Social Question

Kraigmo's avatar

Why does the Muslim-American Society (Philadelphia Chapter) get away with renting a room out to terrorist sympathizers on April 17, 2019?

Asked by Kraigmo (9055points) May 13th, 2019
37 responses
“Great Question” (5points)

Before you doubt any of this, do your own search or check out Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/philadelphia-muslim-children/

The Philly Chapter of the Muslim American Society hosted what they said is “academy” that “rented space” from them on April 17.
That “academy” fed the following “song lyrics” for their children to recite: We will chop off their heads, and we will liberate the sorrowful and exalted Al-Aqsa Mosque. We will lead the army of Allah fulfilling His promise, and we will subject them to eternal torture

When confronted over this by journalists and others… the Muslim-American Society says the video “wasn’t properly vetted”, and that the people in the video are “separate entity…. an academy” that “rented space” from them.

The American media was apparently satisfied with this response and that was that.

How come nobody is demanding to know who this “Academy” is?
How come nobody is demanding that the Muslim American Society name this anonymous “academy” ?

And how come the Muslim American Society is more regretful that the video “wasn’t vetted” than the fact they had terrorist sympathizers on their property?

Why the Radio Silence on all of this?

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Answers

Irukandji's avatar

Radio silence? I easily found dozens of articles on this. Also, [citation needed] on your claim that nobody cares who was responsible (not least because the specific person responsible seems to have been fired). It’s also laughable that you think the MAS statement about vetting doesn’t express regret about who they had on their property. The whole reason this is considered a vetting problem is because they don’t want people like this on their property. If you can’t even understand the obvious connection between “we wouldn’t have knowingly allowed people like this to use our property” and “we regret allowing people like this on our property,” then I don’t know how to help you.

Demosthenes's avatar

I can only assume that this kind of thing doesn’t fit the media’s narrative that Muslims and terrorism are only very distantly linked, if at all. In the effort to ensure that Muslims are not stereotyped as terrorists, actual terrorists and terrorist sympathizers get ignored, their rhetoric and actions downplayed and excused. I had heard this story before, but unfortunately from the Daily Caller which is not a source I hold in any kind of esteem.

ragingloli's avatar

Religions are generally very reluctant to denounce their own extremists.

Dutchess_lll's avatar

Link won’t open. What does Snopes say?

Dutchess_lll's avatar

@Demo “doesn’t fit the media’s narrative that Muslims and terrorism are only very distantly linked, if at all.” Same media does the same thing with Christian Terrorists, who are the overwhelming terrorists in the US.

Kraigmo's avatar

@Irukandji , The Muslim-American society won’t tell us who this “academy” is. If they were so disgusted that this took place on their grounds, why are they protecting these terrorist sympathizers? Shouldn’t all religious extremists in America be outed? Don’t you lose your right to privacy when you express beliefs such as the ones expressed by this so-called Academy? The radio silence is coming from most American media as well as the Muslim American society itself. Why is this Academy with terrorist beliefs and who rented space on the Muslim American Society’s property… Being protected with anonymity? The only people talking about this are generally Muslim haters. Why is everybody else afraid to talk about this?

Kraigmo's avatar

@Dutchess_lll , I imagine you are on
inferior device such as something related to android or Apple. Like I am, in the moment. When I get back to my PC I will cut and paste the article for you. I try to limit my time on iPhones and iPads and android. Such tedious slow equipment.

elbanditoroso's avatar

What’s your point, @Kraigmo ? Is this organization supposed to vet each group that asks to use a meeting room? Does that group have the authority and knowledge to do this sort of vetting?

If an organization didn’t like breast-feeding mothers, could they deny that group the right to meet?

I think you are being sensationalistic when what you are suggesting is totally absurd.

hmmmmmm's avatar

Your premise and question has (what I consider to be) a very confused concept of “terrorism”. So it’s very difficult to even respond or where to begin. The whole issue raises additional questions about the concept of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, etc. But overall, I get the feeling that you’ve been watching too much Fox News.

