“They thrive on militancy and violence. They seek to strike terror and they kill and maim, yet they claim to serve the cause of Islam. These misguided people are found everywhere and unfortunately their number continues to swell – thanks primarily to poverty, injustice and the West’s double standard…. Terrorism, in every form and manifestation, should be condemned not by words but by action and extremists should not be allowed to distort the true image of Islam.”

Naushad Shamimul Haque opposes extremist distortions of Islam.

Arab News, 29 April 2005

Most of us would regard this as a balanced and reasoned argument. Not Robert Spencer, though. The very suggestion that poverty, injustice and double standards on the part of the West might have made a contribution to the rise of extremist Islamism reduces him to apoplexy:

“Yes, it’s all our fault. I would like to get into a little discussion of history with Naushad Shamimul Haque, and find out how he explains all those jihads that were waged by Islamic empires at a time when those empires had an overwhelming military superiority over Western non-Muslim lands. Was it poverty? Injustice? Double standards that led Muslims to conquer Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, Eastern Europe, North Africa, Spain, India, etc. etc. etc.?”

Jihad Watch, 1 May 2005

As distinct from the peace-loving, non-imperialist history of regimes adhering to Christianity, of course.

Anyone tempted to dismiss Robert Spencer’s arguments as the ravings of an isolated right-wing nutter should refer to the outcry that greeted actor Maggie Gyllenhaal’s suggestion that the US itself bore some responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.

See New York Daily News, 24 April 2005 and BBC News, 27 April 2005

For an article by one of Spencer’s co-thinkers from the US right, which actually encourages physical violence against Gyllenhaal (“massaging her scalp with a two-by-four”), see Front Page Magazine, 29 April 2005

Stephen Schwartz complains that US Muslim organisations direct wild accusations of Islamophobia against people who are entirely blameless. Who are these persecuted innocents? Schwartz offers us an example:

“Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum has experienced more denunciation as an ‘Islamophobe’ than any other individual in the West. Yet Pipes has never once criticized the religion of Islam per se; he has never argued that the faith of Muhammad represents any problem, but has only censured its politicization and ideologization.”

Front Page Magazine, 28 April 2005

Anyone under the illusion that this represents an accurate summary of Pipes’ position would be advised to have look through the material on Daniel Pipes collected on our site.

Robert Spencer, however, takes issue with Schwartz for even accepting that Islamophobia exists:

“Does the labeling as ‘Islamophobic’ the practice of ‘attacking the entire religion of Islam as a problem for the world’ mean that it is Islamophobic to focus attention on the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet as motivations for terrorist activity?”

Jihad Watch, 29 April 2005

A TV commercial warning Americans that Iran intends to launch a nuclear terror attack in the U.S. has been rejected by several stations due to fears it might inflame Muslims.

Titled “An Atomic 9-11: When Evil is Appeased,” the spot, sponsored by the Iran Freedom Foundation, is based on a scenario described in the new WND Books release “Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians,” by Jerome R. Corsi, co-author of the best-selling “Unfit for Command.”

The ad, which can be viewed on the IFF website, began a month-long run last Tuesday in 17 markets nationwide. It was rejected, however, by independent stations in Chicago, Dallas and Roanoke, Va., according to the company that produced and distributed it, Fargo, N.D.-based TVAI, or Timeless Video Alternatives International.

Continue reading →

One day after ignoring Islam and hailing the “great spiritual heritage” shared by Jews and Christians in his inaugural Mass, Pope Benedict XVI on Monday, April 25, welcomed progress in Christian-Muslim dialogue.

“I am particularly grateful for the presence in our midst of members of the Muslim community,” the pontiff said in a private audience with the leaders of other religions and Christian Churches, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“I express my appreciation for the growth of dialogue between Muslims and Christians, both at the local and international level,” said the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

“I assure you that the Church wants to continue building bridges of friendship with the followers of all religions, in order to seek the true good of every person and of society as a whole,” added the 78-year-old pope.

In a homily marking his inauguration, Pope Benedict XVI paid homage to “my brothers and sisters” of the Jewish people, but failed to make any reference to Islam or Muslims.

Islam Online, 25 April 2005

Robert Spencer, who had anticipated a harder line on Islam from the new pontiff, is worried that this may be “a sign that this Pope will continue along a familiar path of dhimmitude”. He finds some reassurance in the thought that the Pope’s call on “those who profess to belong to religious traditions” to follow the path of peace “might have been a pointed declaration to his audience that they need to clean their own house”.

Dhimmi Watch, 25 April 2005

“… in Western Europe, the two trends of mass immigration and global terrorism intersect visibly and dangerously. For more than a decade the region has formed a haven for Middle Eastern ‘dissidents’, often a.k.a. mujahideen, and for graduate students like Mohammed Atta. But these visitors or first generation immigrants are by no means the only source of concern. The murder of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by a Dutch Muslim of Moroccan descent served notice for a new generation of mujahideen born and bred in Europe and the object of focused al Qaeda post-9-11 and post-Iraq recruitment.”

Robert S. Leiken, Center for Immigration Studies, April 2005

Robert Spencer applauds this “very informative piece”: Dhimmi Watch, 22 April 2005