??????? ????| PAKISTAN LEDGER | ???????? ????? | November 27th, 2007 | Moin Ansari | ???? ??????? |
| RUPEE NEWS | Moin Ansari | November 27th, 2007 | ???? ??????? | ????? ?????
Recreating a new America in the image of our Founding fathers and based on the tolerance of Al-Andulusia
The essential principles of our Government… form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety.” –1st Inaugural Address, 1801.Thomas Jefferson
There are many visions of America and future of mankind. There is the bright “Lockian” vision of Robert Heinlein and Gene Roddenberry where humans have created contracts with each other and all nations live in absolute harmony, and humanity has overcome hunger, disease and war.
There is the “MadMax” apocalyptic vision of the future of mankind based on John Hobbs history of the growth of civilizations where human beings fear each other and the future is tribes roaming around hunting each other. Some show us an ugly and rather simplistic vision of the world fractured by civilizations and faiths, where the “evil doers” are monolithic blocks of evil people, like the “Borg” of Star Trek, or the “commies” of Senator McCrathy bent upon destroying the West and America.
There is the or the Escape from LA/NY vision for America where being Muslim is a crime and society has degenerated to total collapse, emanating from the likes of the new-Mcarthyites that see hordes of Muslims ready to take over the USA. In January 2004, Kofi Annan, the secretary General of the United Nations, speaking about the future of the world defined the world between the evil terrorists and those using extraordinary means to fight terrorism
The Secretary General of the United Nations defined both as threats to world peace.Many books have been written by the icons of the interfaith movement in America. Many Americans give us visions where we can all get along.This is the vision of Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of our great nation…
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”“>Thomas Jefferson, one of the greatest Americans, and one of the great thinkers of his time upholding the principle of “my religion is between me and my God” said the following about acknowledging the plural nature of our great nation said
“our particular principles of religion are a subject of accountability to our god alone. I enquire after no man’s and trouble none with mine; nor is it given to us in this life to know whether yours or mine, our friend’s or our foe’s, are exactly the right.”Thomas Jefferson to Miles King, September 26, 1814
Some have called for a return to the principles of the founding fathers, and completing the American revolution. We quote from Jefferson again:
“yet the hour of emancipation is advancing . . . this enterprise is for the young; for those who can follow it up, and bear it through to it’s consummation. it shall have all my prayers, and these are the only weapons of an old man.”
Thomas Jefferson to Edward Coles, August 25, 1814
Many other thinkers through the ages have acknowledged the fact that our nation is great because we tolerate other faiths, and the “melting pot” is indeed a rainbow of ethnicity and religion. One vision of tolerance is the one painted by, Karen Armstrong who has written many thesis and has eloquently described the 683 Jewish-Muslim-Christian symbioses of the past portraying historical facts as harbingers for a future that is possible, achievable desirable and indeed an imperative for our great nation.
“Jefferson, along with Hamilton, Adam, Washington and others started the American revolution. Some Americans say, we now need to “complete that revolution” based on the original vision of America a secular and multi-cultural society, much like the one that existed and thrived in Al-Andulusia, Muslim Spain for approximately 683 years. A society where all three religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam thrived and encouraged each other, preparing the passing of the torch to the European Renaissance.
“Many have described the Jewish-Christian-Muslim symbiosis in Al-Andulusia as the idealistic society as described by Plato in his seminal book “The Republic“. That utopian vision of Plato was passed through many generations and cultures to Jefferson, but aptly captured by the founding fathers of our great nation–America.
Jacob Bender, President of “Reason and Revelation”, author of “Three Wise Men” , and a film-maker describing the Jewish-Muslim-Christian symbioses says the following:
“Averoes, Maimonedes, and Aquinas lived during a time of unprecedented and reciprocal spiritual intellectual and cultural exchange between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, specially during the so called “Golden Age of Muslim Spain” that continues to inspire, both by its high level of civilization and its tolerance
In his article “Lessons for the Three Wise Men”, Mr. Bender says the following:The three great traditions that spring from our common father Abraham, bond Jew to Christian, Christian to Muslim and Muslim to Jew
Richard Fletcher writing about the Jewish Muslim Christian symbioses says the following in his book The Cross and the Crescent. Among Western authors Averoes, commentaries upon Aristotle were so highly regarded that he became known as simply as the commentator.
So for example, Dante could characterize him as ‘Averoes che il gran commeto feo (‘Averoes who compose the celebrated commentary’: Ingerno iv 144) and place him among a select band of non-Christian intellectuals among whom was also to be found, …and improbably figure of Saladin
The Eleventh of September, 2001 leaves an indelible mark on the citizens of America and denizens of the world. Universally condemned by all countries and all major religions of the world, this day will live in infamy. As the two planes were flown into the icons of America, the world as we know it came to an end. There have been many responses to the tragedy of 9/11.