Dutchess_lll's avatar

@Kraigmo yes that’s half of it. The other half is I’m in a hospital with off and on wifi.
I’ll be home this afternoon tho.

Kraigmo's avatar

@Dutchess III ,
Here you go:
********************
Claim
Video footage shows children at a Muslim school in Philadlephia singing a song whose lyrics contained violent imagery.
TRUE
Origin:
In the spring of 2019, video footage recorded at the Muslim American Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania engendered a degree of concern, particularly among right-leaning observers who claimed it showed young children singing songs whose lyrics contained violent imagery.

The Daily Caller reported that the videos showed “Philly Muslim children chanting about chopping off heads,” the “Behind the News” web site claimed the footage showed the children ‘calling for Jewish genocide,” Glenn Beck’s “The Blaze” web site reported that the children sang about “beheading Jews,” and Fox News wrote:

“Disturbing footage of Muslim kids saying they would sacrifice themselves and kill for the ‘army of Allah’ surfaced from an Islamic center in Philadelphia…In the video, translated by MEMRI [the Middle East Media Research Institute], kids can be heard singing: ‘The land of the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey is calling us. Our Palestine must return to us.’

“One girl talks about martyrs sacrificing their lives without hesitation to conquer Jerusalem. ‘We will defend the land of divine guidance with our bodies, and we will sacrifice our souls without hesitation,’ a second girl says. ‘We will chop off their heads, and we will liberate the sorrowful and exalted Al-Aqsa Mosque. We will lead the army of Allah fulfilling His promise, and we will subject them to eternal torture.’”

On 3 May, MEMRI posted portions of the edited video footage along with English subtitles. According to MEMRI, the footage was first published on the Facebook page of the Muslim American Society (MAS) in Philadelphia on 22 April, but that Facebook page was no longer available on 7 May, so we were unable to access the original video footage.

However, in a press release on 3 May, MAS said the performance was the result of an oversight, and that it “rejects a statement” made in the video, though the press release did not specify which one:

“The Muslim American Society rejects a statement made at an event held in April at a local community center in Philadelphia. The center celebrated ‘Ummah Day’ where children sang songs from their cultural traditions. While we celebrate the coming together of different cultures and languages, not all songs were properly vetted. This was an unintended mistake and an oversight in which the center and the students are remorseful. MAS will conduct an internal investigation to ensure this does not occur again.”

The following day, MAS updated its statement to clarify that while the video was recorded at the organization’s building in Philadelphia, the Islamic school responsible for the performance was a separate entity renting the space:

The Muslim American Society was alerted yesterday to a disturbing video that came out of Philadelphia. MAS immediately issued a preliminary statement on our website, condemning the words used in the video as we swiftly investigated the matter. MAS’ deep commitment to values of peace, justice, freedom and sanctity of life are clear. As a faith-based organization committed to building a just and virtuous society, we stand strong in our condemnation of hate and violence anywhere, even in the lyrics of a song.

Our investigation revealed that the school that organized the event on April 17, 2019 is a separate entity renting space from MAS Philadelphia. The school board has informed us that it has taken immediate actions and dismissed the person in charge of the program. In addition, they will form a local commission to aid in sensitivity training and proper supervision for future programs.

Unfortunately, the video from the school was uploaded to the chapter’s Facebook page without verifying the content of the video for appropriateness and making sure it conforms to our hate-free policy and values. The chapter will take further steps in assuring strict adherence to publishing and posting policies. MAS is committed to condemning hate speech everywhere. We reaffirm our commitment to MAS’ core values of justice, peace and protecting the sanctity of human life.

We asked MAS several questions about the performance, including whether it regarded the English translation published by MEMRI as fair and accurate, but we did not receive a response to our questions in time for publication.

