable to make public appearances. That’s why I asked my friend Alec Rawls to read my statement on behalf of Muslims Against Sharia.
Islamic fundamentalists have been waging a terror campaign for half a century. At first, it has largely gone unnoticed. Marine Barracks, PanAm 103, First WTC Bombing, Khobar Towers, African Embassies, USS Cole were nothing more than distant incidents for most Americans. On September 11, 2001 it hit home. If most of Americans of the last generation remember where they were when Kennedy was shot, we all remember where we were when the second plane hit. And we knew: we are at war. We can call it the War on Terror, the War for the Free World, the War with Islamic Fascism, it doesn’t really matter. We all know who the enemy is. It’s Islamic radicals who are guided by the ideology of Islamic supremacy. Just as Nazis were guided by the ideology of Aryan supremacy. The only difference is that Gihadis consider it their religious duty to impose Islam all over the world and many of them yearn to die (and kill) for Allah. They use lines from the Koran such as “kill them [infidels] wherever you find them” or “slay the idolaters wherever you find them” as their guiding principles. I won’t get into lengthy theological explanation whether or not those lines are taken out of context or whether or not they only apply to specific historical events; it doesn’t matter. What matters is that Islamic fundamentalist believe that killing or subjugating infidels is their religious duty and they act accordingly. Some of you may be surprised why a Muslim would be speaking so harshly about his coreligionists. May I remind you, that Islamic radicals murder more Muslims than Christians, Jews, Hindus and everybody else combined. Gihadis may hate you for being infidels. But they really hate us for not following their demented dogma. And our attempts to reform Islam do not earn us much love either.
I would like to address the issue of Islamic symbolism in the proposed design. The shape of the “broken circle” resembles a crescent moon. So does the shape of the tower. Crescent moon is the most recognizable Islamic symbol. When we pray, we face Mecca and Mosques are traditionally built to face Mecca. The case could be made that the proposed design is aligned in North-Easterly direction, which corresponds with Qiblah, a direction to Mecca. Conventional wisdom would dictate that since Mecca is located to the South-East of Somerset, Qiblah cannot possibly have a North-Easterly direction. This assumption would be correct if you’re using a flat map. However, if you take a globe, place pins on locations of Somerset and Mecca, and connect those pins with a string, you’ll see that string at the base of Somerset pin points North-East. This symbolism may not be noticeable to a non-Muslim, and it is also possible, but likely improbable that the designer is ignorant of its significance. The proposed design would be perfect for EgyptAir 990 memorial. But for United 93 memorial, it is simply unacceptable.
On September 11, 2001 Americans came together. Conservatives and Liberals, Democrats and Republicans, Left and Right. We came together... For about two weeks. Then most of us fell back into complacency and political correctness. The very fact that Islamic symbolism is considered to be included in the memorial to the victims of Islamic terrorism proves it better than anything else.
In 2001 Islamofascist terrorists hijacked Flight 93 murdering 40 people on board. There were no Muslim people on that flight. There were Islamofascist terrorists. What possible reason could be there for including anything Islamic or anything even resembling an Islamic symbol into Flight 93 Memorial? Inclusion of Islamic symbols memorializes murderers who brought down the plane and is tantamount to spitting in the faces of victims and their families. United Airlines Flight 93 was hijacked in 2001. Let's not allow hijacking of Flight 93 Memorial in 2008. We, as Americans, owe it to the heroes of Flight 93!
Khalim Massoud
President
Muslims Against Sharia
My fellow anti-Islamofascists!
Unfortunately, for security reasons, we are unable to make public appearances. That’s why I asked my friend Alec Rawls to read my statement on behalf of Muslims Against Sharia.
Islamic fundamentalists have been waging a terror campaign for half a century. At first, it has largely gone unnoticed. Marine Barracks, PanAm 103, First WTC Bombing, Khobar Towers, African Embassies, USS Cole were nothing more than distant incidents for most Americans. On September 11, 2001 it hit home. If most of Americans of the last generation remember where they were when Kennedy was shot, we all remember where we were when the second plane hit. And we knew: we are at war. We can call it the War on Terror, the War for the Free World, the War with Islamic Fascism, it doesn’t really matter. We all know who the enemy is. It’s Islamic radicals who are guided by the ideology of Islamic supremacy. Just as Nazis were guided by the ideology of Aryan supremacy. The only difference is that Gihadis consider it their religious duty to impose Islam all over the world and many of them yearn to die (and kill) for Allah. They use lines from the Koran such as “kill them [infidels] wherever you find them” or “slay the idolaters wherever you find them” as their guiding principles. I won’t get into lengthy theological explanation whether or not those lines are taken out of context or whether or not they only apply to specific historical events; it doesn’t matter. What matters is that Islamic fundamentalist believe that killing or subjugating infidels is their religious duty and they act accordingly. Some of you may be surprised why a Muslim would be speaking so harshly about his coreligionists. May I remind you, that Islamic radicals murder more Muslims than Christians, Jews, Hindus and everybody else combined. Gihadis may hate you for being infidels. But they really hate us for not following their demented dogma. And our attempts to reform Islam do not earn us much love either.
I would like to address the issue of Islamic symbolism in the proposed design. The shape of the “broken circle” resembles a crescent moon. So does the shape of the tower. Crescent moon is the most recognizable Islamic symbol. When we pray, we face Mecca and Mosques are traditionally built to face Mecca. The case could be made that the proposed design is aligned in North-Easterly direction, which corresponds with Qiblah, a direction to Mecca. Conventional wisdom would dictate that since Mecca is located to the South-East of Somerset, Qiblah cannot possibly have a North-Easterly direction. This assumption would be correct if you’re using a flat map. However, if you take a globe, place pins on locations of Somerset and Mecca, and connect those pins with a string, you’ll see that string at the base of Somerset pin points North-East. This symbolism may not be noticeable to a non-Muslim, and it is also possible, but likely improbable that the designer is ignorant of its significance. The proposed design would be perfect for EgyptAir 990 memorial. But for United 93 memorial, it is simply unacceptable.
On September 11, 2001 Americans came together. Conservatives and Liberals, Democrats and Republicans, Left and Right. We came together... For about two weeks. Then most of us fell back into complacency and political correctness. The very fact that Islamic symbolism is considered to be included in the memorial to the victims of Islamic terrorism proves it better than anything else.
In 2001 Islamofascist terrorists hijacked Flight 93 murdering 40 people on board. There were no Muslim people on that flight. There were Islamofascist terrorists. What possible reason could be there for including anything Islamic or anything even resembling an Islamic symbol into Flight 93 Memorial? Inclusion of Islamic symbols memorializes murderers who brought down the plane and is tantamount to spitting in the faces of victims and their families. United Airlines Flight 93 was hijacked in 2001. Let's not allow hijacking of Flight 93 Memorial in 2008. We, as Americans, owe it to the heroes of Flight 93!
Khalim Massoud
President
Muslims Against Sharia