“Many hate groups have come forward to say “I told you so”. Bookstores and new stories are littered with “Thinktankers” who have made money out of being professional Islamphobes. This event impacted America more than Pearl Harbor and more than the assassination of JFK. Perhaps it ended our innocence. It surely ended many of the freedoms that we used to take for granted.
“Whether we will recover our freedoms, only time will tell. It the hope of this author and all American s that the pendulum will swing back and we will be as free as we used to be. It is only then will we truly defeat the terrorists and terrorism. Else they would have won.
“Whether we return to internment camps, slave labor, and the fascism of yesteryear or we plunge America into the darkness of bigotry and duplicate Guantanimos as spectacles of America’s Gulag or we bring our people together the lead the world to a better tomorrow.
“Americans wanted the Muslims to do more. Many did not know that pictures of Palestinians celebrating on the streets in Paterson New Jersey, was not an instantaneous response to the events of 9/11 but many news organizations had used news clips from previous street celebrations.
“One response if for thinkers and leaders who came forward to do something about this. This writer formed The American Joint Multifaith Association (AJMA) to seek out likeminded, liberal, Westernized, moderate and enlightened American Jews and Muslims to continue the dialogue between the physical and spiritual “progeny” of Abraham.
“It was the hope of the dastardly cowards who flew the planes into the World Trade Center to destroy the phallic symbols of America’s prowess. The terrorists hoped that once the WTC fell down this would neuter the great American giant. The exact opposite has happened. The terrorist had hoped that this once dastardly act would plunge the USA into a race and religious war, pitting American against American, Christian versus Muslim, and Muslim versus Jew.
“The exact opposite has happened.
“Today more ecumenical events and reach out programs are happened then ever before. More Muslim are reaching to Jews. Mosques are inundated with requests for dialogue. People for peace and justice are reaching out for more communication. The reason for the defeat of the terrorists is because America is a great country and this land, our land is truly the land of the free and the home of the brave.
“Today, Jew, Christian and Muslim shall make this country greater than before, this is our pledge to the future generations of American. If we fail, then the terrorist will have won. But we will not let them win Like mushrooms sprouting up after a consistent and prolonged drizzle………….interfaith groups have sprouted up all over the place.
“All of a sudden, people who were never religious have reached out to the others to talk. All across this great land, in living-rooms, and in Churches, and synagogues and in internet chat rooms and on websites………….
“This is what an ecumenical personality says says about one such meeting held under the banner of AJMA-American Jewish Muslim Alliance that talked about “Reviving the Model of Muslim Spain
….interfaith activists representing equally Muslims, Christians, and Jews. They came to hear a presentation by Jacob Bender on the cultural battles between rationalism and religion, science and faith, which both challenged and enriched all three Abrahamic religions during the eight centuries of religious freedom in Al-Andalus.This was the unique era of unparalleled splendor of Muslim Spain, when Cordoba was by far the largest and wealthiest and most cosmopolitan city in the world, and when the three greatest thinkers in the history of all three religions worked together to incorporate the intellectual achievements of other civilizations, especially the ancient Greek, into their respective faith traditions.
“Bender is directing a project of the New York Foundation for the Arts to prepare a series of three one-hour films entitled “Reason and Revelation: Averoes, Maimonides, and Aquinas in Their Time and Ours.”His advisory board includes well-known scholars in all three traditions.The Muslims and experts on Islam include Akbar Ahmed, Karen Armstrong, Charles Butterworth, John Esposito, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, and Sayyid Muhammad Syeed, all of whom are to appear as commentators in the film series.
“The Muslim, Averoes, known as Ibn Rushd, the Jewish rabbi, Moses Maimonides, known in his mother tongue as Musa ibn Maymun al Qurtubi, and the greatest Father of the Church, Saint Thomas Aquinas, were committed to save civilization from times similar to ours in the fifth Islamic century (twelfth after Christ).This was the time of the darkest chapter in Christendom, the Christian crusades, which had produced a world where ignorance had replaced understanding, terrorism had replaced tolerance, and war had replaced pluralism, dialogue, and cooperation.
“All three of these greatest geniuses in their faith traditions were born within a decade of each other, Saint Thomas in 1225, Ibn Rushd in 1226, and Maimonides in 1238. They deeply influenced each other in producing a civilizational renaissance based on revelation as the ultimate source of knowledge and on human reason as the means to apply it in the pursuit of order, justice, and freedom.
“They suffered equally from their own co-religionists who denounced, excommunicated, and exiled them and burned their books.
“One of the Muslims present at the living-room workshop, Almost all of the greatest Muslim scholars throughout history had suffered the same fate, which speaks poorly for the political leaders but well for those who fulfilled their responsibility to preserve the spiritual essence of the faith and to support justice.