What the video shows
The controversial video footage shows children singing a song and reading something akin to a speech. Snopes engaged a professional Arabic-to-English translator, whose own independent translation vindicated the subtitles published by MEMRI, which were as follows:

[Song]

Those who accept humiliation – what is the point in their existence? Those who reject oppression are the ones who assert their existence, and they eliminate the injustice from the land of the Arabs. Rebels! Rebels! Rebels! Glorious steeds call us and lead us onto paths leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The blood of martyrs protects us. Paradise needs real men! The land of the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey is calling us. Our Palestine must return to us. Oh Saladdin, your men are among us – shame will be washed away!

[You need] force and the Quran, oh free people! We must persevere no matter what happens, and with the help of the Omnipotent Lord, day will follow night. Take us, oh ships, until we liberate our lands – until we reach our shores and crush the treacherous ones! Blow, oh winds of Paradise – flow, oh rivers of martyrs! My Islam is calling, who is going to heeds its call? Rise, oh righteous ones!

[Speech]

Our martyrs sacrificed their lives without hesitation. They attained paradise, and the scent of musk emanates from their bodies. They compete with one another to reach paradise. Will Jerusalem be their capital city? Or will it be a hotbed for cowards? We will defend the land of divine guidance with our bodies, and we will sacrifice our souls without hesitation. We will chop off their heads, and we will liberate the sorrowful and exalted Al-Aqsa Mosque. And we will lead the army of Allah fulfilling His promise, and we will subject them to eternal torture.

Omar Suleiman, professor of Islamic Studies at Southern Methodist University, told Snopes that there was no justification for the lyrics of the song, or the content of the speech recited by the children in the footage published by MEMRI, and described the violent imagery as “horrible.”

He explained that the song, entitled “Thuwar” (“Rebels”), has its origins in the Palestinian resistance movement and the First Intifada of the late 1980s. Suleiman emphasized that the performance should not be used to “delegitimize [the Muslim American Society] and the work they have done.” He added: “I can say confidently that those song lyrics and the speech, in particular, don’t represent the views of the broader Muslim community.”

Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, outreach and education director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Philadelphia, told Snopes that the violent imagery in the lyrics of the song was “not appropriate in an American setting or any setting” and had the potential to “create cross-community discord.”

In the first week of May 2019, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that several local mosques had received threatening phone calls in response to the nationwide coverage of the controversial video footage, and Muslim community leaders had been advised to increase security measures at places of worship.

Popular songs with violent lyrics can be found in many different cultures, especially among countries and peoples with a history of armed revolution, uprising and warfare. For example, the French national anthem “La Marseillaise” contains the following lyrics:

Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats ?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes ! Aux armes, citoyens,
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons !
Qu’un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons !

These lyrics translate into English as:

Do you hear in the countryside
The roaring of those fierce soldiers?
They’re coming into your arms
To cut the throats of your sons and women. To arms, citizens,
Form your battalions,
Let’s march, let’s march
Let an impure blood water our furrows.

Several other national anthems contain violent imagery, either about patriotic self-sacrifice or the infliction of suffering upon enemies, as the Washington Post charted in 2016. The Italian national anthem, “Il Canto degli Italiani” (“the Song of Italians”) contains lines in which the symbolic eagle of the Austrian Empire has its heart burned by drinking the blood of Italy.

elbanditoroso's avatar

Copying and pasting the piece from Snopes (I read it there) doesn’t address my question back to you, @Kraigmo .

What in your mind should the process have been?

Kraigmo's avatar

@elbanditoroso , I was talkin to Dutchess up there. I was fulfilling her request. I was getting to you.
Here’s the process (assuming they are being truthful that it was a rented room).....
1. They rent the room no questions asked
2. Renters in room call for violent Jihad
AND HERE’S THE IMPORTANT PART:
3. Muslim-American society denounces the renter, NAMES THE RENTER, and reports renter to FBI and explains to the public what happened. After being questioned by newspapers about it.
There is no reason to not name the renter, unless they have something to hide. They said it’s an “academy”. Since this “academy” believes in violent jihad, the public has every right to know who they are. And who runs it. And who signed the papers renting the room.
If your family member is a violent criminal or expresses interest in being so, I would hope you would report your family member instead of maintaining some sort of sick loyalty. I’d turn a family member in to the Law, without hesitation, if any of them believed in some sort of terrorist nation (such as the violent Islamic radicals, or the Aryan pride types, or a street gang or ethnic gang). All such people should be “outed”. No one should cover for such people.

