Daniel J. Pipes

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Attn: commenter Rania Elkholy

Reader comment on item: [Fixing] Islam's Image Problem

Submitted by Mike Calo (United States), Aug 6, 2003 at 21:25

I admire your position and your willingness to defend Islam as you see it; I would, however, ask you: How, in light of September 11, 2001, can you say that Muslims only "defend themselves when attacked"?

Exactly who among the thousands killed in the World Trade Center attacked Muslims?

Was it the children who died simply because they were visiting the WTC on school field trips?

Perhaps it was the hundreds of New York City police officers and firefighters who were rushing to protect and defend the lives of EVERYONE - MUSLIM and others alike - at the WTC that day?

No? Then surely it was the hundreds of day-to-day hourly-wage earners in the cafeterias, newsstands, shoeshine booths?

I wonder, Mr./Ms. Elkholy, what you or others of the Islamic faith would think if the United States, tired of being victimized and terrorized by the "Islamic Holy Jihad" were to lay waste to enough Islamic venues to equal the WTC attack? Would we, in fact, be justified in "defending ourselves"?

Of course not.

In case you have missed my point, it is this: There is NO defense for the indefensible.

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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