“Jacob Bender noted that he has been condemned for decades for supporting an enlightened understanding of revelation, which, as he put it, necessarily “condemns Israel’s brutal occupation of the Palestinian people with its accompanying assassinations, house demolitions, closures, and illegal settlement policy.”
“His conclusion is that the conflict in the world today is not between or among civilizations, but within each one of them.The conflict comes from the extremists within each civilization who are ignorant not only of the other civilizations but even of their own.His current mission is to produce this film series to revive the best of the past in all three religious traditions.
He stated that his mission is to “show that religion need not be a source of conflict, and that the quest for spiritual enlightenment can be seen as a shared experience, connecting us with billions of people around the world, so that we can recognize the sacredness in each of our traditions and the divine spark within each human being that unites us all.”“>Others have come forward to so similar things.
“Jacob Bender, with a very impressive list of backers is making a film on the “Three wise Men” says: “my own response to the events of 9/11 was to begin work on a documentary film, entitled ‘Reason and Revalation: Averoes, Maimonides, Aquinas in Their Time and Ours‘. Who were these great men; Averoes the Muslim; Moses Maimonedes the Jew; and Thomas Aquinas the Christian? And what if anything, can they teach us today?
“It is not only the hope of these three great thinkers that speak to us today; it is, also their life stories and their courage in pursuing, in the words of Rabbi Musa, “the truth from whatever source it proceeds.” Herein lies the part of the contemporary importance of our three wise men; they dared to advance the notion that wisdom about the universe was not the exclusive property of one tradition, one people or one faith.
“…In the Middle Ages this was a controversial and even heretical idea, and the malevolence of intolerance and fanaticism, all too prevalent in our own time, was existent in the Middle Ages as well. Ibn Rushd was exiled from his beloved Al-Andulus, and other Muslims burned his books.. Rabbi Musa, now celebrated as the greatest Jewish philosopher who ever lived, had his books burned at the order of the Rabbis. Thomas Aquinas was denounced by church leaders at the University of Paris for daring to incorporate the writings of Pagan into Christianity
“…Just as our three wise men were not afraid to challenge prevailing opinions within their own religious communities during the Middle Ages, so , today, we must also be willing to openly criticize our co-religionists when they engage in intolerance. Accordingly, Muslim religious leaders around the world condemned the 9/11 terror attacks and the Taliban’s destruction of the ancient Buddhist statues in Afghanistan. Many American Christian ministers denounced the bigoted attacks on Islam by Reverand Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Franklin Graham. And many Jews, like myself, have for decades supported the right of the Palestinian people to an independent state
“….Jacob Bender “Lesons from the Three Wise Men”. Published “Islamic Horizons: November/December 2003 .. is full of heartwarming stories of interfaith cooperation. During our worst hour, people at the grass-roots level have come forward. During the dark hour, Pakistanis and other Muslim immigrants were asked to register at the local INS office. There were long line and much fear of deportation amongst the legal and illegal immigrants who came to America to make a living. I will always remember the story of the courage of the Jewish man who pulled out the old Star of David out of his closet and put it proudly on his lapel pin and then stood in line at the office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and told them to also register him also. Of course the Jewish gentle did not require registration. He did it to support the Muslims.
“In a sad story that is very uplifting to many, Daniel Perle, an American reporter of the Wall Street Journal was brutally murdered in Pakistan because he either was working with the intelligent agencies or perceived to be a CIA agent. He was investigating the link of the Taliban in Pakistan. Dr. Malik President of The Islamic Medical Associaten of North America (IMANA) informed in a phone conversation that Mr. Perles father Mr. Judea Perle wants to take revenge for the brutal and unnecessary death of his beloved son. To defeat the terrorists, Judea wants to take revenge by creating interfaith bridges between Jews and Muslims.
“The Muslim community in America wholeheartedly embraced this brave and honorable man, and an America hero and the entire community supports his efforts of interfaith dialogue. It is amazing how great men react to terrible atrocities.”Muslims number between 7 and 16 million in America. More Muslims have come out of the woodwork to reach out to other Americans. In this post 9/11 era we are a confronted with all sorts of propaganda. For some this is “open hunting season on Muslims”. For others, this is a business opportunity to write something sensational and make money of the misery of the victims. There are few books that have dealt with this subject. While writing this introduction, I have a monumental task. I have tried to do the following:”
“Put this seminal work in perspective by briefly explaining it’s “raison d’etre”, it philosophy and it’s objective
“Giving the readers a brief tour of the book so that we can enjoy the common theme of the boo 4)Discuss the real vision about the future of America
Why should we care about the real vision of America? Why should we care about Muslims at all? Congressman Paul Findley has spent a lot of time and energy in answering this question in his seminal book on Muslims in America “Silent No More”. It is must read for all those who want to understand Muslims in America.
