Left hand not knowing what right hand is doing

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) has been named, along with CAIR and 300 other Muslim organizations in the U.S., as an unindicted co-conspirator in the U.S. Justice Department’s case against the Holy Land Foundation, a Hamas-related organization based in Texas. The U.S. Justice Department also says that ISNA is a member of the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization that is the fount of modern Sunni jihadism (the ISNA denies it has ever had ties with the Muslim Brotherhood). Last weekend, according to a reader of Powerline and a story in the Indianapolis Star, the ISNA held its annual national convention in Rosemont, Illinois, with 40,000 persons attending, the largest Muslim convention in the country. The U.S. Justice Department—which, let us repeat, has named ISNA an unindicted co-conspirator in the biggest domestic terrorism funding case in U.S. history—sponsored a booth at the convention, along with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the FBI, and other federal agencies. U.S. Agency for International Development had a booth, where it invited Muslim charities to apply for grants that could pay for projects overseas. But the U.S. government says that the ISNA supports charities supporting terrorism overseas. A session was held at the convention on recruiting Muslims for careers in the U.S. government. It’s not clear from Powerline’s report which if any of the U.S. agencies sponsoring booths at the convention participated in that session.

Powerline mentions the “tensions,” i.e., the contradictions, inherent in the government’s participation in the ISNA convention. But, of course, from the mainstream-right, Bush administration perspective, there is no contradiction here, since, according to the mainstream right and the Bush administration, the overwhelming majority of Muslims, including those who participate in the suspect organizations, are not jihadists or enemies of the U.S. or unassimilable aliens, but just ordinary folk who want to participate in American life while washing their feet five times a day in public restroom sinks—which is why the University of Michigan has just installed footbaths in its public restrooms, making it unnecessary for its Muslim students to wash their feet in the sinks as they have been doing. And since Powerline supports the administration which believes that the vast majority of Muslims are not jihadists or enemies of the U.S. or unassimilable aliens, does this not account for Powerline’s passive, depressive tone whenever it discusses the advance of Islam in America and the government’s lack of response to same? Indeed, just as the government fails to respond adequately and consistently to the Islamic threat, since the government believes that that vast majority of Muslims are ordinary, unthreatening people who belong in America, Powerline fails to respond adequately and consistently to the government’s appeasement of the Muslims, since Powerline is married to the administration which believes that the vast majority of Muslims are ordinary, unthreatening people who belong in America.

—end of initial entry—

Peter H. writes:

“…the overwhelming majority of Muslims, including those who participate in the suspect organizations, are not jihadists or enemies of the U.S. or unassimilable aliens, but just ordinary folk who want to participate in American life while washing their feet five times a day…” (my emphasis)

This is priceless and I had to laugh out loud when I read it, notwithstanding the seriousness of your post with which I entirely agree. The phrase does tend to highlight the absurdity of the idea that Muslims are “just like us” and that they are compatible with our society.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 06, 2007 08:49 AM | Send