Kraigmo's avatar

@hmmmmmm
Read what Demosthenes said above: “In the effort to ensure that Muslims are not stereotyped as terrorists, actual terrorists and terrorist sympathizers get ignored, their rhetoric and actions downplayed and excused. ”
Isn’t this exactly what YOU are doing?
What possibly could make you think I’m a Fox News cult member?
Examine the gymnastics in your mind that led to that assumption, please.

hmmmmmm's avatar

What do you define as “terrorism”? It seems that you define terrorism as something particularly Muslim, rather than something the US government takes part in. It’s likely the actions of individuals rather than governments. It’s also likely the actions of official enemies.

In that context, it’s very difficult to even know where to begin. But there are some additional problems with what you are saying here. You imply this is some kind of conspiracy on the part of the media (“radio silence”), despite the fact that media has not been silent. It’s also absurd to claim that the media is somehow trying to massage the message on terrorism in an attempt to discourage stereotyping. The media does nothing propagate this idea.

You have also implied that the goal of the media – at least here – should be to inform the public about some kind of danger here. That’s problematic on many levels.

I’m honestly stumped as to where to even begin, because rather than see the US as a perpetrator of violence and state terrorism, you see the victims of such violence as the real threat. Your angle here is dangerous – not just because you are wrong. Your perspective is a common one in a racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic country where the president is a white nationalist. Muslims are in actual danger – from our foreign policy and our attitude and ignorance here at home.

Please do not contribute to this.

Demosthenes's avatar

@hmmmmmm That’s sounding a lot like whataboutism to me.

Any terrorism is a threat. There’s not one “real threat” and the rest can be ignored. We have had Islamic terrorism in this country. It can be a problem.

hmmmmmm's avatar

@Demosthenes: “That’s sounding a lot like whataboutism to me.”

Of course it does. You also believe that terrorism is from individuals, is particularly Muslim, and just happens.

@Demosthenes: “Any terrorism is a threat. There’s not one “real threat” and the rest can be ignored. We have had Islamic terrorism in this country. It can be a problem.”

We have had Islamic terrorism in this country. And it’s precisely because discussing violence, terrorism, and US foreign policy feels icky or like “whataboutism” to many people.

Demosthenes's avatar

No, I understand that position, that Islamic terrorism is America/the West’s fault, there wouldn’t be any if we hadn’t gotten involved in the Middle East, and I actually tend to agree with that for the most part. That, however, doesn’t mean that we deal with problems like this one by saying “what about America?” Jihadi groups need to be rooted out here. That doesn’t mean we can’t also deal with our own destructive behavior in other parts of the world. It feels “icky” for many to talk about Muslims and terrorism in the same sentence, because “Christians were bad during the Crusades” or whatever. How about we talk about all of it? Addressing the problems of Islamic terrorism can’t only be done by discussing America’s foreign policy. If we have a problem here we should be dealing with it.

Dutchess_lll's avatar

Thank you @Kraigmo. Sounds like somebody screwed up and was fired, and those in charge are scrambling to do damage control.
Shit happens. People try to fix shit. Life goes on.

hmmmmmm's avatar

@Demosthenes: “Addressing the problems of Islamic terrorism can’t only be done by discussing America’s foreign policy. If we have a problem here we should be dealing with it.”

Let’s shelve the fact that foreign policy is the core of what we should be discussing for a moment. What is it that you and @Kraigmo are proposing? Is your flavor of terrorism something that should be handled by the public or by a government organization? If it’s the latter, than what are we talking about.