The answer to these questions are profound and need a lot of time. Well let us look at the answers. According the Chicago Tribune, Muslim Americans number about 16 million and within 20 years they will be about 32 million. This adds up to a lot of votes and an economic powerhouse and a voting and what they think of America and what they care about. For too long we have thought of America as a Christian country and then as a Judea-Christina country. The real roots of America are Christina, Jewish and Muslim. . In Spain for 800 years, during the Muslim-Jewish-Christian symbiosis, all three religions prospered and all children of Abraham lived in harmony. Today in the new world, we must strive to do the same. Many are is working to create dialogue between all children of Abraham.Research has shown that Muslim have been part of America from the very beginning:
Here is a synopsis of how America is a Judeao-Christian-Islamic country and always has been. Muslims number between 7 (The New York Times estimate:-Feb. 21, 1989) and 16 million (The Chicago Tribune-2000). Most estimates put the number at around 10 million. The reason for the disparity is that the census bureau does not ask for religious affiliation. The population is expected to double by 2027. Muslims are NOT new to America. We are not the Johnny come lately. The History of Muslims in America is the history of America itself. We all built America and will continue to build it together. Like all other immigrants, Muslims came to America in a variety of ways. From the earliest times to the present Muslims came to America, as explorers, as slaves, as students, as economic refugees, as professionals and as immigrants. The name Tallahassee actually means,” Allah will deliver you sometime in the future.”
7th Century inscriptions with Islamic calligraphy found in Nevada rocks1178: A Chinese document known as the Sung Document records the voyage of Muslim sailors to a land known as Mu-Lan-pi (America).
1310: Abu Bakri (Abu Bakar), a Muslim king of the Malian Empire, spearheads a series of sea voyages to the New World. They Came Before Columbus (1976) by Ivan Van Sertima
1312: Mandinga, African Muslims, from Mali and other parts of West Africa arrive in the Gulf of Mexico for exploration of America’s interior using the Mississippi River as their access rout. African Presence In Early America by Van Sertima
1492: Columbus sailed from Spain the same day when Jews were expelled from Spain, the same day the 2nd Temple was destroyed. The Isabella and the Mayflower sailed from Andulusia Spain. That entire area was full of Muslims and the earliest ships to America had Muslims Spaniards, and Muslim Moors on the ships. Columbus used Muslim maps They are the tri-state area around New York City, as well as in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and California. In a very close election, of most of the Muslims votes are cast as a block, the Muslim vote probably will determine which candidate wins in those states. Muslims should not be deterred, by the fact that they constitute only 3 percent of the American population “Silent No More”: Congressman Paul Findley Page 258
1539: Moroccan guide Estephan participated in the exploration of Arizona and New Mexico for the viceroy of New Spain.
1717: Arrival in North America of “Arabic-speaking slaves” About 25% of the slaves from Africa were Muslim and against all odds (“Kunte Kunte in Roots”), many maintained their religion for many generations. In fact about 3.5 Muslim in America today are Muslim slave descendants of Muslims
1787: Treaties between US government and the Cherokees signed on the Delaware River bear the signatures of Abdel-Khak and Muhammad Ibn Abdullah.
In 1787 Thomas Jefferson and John Adams formalized a treaty with Morocco securing commerce and waterway rights. A similar treaty was signed with Algeria in 1795
1866: The last Cherokee’s chief was a Muslim Ramadhan Ibn Wati who served as a Confederate brigadier general, surrendered his command to the United States on June 23, 1865. (http://membres.lycos.fr/andalus/english/info/cherokee.htm) His son Saladin Watie served on Southern Cherokee delegation to Washington, D.C. to sign a new treaty with the United States at the end of Civil War
1900: Earliest recorded Muslim group to organize for communal prayers, in Ross, North Dakota.
1934: First building designated as Mosque, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
1952: Muslim servicemen allowed to identify their religion as Muslim by the US government
1960s: Nation of Islam flourishes. Small immigration of Muslim doctors etc
1963: “Muslim Students Association” (MSA) established
1965: Malcolm “x” assassinated 1970: Trickle of Muslim students in Engineering and Science
1982: ISNA Established. Major immigration from South Asia and Middle East. Flood of economic and political refugees along with the students
1987: Alert Network established. Later becomes CAIR 1992 Imam Warith Deen Mohammed gives the invocation in the Senate
1996: First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton celebrates Eid Al-Fitr, February 20, 1996
2000 Muslims endorsed Governor Bush for bloc vote who won in one the most narrow election in the history of the US
2004: Muslims vote for George Bush after being rebuffed by the Gore-Lieberman ticket
2008: Muslims may vote for Barack Obama.
