Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Where's the outrage?

I've been following the story of Abdul Rahman, a muslim-turned-devout Christian who is facing the death penalty in Afghanistan for his refusal to convert back to Islam. Perhaps most noteworthy, according to Michelle Malkin is the people who are remaining silent on the matter. I just visited the CAIR website, and curiously still found no mention of the plight of Abdul Rahman on their website. But I did find some things..

NY: CAIR-OH Rep to Discuss ‘Justice in Difficult Times’

The Manhattanville Muslim Students Association Invites you to the MSA’s Annual Basma T. Wahhaj Lecture WHEN: Tues Mar 21, 6 pm – Reid Hall, Manhattanville, NY SPEAKER: Dr. Asma Mobin-Uddin, President of the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OH) TOPIC: “Standing for Justice During Difficult Times” For Further Info: 914-323-5134

I wonder if the fate of Rahman will be among the examples in their discussion of their "standing for justice." CAIR also offers this:
... News Releases
Tuesday, March 21, 2006

DC: Muslim Leaders Meet with Rice, Hughes, NSC Officials

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/21/06) - Members of the United States Institute of Peace U.S.-Muslim World Advisory Committee met yesterday in Washington, D.C., with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes and top officials of the National Security Council, including Senior Director Michael Doran.

SEE: http://www.usip.org/muslimworld/
projects/members.html


The meetings focused on issues such as the American Muslim community’s role in outreach efforts to the Islamic world, how to address growing levels of Islamophobia in the West (perhaps not putting Christian converts to death would be a good start--eh?), Muslim condemnations of terrorism and religious extremism, and proposals for joint initiatives.

Muslim participants included representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), and the Islamic Center of America in Michigan.

“We thank the United States Institute of Peace for bringing together American Muslim leaders and senior government officials,” said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, who took part in yesterday’s meetings. “It is our hope that such dialogues will continue in the future with other elected and administration officials.”

...Hmm... no mention of Rahman there, either. Or here:

CAIR-CAN: Attacker Runs Down Muslim After Shouting Racial Slurs
CAIR-CAN calls for hate crime charge in University of Toronto attack

(OTTAWA, CANADA, 3/19/06) ­ The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) today called on law enforcement authorities to treat an attack on Muslim students at the University of Toronto (UT) as a hate crime and to bring the strongest possible criminal charges. CAIR-CAN is also calling on the university to take concrete steps to address racial hate and Islamophobia on campus. Several witnesses told CAIR-CAN that a man attempted to run down four Muslim students with his car on the university campus on Sunday after yelling racial slurs at them. One of the students was reportedly hit by the car and taken to a nearby hospital by paramedics. “The University of Toronto has been known for its tolerance and accommodation of religious needs. Now the university must take a strong stand to show that all forms of hate and racism, including Islamophobia, will not be tolerated on its campus," said Riad Saloojee, CAIR-CAN's executive director. He added that the university must take action to ensure the safety of its Muslim students.
...Funny how the CAIR folks are crying "Islamophobia!!!" yet have no words to say about the "Christophobia" involved in the possible impending execution of one whose only crime is...
"...standing by his words," fellow jail inmate Sayad Miakel told Canada's Globe and Mail. Another cellmate, Khalylullah Safi, reported: "He keeps looking up to the sky, to God."
The double standard employed by CAIR is nothing less than obvious. What isn't so obvious, however, is the deafening silence by our own Presidential administration in this matter. According to Malkin:
As of Tuesday afternoon, left-wing Amnesty International had nothing to say about the case. But neither did President Bush, a man of faith and a Christian brother. During his extensive White House press conference on the War on Terror and the defense of freedom overseas, Bush spent plenty of time describing what life was like for Afghanis before Operation Enduring Freedom: "There was no such thing as religious freedom. There was no such thing as being able to express yourself in the public square. There was no such thing as press conferences like this. They were totalitarian in their view. And that would be-I'm referring to the Taliban, of course. And that's how they would like to run government. They rule by intimidation and fear, by death and destruction. And the United States of America must take this threat seriously and must not-must never forget the natural rights that formed our country."
Malkin asks...
President Bush, who will defend Abdul Rahman's natural rights from being usurped and terminated by Afghanistan's Islamic executioners?
This is nothing less than unacceptable. We didn't shed blood, nor are we continuing to shed blood in that country to replace one Islamo-fascist regime with another Islamo-fascist regime.

We must act now, and let the good folks in Afghanistan know in no uncertain terms that their equivalent of a medieval witchhunt will not be tolerated; lest what is happening in Afghanistan becomes a precedent for things to come in Iraq.

(Filed under religion of peace?)