What is dangerous is that you seem to be claiming that it’s important that the public act as a hand of this anti-terror effort. Is this what you are proposing? If not, what are we talking about re: the OP?

Kraigmo's avatar

@hmmmmmm , If a Church, Synagogue, or Mosque rents out space to a radical group that favors violent actions, shouldn’t such violent groups be named?

The Muslim-American Society claims they are peaceful and against anti-jihad.
If that’s the case, why wouldn’t they be more upset over what went on, in their own building?
Why do they say “It was an academy… a separate entity” without naming the “entity”.
This political correctness of being afraid of condemning some Muslims because it might offend all Muslims… is ridiculous, is it not?
I condemn US foreign policy.
I condemn violent Jihadis wherever they are
I condemn the Christian Crusaders and their modern day counterparts, the Christian Taliban of America.
I condemn the Jewish Zionists who used force during the creation of modern Israel.
To hell with ALL these groups, shall we agree? Not that they are always morally equivalent. Some of these groups are worse than others, at different times than others.
You cannot deny that Islam has a problem with an extremist element.
Yes, the USA made this problem much worse with it’s foreign policy. And for that, we should go easy on religious people who identify themselves with violent rhetoric?
School shootings and terrorist attacks are preventable. We KNOW the personality types of these people already. (After all, Jihadis sing violent songs like the one I posted above. White Pride Aryans browse around on 8chan. Terrorist Zionists belong to Otzma Yehudit. And the friends and families of such people tend to be guilty of covering for them ) If we don’t start “outing” these people, there will be more death. We shouldn’t allow any of these people to be anonymous. By keeping a known name anonymous, one is basically enabling terrorism.

Someone deliberately taught those kids… those violent jihad lyrics. That person lives in the USA. That person is a threat and all who cover for him, are threats. The particular religion doesn’t even matter.
I think you’re looking this through the lens of a TeamThinker. You see two sides: “the US Government and its foreign policy” vs. “the Muslims and Arabs”, and you’ve decided to stake your loyalty with the Muslims… as if they’re all one group. Lumping them all into one group is racist/bigoted, is it not? Tell me that’s not what you’re doing. I’m not coming at this with any political agenda at all. Agendas and Teams are pathetic, compared to just reaching for the truth. I’d be a pathetic waste of life and space, if underneath all my words here was some sort of pro-USA or anti-Muslim sentiment.

hmmmmmm's avatar

@Kraigmo: “If a Church, Synagogue, or Mosque rents out space to a radical group that favors violent actions, shouldn’t such violent groups be named?”

Are we talking about a criminal investigation or a public declaration? That’s what I’m trying to find out. If a Christian church rents out a space to an anti-abortion group, am I supposed to be saying that the church then needs to announce the name of the group publicly? Is the public owed such info?

@Kraigmo: “This political correctness of being afraid of condemning some Muslims because it might offend all Muslims… is ridiculous, is it not?”

We have a sitting member of congress getting death threats (Ilhan Omar) because of harmless comments that were intentionally taken out of context by both parties and carried by corporate media. I don’t see this “political correctness” that so troubles you. Not only do I not see it, I don’t believe it exists. We live in a racist, xenophobic culture with a white nationalist president and I am supposed to believe that the society is threatened by some kind of radical thought-police that makes it dangerous to believe that Muslims are bad?

@Kraigmo: “Yes, the USA made this problem much worse with it’s foreign policy. And for that, we should go easy on religious people who identify themselves with violent rhetoric?”

“Made” this much worse? This is not past tense. This is current tense, and it’s not a matter of “making this worse”. We need to completely come to terms with our brutal foreign policy and how it relates to the world. To pretend that the US is a victim of terrorism in any real sense is absurd. 9/11 was a fucking joke compared to the violence we (yes, you and me through our tax dollars) spread every day. This is neither then fake “whataboutism” or a side-step. This is at the core of any discussion of what it even means to discuss “terrorism”.

And I’m not saying that we should allow some violent retribution for our actions. On the contrary. We need to do our best to make things right so that there is no legitimacy to violence perpetrated on US civilians.