“WHY IS THE MUSLIM VISION OF AMERICA IMPORTANT–WHY CARE: Congressman Paul Findley in his book “Silent No More” published in 2002 analysis the stealth Muslim vote that will not be ignored in future elections:
Muslims made political history during the 2000 presidential election, and thanks to the longstanding friendships as well as happenstance, I was an eyewitness as major steps toward the community’s maturity were taken. He writes………..Curtis observed that Muslims are uniquely situated to exert political influence nationally. ‘By chance, or divine providence, according to your viewpoint, most Muslims, and a very high percentage of Christian Arab Americans, are concentrated in major metropolitan centers of a very few states.
“The importance of the Muslim voting bloc is underscored by its magnitude as well as its focus. Accepting seven million as the Muslim population on election day, 70 as the percentage of those who are eligible to vote, and 65 the percentage of those who actually voting, the national Muslim turnout of Muslims on election day came to 3/2 million. At 72 percent of the total, the Muslim vote for Bush totaled 900,000 of the Muslims cast ballots for the first time, more than triple the total amount for the vice-president.
“An exit poll of 732 Muslim voters showed 68 percent for Bush, 10 percent for Gore, and 18 percent for Nader…the percentage for Bush was even higher in Florida, the home of many AMA and AMC chapters and the state proved to be pivotal in the long wrangle over who won the presidency. On election night, Dr. Sami Al-Arian of Tampa, an AMA leader, directed a telephone survey of three hundred and fify Florida Muslims who had voted. It showed that Bush received 91 percent of the votes, Nader 8 percent of the votes, and Gore 1 percent. Even after making allowances for the limited extent of the survey, it remains impressive evidence of a powerful Muslim tide for Bush. “Silent No More”: Congressman Paul Findley Page 266
“During the presidential campaign, Muslims were largely ignored by Vice-President Al Gore, the Democratic candidate and his allies, and despite their near unanimous turnout for Bush, they received relatively little attention during the Texas governor’s quest for votes. “Silent No More“: Congressman Paul Findley Page 267
“If Muslims had not voted for Bush, the Florida outcome would not have been contested, Given the normal Muslim tendency toward Democratic candidates, Gore would have received in my opinion, about as many votes as Busy. He would have emerged as the clear winner shortly after the polls closed.”Silent No More“: Congressman Paul Findley Page 266
“On November 7th, 2000, the U.S. Muslim bloc voting brought about a major alteration of the American political landscape. As political leaders study the day’s election returns, they will gain a new awareness of America’s Muslim community and. accordingly make substantial changes in their tactics in future campaigning for most offices, not just the presidency. During the year over seven hundred Muslims sought election as candidates, both Republican and Democrats, for offices ranging from convention delegates and precinct committeeman to membership in state legislatures and Congress. One hundred and fifty-two were victorious..In future campaigns, the Muslim tide may be even greater, given the above average birthrate among Muslims, the enthusiasm that the year 2000 will impart, and the likelihood that African-Americans will be prominent…”Silent No More”: Congressman Paul Findley Page 271
“Today the population of Muslims in America is between 7 million (New York Times) and 16 million (Chicago Tribune). The variance is due to the fact that the Census Bureau does not keep statistics on the religious affiliation of citizens and most Muslims like most Jews are not listed and do not go to the Mosques. Everything that Congressman Findley has pointed out now becomes more critical. The Muslim vote will not be ignored after 2004.”There are various types of books on Muslims and Islam.
“There are the books written by Muslims awakening from the yolk of colonialism, rhetorical books written by Muslim authors full of venom and feelings of deprivation, who explain away all Muslim faults by blaming all problems on others. Then there are books written by Muslim, the Westernized Muslim apologist intellectuals who blame everything on Muslims themselves. The other types of books on Muslims and Islam are written by the “Orientalists” amongst us, Western authors who have for decades defined the “Orient”, it’s geography, it’s nomenclature (Occident and Orient, Middle East, Far East, South Asia etc.).
“Once in a while there comes an author, who can go to the root causes of issues and really describe tissues and come up with visions. Dr. Edward Said was one such author. Much maligned in the press, he has been called many names, however his name stands out as one of the foremost writers who has changed many lives and he has surely transfigured the landscape of American literature and Columbia, where he was a profession. One thing that his “Orientalist” detractors could not do was to ignore him or his thinking.
“This is what Dr. Edward Said says about Orientalism:
“…………Orientalism is not a mere political subject matter or field that is reflected passively by culture, scholarship, or institutions; nor is it a large and diffuse collection of texts about the Orient; nor is it representative and expressive of some nefarious “Western” plot to hold down the “Oriental” world. It is rather a distribution of geopolitical awareness into aesthetic, scholarly, economic, sociological historical and philological texts, it is an elaboration not only of the basic geographical distinction (the word is made up of unequal halves, Orient and Occident) but also a whole series of ‘interests’ which by such means as scholarly discovery, phological reconstruction, psychological analysis, landscape and sociological description, it not only creates but also maintains; it is rather than expresses, a certain will or intention to understand, in some cases to control, manipulate, even to incorporate, what is manifestly different (or alternative and novel) world it is above all, a discourse lat is my no means in direct, corresponding relationship with political power in the raw, but rather is produced and exists in an uneven exchange with power political as with political (as in colonial or imperial establishment), power intellectual (as with reigning sciences like comparative linguistics or anatomy or any of the modern policy sciences), power cultural (as with orthodoxies and canons of taste, texts, values), power moral (as with ideas about what ‘we’ do and what ‘they’ cannot do or understand as ‘we’ do).
