When "moderate" becomes Islamist
Reader comment on item: A French lesson for Tom Harkin

Submitted by Phil Orenstein (United States), Jan 5, 2004 at 19:45

It's obvious that the claim that there are "moderate" Muslims in America is dubious. If their leaders are Islamist and the majority condone their actions or don't make them accountable for their statements and anti-Semitic activities, then one can only draw the logical and unfortunate conclusion. Silence is a statement of consent. On the contrary there should be loud Muslim voices speaking out as Americans first and vigorously denouncing the terrorism, tyranny and anti-semitism that is born from the lands of their origins. However there is neither this cry nor silence rising from their ranks. Instead their are incessant loud and prolific protests against bigotry, intolerance and hate crimes against Muslims in this country, including political and lobbying campaigns, boycotts of Nike and pro-Zionist companies, taxi strikes, work stoppages and many others. In actuality the FBI report on hate crimes for the year 2002 showed that there were 931 hate crimes committed against Jews and 155 committed against Muslims. If this blatant hypocrisy is allowed to persist then "moderate" will turn into "Islamist".

---

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 for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.