july 28, 2005
Are Suicide
Bombings Coming to the U.S.?
I got this interesting e-mail blast Wednesday from CAIR,
the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is sort
of the Muslim ACLU:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- MEDIA ADVISORY -
U.S. MUSLIM RELIGIOUS COUNCIL TO ISSUE FATWA AGAINST
TERROR CAIR to release English, Arabic, Urdu radio versions
of anti-terror PSA
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/27/05) - On Thursday, July 28,
the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will
hold a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington,
D.C., to release a fatwa (Islamic religious ruling) against
terrorism and extremism. The fatwa is being issued by
the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) and endorsed
by major U.S. Muslim groups.
The Fatwa states:
"Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and
the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no
justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting
civilians' life and property through suicide bombings
or any other method of attack is haram - or forbidden
- and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals,
not 'martyrs'. . ."
Great. Except that this is the kind of media event that,
while intended to make us all feel better, instead sends
up a big red flag in the mind of a terrorism analyst.
Here’s why. Love it or hate it, the truth is that
CAIR has, on an official level, been denouncing terrorism
for quite awhile.
On its Web site http://www.cair-net.org
it displays a petition against terrorism for Muslims to
sign. Of course, few would say CAIR is leading the fight
against al-Qaeda. Some past CAIR leaders have been indicted
for ties to terror.
But back to the main point: if CAIR was already denouncing
terrorism, why the need for a Fatwa now?
Because there is a buzz among terror experts that the
U.S could be the next address for a suicide bombing, and
Muslim leaders here fear the backlash. Speaking to CAIR
spokesman Ibrahim Hooper a few months ago for a different
story, he basically told me that all bets are off if there
were ever another major attack on the United States by
Muslim Terrorists. The phrase “internment camps”
was discussed.
As a journalist, I can tell you that if there is another
attack, you’ll first see news pieces on the need
for tolerance, but as the national debate intensifies,
the media will also dust off the classic “Enemy
Within” story. Reporters will go back through Nexis
and discover embarrassing events like the disastrous Muslim
March Against Terror http://www.freemuslims.org/march/,
a public relations fiasco a few months ago in which only
50 (yes…fifty) people-not even 50 Muslims-showed
up in Washington to stand against terrorism. And reporters
will ask why.
It’s a moment Muslim leaders would like to prevent.