“Indeed my real argument with Orinetalism is –and does not simply represent– a considerable dimension of modern political-intellectual culture, and as such has less to do with the Orient that it does with ‘our’ world. (Edward Said Reader): Orientalism Page 78
“Therefore, I study Orientalism as a dynamic exchange between individual authors and the large political concerns shaped by the three great empires–British, French, and American–in whose intellectual and imaginative territory the writing was produced. What interests me most as a scholar is not the gross political verity but the detail, as indeed what interests us in someone like Lane or Flaubert or Renan is not the (to him) indisputable truth that the Occidentals are superior to Orientals, but profoundly worked over and modulated evidence of his detailed work within the wide space opened by that truth.
“One need only remember that Lane’s Manners and Customs of Modern Egyptians is a classical historical and anthropological observation because it its style, its enormously intelligent and brilliant details, not because of its simple reflection of racial superiority to understand what I am saying here. Edward Said Reader. Orientalism Page 81
“One aspect of electronic, postmodern world is that there has been a reinforcement of the stereotypes by which the Orient is viewed. Television, the films, and all the media’s resources have forced information into more and more standardized molds. So far as the Orient is concerned, standardization and cultural stereotyping have intensified and the hold of the nineteenth-century academic and imaginative demonology of the “mysterious Orient”. This is nowhere more true than in the ways by which the Near East is grasped. Three things have contributed to making even the simplest perceptions of the Arabs and Islam into highly politicized almost raucous matter: one, the history of popular anti-Arab and anti-Islamic prejudice in the West, which is immediately reflected in the history of Orientalism; two the struggle between Arabs and Israeli Zionism, and its affects upon American Jews as well as upon both liberal culture and the population at large; three the almost total absence of any cultural position making it possible either to identify with or dispassionately to discuss the Arabs or Islam. Edward ” Said Reader. Orientalism Page 92
“Out of the various strategies employed by the Modern Orientalists is to exaggerate the problem, scare the people, list unrelated points, and join the dots in a manner that it serves their purpose of creates a rationale for their thesis or action items. Today the major Orientalists of our time are Bernard Lewis, Daniel Pipes, Richard Perle and Samuel Huntington among many others employed by the American Enterprise Institute and the coalition of Right wing politicians and religious extremist groups. The siege mentality then leads of the orientalist analysis of the root-cause which leads to intellectual responses that are draconian. Mr. Allan Dershowitz, a leading civil rights attorney in the United States, has responded to 9/11 in a manner that would be inconceivable in this land of Liberty. Jefferson probably turned in his grave whe4n he read Dr. Dershowitz’s book “Shouting Fire”
While catering to his Liberal roots, he defends freedom of expression, the rights to believe and disbelieve and favors the eventual abolishment of capital punishment. However taking advantage of the “open hunting season on Muslims”, amazingly he makes an exception for pre-emptive targeted assassination of suicide terrorists. He surprises all when he argues persuasively that the lack of restrictions on undercover police scams is a serious problem and he advocates the creation of a scam warrant, similar to search and wiretap warrants, as a remedy.
To the chagrin to all the civil and decent Americans, he amazingly argues for a torture warrant applicable when coercion of confession can pre-empt terrorist plans and save lives. The main thesis of his book is that he argues that judicial review should be used primarily as a check and balance in defense of minority rights against the excesses of untrammeled democratic majoritarian rule or what others have defined as “mobocracy”. In defence of civil rights he argues that unaccountable warrantless surveillance authorized by the attorney general is a major breach of separation of powers and results in politically motivated violations of privacy. In this post 9/11 era Mr. Desrshowtiz finds all of the listed sources of law as fatally flawed or inadequate.
Being the most liberal lawyer in America who has defended many people, Dershowtz is always on the left of most issues, except the tone that involves Muslims. Here in the book he espouses Racial Profiling and Torture Warrents. In this case Mr. Dershowitz defines human rights as human injustice prophylactics.
“THE APOCALYPTICAL VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF AMERICA IS BASED UPON AN EXAGGERATED VISION OF THREATS:Samuel Huntington is one of the Orientalists that many care to talk about to in this book. Some claim that Samuel Huntington has been misunderstood and his questions about one possible future of mankind has been hijacked by the vested interests, to scare the world into finding an excuse for Islam Bashing.
