Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Speaking of inappropriate visitors and the Holocaust (see below), a group of American Imams with questionable statements in their past were invited to tour Auschwitz recently: American Imams visit Auschwitz
Eight Muslim American leaders who visited concentration camps and met with Holocaust survivors signed a statement condemning Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.
The trip earlier this month, intended to teach the participants about the Holocaust, featured visits to Dachau and Auschwitz.
"We stand united as Muslim American faith and community leaders and recognize that we have a shared responsibility to continue to work together with leaders of all faiths and their communities to fight the dehumanization of all peoples based on their religion, race or ethnicity," the statement read. "With the disturbing rise of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hatred, rhetoric and bigotry, now more than ever, people of faith must stand together for truth."
Marshall Breger, an Orthodox Jew who served in the Reagan and first Bush administrations, launched the trip to educate those who may not have had the opportunity to learn the history of the Holocaust. Breger said this would help combat Holocaust denial among Muslims.
The leaders on the trip were Imams Muzammil Siddiqi of Orange County, Calif.; Muhamad Maged of Virginia; Suhaib Webb of Santa Clara, Calif.; Abdullah Antepli of Duke University in North Carolina; and Syed Naqvi of Washington, D.C., along with Dr. Sayyid Syeed of Washington; Sheik Yasir Qadhi of New Haven, Conn.; and Laila Muhammad of Chicago. U.S. government officials, the State Department's special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, and an official from the Organization of the Islamic Conference also participated.
According to the Jewish Daily Forward, several of the leaders, all with large spheres of influence, had a history of anti-Semitic comments. Laila Muhammad is the daughter of American Muslim leader W.D. Muhammad and granddaughter of Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam...
Qadhi was one name I recognized immediately. He's been a guest of the Islamic Society of Boston and is on record doubting the Holocaust and calling Christians filth. (See here, here and here.) Quite frankly, statements in solidarity with dead Jews and circumstances of their history buys you nothing in my book. That's easy and cost-free. If these people make a point of altering some of the things they've been saying and go into their mosques here and preach truth without equivocation then perhaps that's something. If they do it overseas that's perhaps something even more. But generic statements against hatred in which they include themselves? That's of very limited value.
Why bother. They watch, they go home they tell their flock it's a lie. Go forth and kill the infidels. Big big waste of effort.
Taquiya, taquiya, taquiya.
And the fools fall for it time and again.
Salaami, Salaami, Salammi, BALONEY.
It's been reported that the imams were moved to tears by what they saw at Auschwitz. Arutz Sheva: Response to A‘jad’s Holocaust Denial: Imams’ Tears at Auschwitz. The Cleveland Plain Dealer quotes the State Department' escort: "One of the most painful things was to see these imams, all pretty intelligent and sophisticated, absolutely bawling like children. They couldn't get over it, especially when they saw these children's clothes and children's shoes by the tonful. It was really poignant."
If they weren't fake crocodile tears, they may be a hopeful sign. (See Elder's three-year old post "The utter lack of Arab empathy for others.)
The imams released a statement that cites the 6,000,000 and says "We condemn any attempts to deny this historical reality and declare such denials or any justification of this tragedy as against the Islamic code of ethics."
At least one of the imams, has recanted his prior Holocaust denial, both verbally and in writing, Yasir Qadhi from New Haven chalks it up to ignorance and the culture in which he was raised, with exposure to the Protocols and other antisemitic materials. “That’s why I was very happy to come on this trip,” he said, “because I wanted to see for myself how wrong I was.”
This seems different than the slick taqiyya from Imam Rauf or the ISB's Bilal Kaleem.
It would be nice to get a follow-up story on what these guys tell their congregations and what impact this trip has. The sight of imams praying at Auschwitz that nothing like this happen again to Jews or anyone else is a powerful image.