But to claim that people singing a song is a threat to you and me is a claim that I’m not willing to accept. And I’m not willing to accept the fact that people are afraid for their lives because they are Muslim and live in the US.

@Kraigmo: “If we don’t start “outing” these people, there will be more death. We shouldn’t allow any of these people to be anonymous. By keeping a known name anonymous, one is basically enabling terrorism.”

You seem very scared. I’ll avoid a running list of things that you don’t appear to be scared of, but it appears that Muslims – and the potential for Muslims committing acts of violence scares you. I think this fear misplaced and unfounded. But it serves power, and it serves to create an environment of fear and potential violence here in the US.

You’re proposing side-tracking free speech issues by employing the mass of people who are as confused as you are and have targeted their confusion and fear towards the most vulnerable.

@Kraigmo: “Someone deliberately taught those kids… those violent jihad lyrics. That person lives in the USA. That person is a threat and all who cover for him, are threats.”

Is this some kind of music/video/movie censorship pitch? This is some pretty radical stuff.

@Kraigmo: “I think you’re looking this through the lens of a TeamThinker. You see two sides: “the US Government and its foreign policy” vs. “the Muslims and Arabs”, and you’ve decided to stake your loyalty with the Muslims… as if they’re all one group. Lumping them all into one group is racist/bigoted, is it not? Tell me that’s not what you’re doing.”

That’s not what I’m doing. I’m a citizen of the US, and I pay taxes. My taxes go to the killing of people all around the world. I’m responsible for this. If you live in the US and pay taxes, you too are also responsible. We are responsible for what we can affect – and to the degree that the US is theoretically a democracy, we’re morally responsible for its foreign policy.

And even if you have little regard for those around the world that are on the receiving end our foreign policy, you seem to have some concern about the safety of US citizens. If this is the case, then you should selfishly be willing to challenge US foreign policy.

@Kraigmo: “I’m not coming at this with any political agenda at all. Agendas and Teams are pathetic, compared to just reaching for the truth. I’d be a pathetic waste of life and space, if underneath all my words here was some sort of pro-USA or anti-Muslim sentiment.”

You are looking at this whole issue from a specific ideology, and that’s ok. Ideology is not a bad thing. It’s good. We all do this, and it’s good to identify it and understand where we are coming from.

Kraigmo's avatar

@hmmmmmm , If you were a landlord, and you had tenants in possession of a few AR-15’s as well as a pile of “Inspire” magazines (the pro ISIS recruitment magazine aimed at Americans)... I think you’d actually keep their secret, wouldn’t you?
Remember the San Bernardino shooter? His mom came across “Inspire” magazines. And she did NOTHING. And innocent people were killed later.
I don’t blame US foreign policy for domestic Jihadist (the violent kind) actions. I blame the self-described Jihadis themselves. As I should. Along with their friends and family members who knew something was wrong and did nothing about it.
Same goes for school shooters. Who are mostly white, American non-practicing Christians.
We can’t let individuals off the hook because of some over-arching metaphor.

Dutchess_lll's avatar

@Kraigmo…how much more upset could they be?

elbanditoroso's avatar

No one has addressed what I see as the fundamental question:

was there an expectation that the Muslim-American Society would vet this mysterious group?

If someone comes to them and asks for use of a room, is the society supposed to run security and background checks?

How far does that go? If I want to rent a meeting room at my local public library, does the library have the obligation (or even the right) to do a security check?

I think you are all so hung up on the “big bad muslim” stereotype, that you are missing the point about obligations in a free society.

hmmmmmm's avatar

^ @Kraigmo is advocating for a large surveillance state, backed up by an Islamophobic populace. Good stuff.

Dutchess_lll's avatar

I agree @elbanditoroso. If a Christian group wanted to rent a room in a Christian church, is it on that church to make sure it’s not the KKK, who consider themselves Christians, wanting to rent it?