“Some claim that Mr. Huntington was himself surprised by the amount of controversy created by his article published in the Foreign Affairs journal in the summer of 1993 called “Clash of Civilizations?”
“He says”Given the interest in, misrepresentation of, and controversy over the article, it seemed desirable for me to explore further the issues it raised. One constructive way of posing a question is to state an hypothesis. The article, which had a generally ignored question mark in its title, was an effort to do that. This book is intended to provide a fuller, deeper, and more thoroughly documented answer to the question.
“There still are some very basic errors in his book that he cared not to fix. For example, his depiction of the cold war (Map 1.2) of the so-called non-aligned nations is totally wrong and bogus. He forgets about CENTO, and SEATO, showing Pakistan as a non-aligned country. He forgets that the U2s used to fly out the American Badabare Air force base near Peshawar Pakistan. He also fails to show the alignment between the United States and Suharto of Indonesia, hardly a non-aligned country.
“Additionally Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were totally US client states and should have been categorized as such. The Baghdad pact with Iraq was renamed as CENTO and included Pakistan, Iraq and the UK and the US. If these errors had been corrected the “theory” of The West versus the rest falls apart, because many many Muslim nations were and are still aligned with the USA.
“Mr. Huntington’s book, “The Clash of Civilizations” has created a bonanza for the think tank industry of America and Huntington shall be remembered in History with as much respect and his books and writings with as much fondness as those of Senator McCarthy. This new Green McArthyinsm as propounded by Bernard Lewis, Samuel Huntington, Richard Perle and Daniel Pipes has reverberated in the corridors of Washington, just like the Red McArthyism of yesteryear-caused havoc in the lives of hundreds of law-abiding patriotic American citizens.
“Many know this bigotry well, and will be devoting volumes to responding to the open hunting season on Muslims. We can trace this Green McCarthyism and its advocates the “newcons” through the past few decades. His list of the think tanks is not complete but he does describe the major ones.The American civilization is a microcosm of that human civilization. Our country is the greatest country on earth that has offered more freedom to it’s citizens than any in the history of mankind. Many reject Samuel Huntington’s theory of clash of civilizations; however, and we wish to list ways of improving our American civilization.
Bernard Lewis has written volumes on “What went wrong with Islam” blaming, Islamists, poverty, anti-Semitism and bad religion hijacked by “evil doers”. If the words Islam, or Muslim were taken out of the Lewis monographs, all his points of references however would be equally valid for the anti-Americanism in Greece, Mexico, Russia, China, India, France, Argentina, Sri Lanka and Liechtenstein.
For example, all his assertions on Islam would be equally valid for the suicide bombers in Sri Lanka and the insurgency that has killed thousands of innocent civilians there. Similarly, his thesis would equally be valid in Northern Ireland spawning another book “What went wrong with Buddhism” accompanied by “What went wrong with Protestantism/Catholicism.
Similarly, Mr. Lewis could also write a book on what went wrong with Africans in Rwanda or South African, mainly Christian countries. Mr. Lewis however only targets Muslims and what went wrong with Islam, ignoring the global tide of negativity towards certain actions of America. The language is reminiscent of the language used by the crusades.
This is what Richard Fletcher says in “Cross and the Crescent”: The crusading ideal, then remained powerful in later medieval Christendom, whether its fruits were defeat at Nicopolis or victory at Granada. “Cross and the Crescent”: Richard Fletcher Page 143
This crusading ideal lives on in many contemporary writings. Richard Perle, in his latest onslaught on Muslims “An end to Evil-How to win the war on terror” offers another apoplectic vision of America: Page 147:
“The War against extremist Islam is as much an ideological war as the cold war ever was. And despite all our successes on the battleground, the ideological struggle against extremist Islam is one we are losing-that is, when we bother to wage at all…
……………” The future of extremist Islam will be decided Muslims themselves, by reference to their own values and their own interests. We do have it in our power, though, to encourage a reassessment of our interests—-and to promote more enlightened versions of those values than those that seem to predominate now. Page 42:
President Bush was right to insist that the United States has no quarrel with Islam. But while Americans have no proper quarrel with Islam, a radical strain within Islam has declared war on us. This seems to a reverberation of what has gone on for centuries,
Richard Fletcher in his book “The Cross and the Crescent” writes the following: Yet Bede, monk, biblical scholar and and historian of the coming of Christianity to the English, who lived, worked and in 735 died in the monastery of Jarrow in Northumbria. Yet Bede know what needed to be known of the Saracens. In a work od biblical commentary completed in 716, he could describe them as ‘enemies of the Church’. Four years later, commenting on the Ishmael reference of Genesis 16, he quoted St. Herome on the Saracens and went on to say: But now is ‘his had against all and the hands of all against him’ to such an extent that they opress the whole of Africa with their domination and, odious and hostile to all, they control the greater part of Asia, and even parts of Europe too. The Cross and the Crescent, by Richard Feltcher Page 18
Daniel Pipes, author of “Militant Islam comes to America” reverberates similar sentiments in his writings. in a TV interview on CNN said that if “Militant Islam is the problem” then “Moderate Islam is the solution”. While Mr. Pipes makes that distinctioni and craftly avoids overtly and baltnetly maligning all Muslims. However Most Muslims and other fair minded perons consider Mr. Pipes as an islamphobe and a polemic Anti-Islamic and anit-Muslim sensational writer who capitalizes on the fear of most Americans by painitn a drastic vision of Islam and Muslims. However what the neocons are saying today is nothing new. Many Muslims looking at the Islam phobic books in bookstores say “yawn yawn” nothing new…this has been going on for centuries…..”The caravans pass, the dogs will keep barking”.
