Friday, September 26th ended a week in which thousands of copies of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West -- the fear-mongering, anti-Muslim documentary being distributed by the millions in swing states via DVDs inserted in major newspapers and through the U.S. mail -- were distributed by mail in Ohio. The same day, a "chemical irritant" was sprayed through a window of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, where 300 people were gathered for a Ramadan prayer service. The room that the chemical was sprayed into was the room where babies and children were being kept while their mothers were engaged in prayers. This, apparently, is what the scare tactic political campaigning of John McCain's supporters has led to -- Americans perpetrating a terrorist attack against innocent children on American soil.
I read the story as reported by the Dayton Daily News, but this was after I had received an email written by a friend of some of the victims of these American terrorists. The matter of fact news report in the Dayton paper didn't come close to conveying the horrific impact of this unthinkable act like the email I had just read, so I asked the email's author for permission to share what they had written. The author was with one of the families from the mosque -- a mother and two of the small children who were in the room that was gassed -- the day after the attack occurred.
"She told me that the gas was sprayed into the room where the babies and children were being kept while their mothers prayed together their Ramadan prayers. Panicked mothers ran for their babies, crying for their children so they could flee from the gas that was burning their eyes and throats and lungs. She grabbed her youngest in her arms and grabbed the hand of her other daughter, moving with the others to exit the building and the irritating substance there.
"The paramedic said the young one was in shock, and gave her oxygen to help her breathe. The child couldn't stop sobbing.
"This didn't happen in some far away place -- but right here in Dayton, and to my friends. Many of the Iraqi refugees were praying together at the Mosque Friday evening. People that I know and love.
"I am hurt and angry. I tell her this is not America. She tells me this is not Heaven or Hell -- there are good and bad people everywhere.
"She tells me that her daughters slept with her last night, the little one in her arms and sobbing throughout the night. She tells me she is afraid, and will never return to the mosque, and I wonder what kind of country is this where people have to fear attending their place of worship?"
"The children come into the room, and tell me they want to leave America and return to Syria, where they had fled to from Iraq. They say they like me, ... , and other American friends -- but they are too afraid and want to leave. Should a 6 and 7 year old even have to contemplate the safety of their living situation?
"Did the anti-Muslim video circulating in the area have something to do with this incident, or is that just a bizarre coincidence? Who attacks women and children?
"What am I supposed to say to them? My words can't keep them safe from what is nothing less than terrorism, American style. Isn't losing loved ones, their homes, jobs, possessions and homeland enough? Is there no place where they can be safe?
"She didn't want me to leave her tonight, but it was after midnight, and I needed to get home and write this to my friends. Tell me -- tell me -- what am I supposed to say to them?"
When acting as a representative of Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), the 501(c)3 non-profit organization that I work for, I cannot engage in political activities. The distribution of Obsession, however, although a political campaign scheme, clearly crosses over into the mission of MRFF. So, I'm going to make two statements here -- one in my capacity as MRFF's Research Director, and another as an individual whose disgust at the vile campaign tactics of John McCain's supporters completely boiled over when I opened up the email about children being gassed.
My statement as MRFF's Research Director:
The presidential campaign edition of the Obsession DVD, produced and currently being distributed by the Clarion Fund, carries the endorsement of the chair of the counter-terrorism department of the U.S. Naval War College, using the name and authority of an official U.S. military institution not only to validate an attack the religion of Islam, but to influence a political campaign. For these reasons, this endorsement has been included in MRFF's second lawsuit against the Department of Defense, which was filed on September 25 in the Federal District Court in Kansas.
My opinion as an individual and thoroughly appalled human being:
John McCain has a moral obligation to publicly censure the Clarion Fund; to denounce the inflammatory, anti-Muslim message of Obsession; and to do everything in his power to stop any further campaign activities by his supporters that have the potential to incite violence.
There's (hopefully) going to be a lot of blogger updates for this; it got good circulation. Love the newspaper poll "Is there anti-Islamic sentiment in America?". Um....duh. Just because this happened to be more than likely a nasty prank (is there a better word than prank? Because I think the word is too light...), doesn't erase a mom getting shot for wearing hijab or Muslim kids getting called names in school. You should have seen the nasty e-mails I got a year ago when I attempted to circulate the fact that Barack Obama isn't a Muslim (or a terrorist. two separate things)as a response to forwards I kept getting. Let's just say I almost gave back my baptism in response to the all the Christian "love" in my inbox.
Doesn't erase my disgust with the Clarion Fund, either. Still vile.
