This is an Imam?

October 17, 2001 7:08 PM

This is an Imam? "Muslims do not feel safe [in America] even going to the hospitals, because some Jewish doctors in one of the hospitals poisoned sick Muslim children, who then died." I don't know if this is a good translation, I can't read Arabic, but this is mind bending stuff. Searching for comparisons, I can only find the KKK and Nazis to match the level of delusionary hate. [via andrewsullivan.com]
posted by prodigal (15 comments total)

From the link:

Gamei'a: "When I asked them whether they had the courage to
talk about it openly, they said: 'We can't.' I asked why,
and they said: 'You know very well that the Zionists
control everything and that they also control political
decision-making, the big media organizations, and the
financial and economic institutions. Anyone daring to say a
word is considered an anti-Semite.'"

As you are well aware, this is the way people in an angry mob normally talk.
posted by ethmar at 7:27 PM on October 17, 2001

"You see these people (i.e. the Jews) all the time,
everywhere, disseminating corruption, heresy,
homosexuality, alcoholism, and drugs. [Because of them]
there are strip clubs, homosexuals, and lesbians
everywhere. They do this to impose their hegemony and
colonialism on the world."

That's true, I remember when i was 7 and the Jews planted the gay seed in my belly-button. I work for them now. *wink*
posted by rhyax at 7:32 PM on October 17, 2001

Three cheers for the jews!!
Strips clubs! Alcohol! Sex! Lesbians!

Bring on the Zionist oligarchy! I WANT MORE FUN!
posted by phatboy at 7:50 PM on October 17, 2001

Didn't the hijackers visit strip clubs themselves? Didn't they look for hookers in DC?

This whole article is disgusting. The reference to hitler even moreso...Godwin's Law a thousand times over.
posted by Benway at 7:58 PM on October 17, 2001

from The Jargon Lexicon

Godwin's Law prov.

[Usenet] "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one." There is a tradition in many groups that, once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. Godwin's Law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on thread length in those groups. However there is also a widely- recognized codicil that any intentional triggering of Godwin's Law in order to invoke its thread-ending effects will be unsuccessful.
posted by plemeljr at 8:09 PM on October 17, 2001

Various US expats relating their post-9/11 experiences in their resident countries -- some interesting stories, but the one that sticks out as relevant to this topic was this US resident of Cairo, speaking of his friends and colleagues, many of them presumably educated:

They speculate about consequences, too: what if the U.S. bombs Pakistan, which is a nuclear power; whether the attack will change U.S. policy toward Israel; or whether the U.S. government is too far under Israel's thumb. (The "Israeli conspiracy" guy tells me the United States is 25 percent Israeli-Americans. You mean Jews. Yes. Try 2.5 percent. He doesn't believe me, of course.) But underlying all the chatter, surfacing when they remember me in the room, is a strong desire to believe it was some "inside job," a group internal to the U.S., like Oklahoma City.

Note that 1/4 of the US would mean some 70 million Jews; in fact, there are barely 13 million Jews worldwide, of which perhaps 5.7 million live in the United States, which is actually closer to 2 percent.

Benway: I think what's relevant here is not the specific content, but that the views are so widespread, even among mainstream clergy. It's very astonishing, eating-its-own-tail conspiracy theory. Many of the tales, as told, imply deep inferiority of the Arab peoples -- in effect, an emotional compass to Arab insecurity. The Jews are smarter; the Americans are more ruthless; the Arabs are weak and will not stand in their own defense. It really is like an Arab Klan/Bircher point of view, just translate Americans for Blacks and Arabs for Americans to get it.
posted by dhartung at 8:09 PM on October 17, 2001

sorry Benway... I just couldn't resist
posted by plemeljr at 8:09 PM on October 17, 2001

I reiterate a question I've been asking: We keep hearing that Islam is a religion of peace. Where do we know this from? I want to believe this is so, but if actions speak louder than words, how can we accept "Islam=Peace"?
posted by darren at 6:31 AM on October 18, 2001

Go to a mosque. Talk to a Muslim. Read the Qur'an. It's not a secret society, you know.
posted by turaho at 6:44 AM on October 18, 2001

how can we accept Islam=Peace

Um, the same way you accept (or fail to accept) Christianity=Peace?
posted by aramaic at 8:13 AM on October 18, 2001

i accept christina ricci=piece
posted by danOstuporStar at 8:36 AM on October 18, 2001

You just want a piece of Christina Ricci.

Which, of course, isn't a bad fantasy at all.
posted by dwivian at 9:10 AM on October 18, 2001

Reading the Qu'ran, I discovered that I have, not the right, but the OBLIGATION to beat my wife. What a surprise!

Let's see who makes dinner TONIGHT....
posted by dwivian at 9:11 AM on October 18, 2001

How these people can think Jews carried off these attacks after OBL basically said "praise Allah and the Muslims who attacked America" in his video, is beyond me. This is truly scary stuff.
I too am having trouble with the Islam=peace thing. As far as it goes for women, there's not one damn peaceful thing about that religion.
posted by aacheson at 10:38 AM on October 18, 2001

*sigh* here we go again...

a) Yes, that Imam was stupid. Yes, the wild conspiracy theories are a sign of Arab/Muslim insecurity, which is caused by many factors (inept leadership, lack of decent education, abuse of Islam by people with political agendas, and, yes, an American foreign policy which does not promote democracy and freedom in the Arab/Muslim world)

b) There are 6 million Muslims in this country. More than Jews. You probably know one already. Talk to Muslim women and find out if they feel oppressed. Find out if they are peaceful. As someone above suggested, go to a mosque. They won't bite.

c) Are there problems with the treatment of women in Islam? Of course there are. Just like there are in many deeply religious societies. Islam isn't alone in patriarchy, and in fact the religion - if people would bother to look at its basic precepts - is very strong on women's rights (holding property, eduction, etc.). Muslim women commonly keep their maiden name after marraige, to show that they are not the property of their husbands.

You know, this last point just pisses me off. 70% of the Muslim world has lived under the rule of a woman (Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia - combined population of 700 million). Complain to me about women's rights in Islam after the US elects a woman president.
posted by laz-e-boy at 10:58 AM on October 18, 2001