The entire Crusades were based on similar thinking “the hordes are coming, we need to destroy them”. Richard Fletcher in his new book “The Cross and the Crescent” lists narrations by authors that go back centuries. Ammianus Marcelellinus, last of the Latin historians of antiquity, writing towards the end of the fourth century, is representative. He considers the Arabs a destructive people, who would swoop down like birds of prey to seize whatever they could find. And different in their habits too, not people like us: by means pf what today would be called cultural stereotyping, he distanced the Arabs as the unpalatable other. No man ever grasps a plough-handle nor cultivates a tree, none seeks a living by tilling the soil, but they rove continually over wide extensive tracts without a home, without fixed abodes or laws…They wander so widely that a woman married in one place, gives birth in another and rears children far away…
Wholly unacquainted with grain or wine, they feed on wild animals and mile and a variety of plants. Christian writers such as Ammianus contemporary St. Jerone, a near neighbour of the Arabs during his long residence at Bethleham between 386 and 420, agreed with him. And these Christians authorities knew how to explain these peculiar people. It is all there in what the Bible had to say about Ishmail, whose birth and destiny are described in Genesis 16, Ishmael would a ‘wild man, his hand against every man’s, and every mans’s hand against his; and he shall live at odds with all his kinsmen’. Here is Isidore of Seville, the great polymath and encyclopedic of lat antiquity, and a contemporary of Muhammad, summing up a Christian consensus: The Saracens live in the desert. They are also called Ishamaelites, as the book of Genesis teaches, because they are descended from Ishmael [son of Abraham]. They are also called Hagarenes because they are descended from Hagar [Abraham's slave concubine, mother of Ishmael]. They also, as we have already said, perversely call themselves Saracens because they mendaciously boast of descent from Sarah [Abraham's legitimate wife].In this manner the Arabs could be marginalized as enemies of the human race by their tainted descent, or as we should say today by their ethnicity….. In his book “Militant Islam comes to America” Mr. Daniel Pipes he paints a picture of America and the Western world under siege.
There is noting new in his thesis. Don Quixote along with Sancho Panze led a charge against an army of “Turks” which in reality were simply windmills. While the fictional character invented by Miguel Cervantes, Don Quixote was not real the perceived threat turned out be as ephemeral as the threat of the “Red Menace” of yesteryear as painted by Senator McCarthy. As a classical and almost humorous example of his paranoid, very similar to Don Quixotes charge on the windmills, Mr. Pipes in his “blog” (www.Danielpipes.org) of January 2003, finds a patriotic Muslim adoption of Muslim Crescent and star draped in an American flag as a sinister conspiracy by Muslims and thinks of the Muslim Crescent as a “pacman” ready to eat the American star (even though both the crescent and the star are draped in the colors of the American flag). The innocent and patriotic nature of this logo was repeatedly pointed out to him along with examples that the AMC logo is very similar to the AIPAC logo. Mr. Pipes continues to see sinister a designs behind the “pacman” Crescent. Mr. Pipes acknowledges that there are a few voices of reason and moderation that are using ecumenical harmony to reach out to the West, America and Americana.
MUSLIM APATHY AND LACK OF REACH OUT MAY LEAD TO ANOTHER HOLOCAUST:
Many lay blame for problems squarely where they belong, on the doorstep of Muslim Americans. Many have warned Muslims, that if they do not reach out to mainstream America they face increased marginalization, persecution and perhaps internment and deportation. Chastising Muslims and pointing out that Muslim Americans are not doing their part in reaching out to America, We vociferously propound dialogue as the only salvation for Muslim Americans. “Shape up or be ready to be shipped out” is the message to the new immigrants who seem to be to steeped in molasses and their old ways and too engrossed in the politics of their home countries to have either the vision or the ability to grasps the realities of the new world.
He believes that America is need of “Civilizational renewal” and distinguishes between simple tolerance and being proactive and doing things with AJMA type of organizations:
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