I saw a speaker once who was standing in for the scheduled person, a self-claimed PLO terrorist turned Evangelical Christian; the scheduled person might have actually been Walid Shoebat, but I can't remember the poster accurately. To say his stand-in was a racist Islamophobe would be an understatement. One of the more memorable portions of the speech was "Muslim men want nothing more than to marry an American princess and carry her off to Tehran". I am so not joking. And I so walked out. There's a limit to polite listening on my part.
Neanderthals who think, for example, gassing people is not as bad (or 'unconscionable') as any other example of human behaviour need to visit a Holocaust museum. The demonization of others is the first step of a dehumanization process that culminates in extermination. As for the police rep who declared that this is not a hate crime, I wonder if he has some evidence that a specific child was targeted, perhaps for not sharing a fruit roll-up at recess? Give me a break.
Yesterday on theindependent.co.uk I read a story about a Jewish woman and a Rabbi who travel from England to the West Bank every year to help a Palestinian farmer with the olive harvest. That's the kind of world I believe in.
"TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE". It basically covers how muslim prisoners were & are treated without having trials and hearings and the tortures they went through! you could call it confessions by the US soldiers! A real eye opener for us all and it scares me to see what "normal" humans are capable of doing to one another!
Please do watch this documentary!
Currently in Egypt, there is a situation where a Christian man left his Christian wife and children, converted to Islam, remarried, and now is fighting for custody of his 13-year-old Christian sons. They don't want to go, but an Islamic court has ruled in violation of the law that the boys should go to him.
In Islamic countries, Muslims who convert to any other religion may be killed.
Mohammed spread Islam by the sword.
We Westerners are slow to believe these atrocities because we are used to the
post-Christian culture here. Christianity recognizes that God has given us the freedom to reject Him, so we grant that freedom polically. Yes, much harm has been done by people claiming to be Christians, but that is in violation of our holy book and traditions. Islamic violence on non-Muslims is supported by their holy book.
Of course, most Muslims do not act violently. Most are decent, friendly human beings who are willing to live and let live and convert by persuasion, not force. However, the violent ones do not "hijack" their religion.
This does not justify the gassing.
Christianity wasn't spread with kisses, you know. Read up on the ethnic cleansing Christians engaged in when they colonized the Indies. The KKK use the Bible, the book of Hebrews, to justify their racism.
Fix the problems in your own country. Egypt doesn't claim to be the "leader of the free world". Pakistan doesn't initiate wars to spread its own notion of what amounts to the best form of government. America is a country where half the people soil their pants in fear at the notion of a man of color being president. Two centuries gone, not once have your people elected a woman to office. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh (ie Muslim countries) have elected female Prime Ministers.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/daytoncrime/
do you ever stop and think why? why are we not accepted? and some ignorant people here have such little education about islam that they do not wish to pick up literature and teach themselves...they watch biast news and believe whatever they are shown how sad! unfortunately, we live in a horrible world and every day to make it a better world to live in is a term where you would use Jihad! please do read some solid literature on islam...educate your self and ones around you..it is our duty to bring peace to the world as human beings! (islam.com) has live chats and articles etc for anyone wanting to know more about islam and what it REALLY is about! not what the media or your next door neighbour says! thank you
Obviously this needs full in-depth reporting. Interviews with anyone who was taken to an area hospital, on camera interviews with the police and mosque members. We have freedom of the press in the US and unfortunately hate propaganda by extremist groups is widely distributed. More so during this election than at any other time. There is a tremendous amount of money being funneled into hate groups by those who do not wish the status quo to change.
Has anyone contacted the Anti-Defamation League and other civil rights and civil liberty organizations? There needs to be more education and multti-cultural and multi-ethnic events and sharing within the community and with all religious leaders. Hopefully, with enough press coverage some amount of healing may begin to take place.
What has happen to our nation?
-Bradley B. Benson
This is a national tragedy. Some of these children were Iraqi refugees!!
One way to fight the war on terror: Practice peace and tolerance at home!
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/29/ddn092908mosquefoloweb.html
Mosque board member Tarek Sabagh said many people within the mosque speculated that the incident was the result of a DVD about Islamic radicalism titled "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" that was mailed to area homes by its producers and circulated as a paid advertisement with more than 70 newspapers, including the Dayton Daily News.
"We are not linking the two at all," Sabagh said.
We now have a much bigger paper looking into the story and are going to get to the bottom of this. I can't give any details yet, but this is far from over.
Vote Obama-Biden!!!!