Demosthenes's avatar

@hmmmmmm I’m not arguing for vigilantism, if that’s what you think. I’m calling for transparency and honesty about what happened. I’m not claiming the story was covered up, but I did not hear about it outside of a right-wing source and I think that’s unfortunate. I think we know the story would’ve been bigger if these had turned out to be little Nazi children…

hmmmmmm's avatar

@Demosthenes: “I’m calling for transparency and honesty about what happened.”

Go on. Elaborate.

@Demosthenes: “I’m not claiming the story was covered up, but I did not hear about it outside of a right-wing source and I think that’s unfortunate.”

You believe that this “story” is in any way important or relevant? Please elaborate.

Dutchess_lll's avatar

Not every thing in this world is newsworthy, especially if there is something far more important going on at the time.

Demosthenes's avatar

@hmmmmmm You don’t think the existence of jihadist cells is important or relevant? Why not?

hmmmmmm's avatar

@Demosthenes: “You don’t think the existence of jihadist cells is important or relevant?”

Important for me to know the details so I can do an investigation? I don’t dig into all of the right-wing terror groups in the US.

What I’m trying to determine is why this story is one of importance to you. Are you going to help out law enforcement? Are you really concerned about the lyrics of the song that you want to strap on some boots and get busy?

What exactly are you saying?

This is very confusing.

Demosthenes's avatar

Is all news only so we can act on it? What are you going to do about the Mueller report?

I like to know what’s going on this country, I like to know if there are dangerous terror cells in my country, and especially if I lived in Philadelphia I’d want to know more about it. It doesn’t mean I’m going to go out and kill me some Ay-rabs, if that’s what you’re implying.

hmmmmmm's avatar

@Demosthenes: “Is all news only so we can act on it? What are you going to do about the Mueller report?”

I have literally never read a single thing about the Mueller report. But this is exactly the type of of news that is important because it means that the population is informed about its government and elected officials. Transparency is key here because we can do something about it.

If those kids were singing that song next door, I wouldn’t give a shit. But even if there were evidence that there was some group planning to kill a bunch of people, my interest in it would only extend to what I could provide to those who may have the ability to stop it.

So, I don’t share your fear. But I am concerned about Islamophobic mass hysteria paying unusual attention to some tiny story and turning it into something we should all be afraid of. That is dangerous. The transparency you are proposing is about publicizing (as in to the public) a group’s info rather than allow the huge “anti-terror” governmental organizations to do their supposed job.

@Demosthenes: “It doesn’t mean I’m going to go out and kill me some Ay-rabs, if that’s what you’re implying.”

I’m trying to figure out what you’re proposing. And it certainly doesn’t sound good, from what I can gather.

Dutchess_lll's avatar

Get to Googling @Demosthenes. CNN is not going to focus all its resources on what’s happening in Philadelphia.
While you’re at it go to Meganslaw.com and look up all the registered sex offenders in your area. Or do you expect mainstream news to provide you personally with updates?

Kraigmo's avatar

@elbanditoroso , @Dutchess_lll If the Muslim American Society mistakenly rented room to a terrorist sympathizer, the least they can do is tell the public who he is. Instead of covering up for him.

Kraigmo's avatar

@hmmmmmm , you’re still treating this in terms of Groups Vs. Groups and you can’t see how I could possibly be coming at this from a neutral (or anti-terrorist which includes all terrorists including white ones and American ones) standpoint.
I’d say the exact same thing if a Christian church was covering up something.
Or an atheist group, or anyone.
You really outta break outta that limited frame.
You even said yourself that “ever considering the USA a victim of terrorism is absurd”.
That statement right there proves your thoughts on this are of a political and Groupist nature. Just like you dismissing a Muslim temple hosting a group singing songs about violent jihad. You completely dismiss that. Saying I’m one “to want to censor music”.
Your whole thought system on this issue is of a Political Person desperately trying to stay on-message, without regards to truth. Truth such as: Religious Groups that preach violence are terrorists. Regardless of international politics.

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