[Mb-civic] We Are So Sorry For 9-11-- FrontPageMagazine.com

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We Are So Sorry For 9-11
By Kamal Nawash
FrontPageMagazine.com | September 10, 2004


This September 11 marks the third unforgettable
anniversary of the worst mass murder in American
history.

After September 11, many in the Muslim world chose
denial and hallucination rather than face up to the
sad fact that Muslims perpetrated the 9-11 terrorist
acts and that we have an enormous problem with
extremism and support for terrorism.  Many Muslims,
including religious leaders, and “intellectuals”
blamed 9-11 on a Jewish conspiracy and went as far as
fabricating a tale that 4000 Jews did not show up for
work in the World Trade Center on 9-11.   Yet others
blamed 9-11 on an American right wing conspiracy or
the U.S. Government which allegedly wanted an excuse
to invade Iraq and “steal” Iraqi oil.

After numerous admissions of guilt by Bin Laden and
numerous corroborating admissions by captured top
level Al-Qaida operatives, we wonder, does the Muslim
leadership have the dignity and courage to apologize
for 9-11?  If not 9-11, will we apologize for the
murder of school children in Russia?  If not Russia,
will we apologize for the train bombings in Madrid,
Spain?  If not Spain, will we apologize for suicide
bombings in buses, restaurants and other public
places?  If not suicide bombings, will we apologize
for the barbaric beheadings of human beings?  If not
beheadings, will we apologize for the rape and murder
of thousands of innocent people in Darfour?  If not
Darfour, will we apologize for the blowing up of two
Russian planes by Muslim women?   What will we
apologize for?  What will it take for Muslims to
realize that those who commit mass murder in the name
of Islam are not just a few fringe elements?  What
will it take for Muslims to realize that we are facing
a crisis that is more deadly than the Aids epidemic? 
What will it take for Muslims to realize that there is
a large evil movement that is turning what was a
peaceful religion into a cult?

Will Muslims wake up before it is too late?  Or will
we continue blaming the Jews and an imaginary Jewish
conspiracy?   The blaming of all Muslim problems on
Jews is a cancer that is destroying Muslim society
from within and it must stop.

Muslims must look inward and put a stop to many of our
religious leaders who spend most of their sermons
teaching hatred, intolerance and violent jihad.    We
should not be afraid to admit that as Muslims we have
a problem with violent extremism.  We should not be
afraid to admit that so many of our religious leaders
belong behind bars and not behind a pulpit.  Only
moderate Muslims can challenge and defeat extremist
Muslims.  We can no longer afford to be silent.  If we
remain silent to the extremism within our community
then we should not expect anyone to listen to us when
we complain of stereotyping and discrimination by
non-Muslims; we should not be surprised when the world
treats all of us as terrorists; we should not be
surprised when we are profiled at airports.  Simply
put, not only do Muslims need to join the war against
terror, we need to take the lead in this war.

As to apologizing, we will no longer wait for our
religious leaders and “intellectuals” to do the
right thing.  Instead, we will start by apologizing
for 9-11.  We are so sorry that 3000 people were
murdered in our name.   We will never forget the sight
of people jumping from two of the highest buildings in
the world hoping against hope that if they moved their
arms fast enough that they may fly and survive a
certain death from burning.  We are sorry for blaming
9-11 on a Jewish or right wing conspiracy.  We are so
sorry for the murder of more than three hundred school
children and adults in Russia.  We are so sorry for
the murder of train passengers in Spain.  We are so
sorry for all the victims of suicide bombings.  We are
so sorry for the beheadings, abductions, rapes,
violent Jihad and all the atrocities committed by
Muslims around the world.  We are so sorry for a
religious education that raised killers rather than
train people to do good in the world.  We are sorry
that we did not take the time to teach our children
tolerance and respect for other people.  We are so
sorry for not rising up against the dictators who have
ruled the Muslim world for decades.  We are so sorry
for allowing corruption to spread so fast and so deep
in the Muslim world that many of our youth lost hope. 
We are so sorry for allowing our religious leaders to
relegate women to the status of forth class citizens
at best and sub-humans at worse.

We are so sorry.

The Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism is a
nonprofit organization made up of American Muslims and
Arabs of all backgrounds who feel that religious
violence and terrorism have not been fully rejected by
the Muslim community in the post 9-11 era. For more
information visit their website at:
www.freemuslims.org. Contact President Kamal Nawash
directly at his email: president at freemuslims.org.




		
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