Coming to a City Near You
Guess who’s coming to California State University at Sacramento? None other than CAIR — only this time they’re pairing Japanese American students with Muslim American students for a three hour workshop: “Voices Unite in Solidarity; Japanese American Students and Muslim American Experiences Post-9/11.”
Makes sense, given all the recent and multiple Japanese-American underwear, shoe, and body-cavity bombers. Gotta stop those Japanese jihadists.
On March 2, 2010 (smack-dab in the middle of the by-now infamous Israeli Apartheid week), California students will be helped to understand that the racist views that led to the 20th century internment of Japanese American citizens during Word War II is, come to think of it, happening all over again. But this time it’s happening to Muslim American students who are being persecuted and treated as badly as Israel allegedly mistreats the Palestinians and as America once treated the native Indians, the African slaves, immigrants, the impoverished — the way Americans and Israelis have always treated all the innocent, noble underdogs.
God bless the internet. God bless Pajamas Media. Why? Because of our most excellent readers. A reader, one Ibn Rawandi, wrote to me about this very workshop in Sacramento. With his permission, allow me to share his letter with you:
Dear Dr. Chesler,
I’ve been reading your blog for over a year now and it’s been a wonderful source for eye-opening stories that never get the light of day. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights and they’ve been much appreciated. A little background about myself and I’ll make my point very quick. I’m currently studying Liberal Arts and I’ve already completed my minor in Science. This to me is a wonderful achievement given that I was born in Saudi Arabia. I am now an ex-Muslim atheist living in the U.S.
I wish only that those who are oppressed can see that Islam curtails freedom. I think Islam has oppressed people for too long and it does not deserve the type of luxurious treatment that the PC world gives it, including the academics. Recently, I learned that our campus is holding a 3-hour long workshop — a joint Japanese American and Muslim American event. The idea behind the workshop is to draw similarities between treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II and Muslim Americans after 9/11. So members from the Japanese American group and also members from CAIR are going to be doing this joint event. I find this troubling. Now, I do understand that Muslims have been discriminated against but it’s not just them. What about us ex-Muslims who’ve had to face Muslims outright hatred of us. We’ve been discriminated against and alienated. What about us ex-Muslims who get attacked for being non-believers? Will the university ever acknowledge that Muslims do this to us? Hard to say.
CAIR is co-sponsoring the event so there’s going to be Muslims trying to win over people by playing the Islam is peace-card. Do you see a problem with this type of event? At least the message? The event is being held at our campus Multi-cultural Center. As an ex-Muslim I really feel that the professors who should be there to protect my freedom have abandoned me. I felt suffocated as a Muslim without any freedom and when I left Islam and broke free from the chains I was able to breathe again. And I thought that I would never have to face Islam again. I waved goodbye to it and life was great. But, little did I know that this would be short-lived. The liberal left seems to be siding with those who had me silenced for 20 years. I can’t seem to accept this type of appeasement.
I don’t talk to many Muslims anymore. They represent a really bad history for me. But yet they aren’t going away. Instead, they are infiltrating my arena, my school. The arena where critical thought is supposed to be held in high esteem. Regardless, I can cleverly hide from the enemies knowing that they could do harm to me. Being a shadow cleverly moving among those who oppress me has been both hard and easy. I enjoy the fruits of knowledge and feel protected under the U.S. Constitution, but yet fear that Sharia law could be implemented and fear losing my freedom of choice. Unfortunately, this event, and others like it, leave me fearful. I’d like your thoughts on this please. Am I alone? Are these fears genuine?
I immediately answered Ibn Rawandi and told him that his fears were well founded. I asked him whether I could share his letter and, under his adopted pseudonym, he quickly agreed.
Based on Freedom House's 2010 "Map of Freedom" (Courtesy of CAMERA)
This kind of workshop is an outrage — but no more so than the much anticipated 6th annual Israel Apartheid Week, which runs globally and in America (as if it were a Broadway show) from March 1st to March 14th. The staging of big lies will take place in 57 locations: Al Quds (Jerusalem), Amsterdam, Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Bard (NY), Beirut, Berkeley, Bethlehem, Bologna, Boston, Cape Town, Caracas, Chicago, Connecticut, Dundee, Durban, Edinburgh, Edmonton, Gaza, Girona, Glasgow, Guelph, Halifax, Hamilton, Ireland, Jenin, Jericho, Johannesburg, Kingston, London (ON), London (UK), Melbourne, Mississauga, Montreal, New Jersey, New York City, Oakland, Ottawa, Oxford, Peterborough, Pisa, Providence, Qalqilya, Roma, Salfit, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, St. Catherine’s, Sudbury, Tilburg, Toronto, Truro (CA), Tulkarem, Utrecht, Vancouver, Waterloo, and Winnipeg.
For example, on March 7th, Israeli Apartheid Week protesters in San Francisco will be “flyering and engaging with shoppers” about their boycott of Israel at a large chain supermarket in the area. On March 9th, protesters in New York City will hold a procession outside of the Waldorf Astoria during a Friends of the IDF dinner. On March 4th, in Toronto, the University of Toronto Students Against Israeli Apartheid will hold an event called “Coming Out Against Apartheid: Queer Solidarity Activism.”
Israeli Apartheid Week? Are you kidding? What we need is Islamic Apartheid Month. Remember that book The Israel Lobby? That scandalous book should have been called The Saudi Lobby because indeed, that’s who is funding Israel Apartheid Week, both financially and ideologically. And we should have Islamic Apartheid month on every campus, coast to coast, at the United Nations, and in every public square. Americans need to be educated. Both Americans and Jewish Americans need to go on the offensive, armed with the truth and no small amount of courage. CAMERA has organized a website which describes Israeli Apartheid Week as a campaign against human rights and monitors it.
For starters: People can start talking about the Islamic world persecution and marginalization of Berbers in Morocco, Christian Copts in Egypt, Kurds in Syria, Palestinians in Lebanon, foreign workers in the Gulf, Shi’ites and Christian tourists in Saudi Arabia, Baluchis, Kurds, Arabs, and Jews in Iran, Christians in Muslim districts in Nigeria — and then there’s the Muslim world persecution and gender segregation of women and the torture and murder of gays, lesbians, and apostates.
Dr. Mordechai Kedar
Last week, my friend and colleague, Mordechai (“Moti”) Kedar, the distinguished Israeli Arabist, visited me. He had been lecturing and consulting all across the United States. In addition, he had also visited York University where, on February 1st, 2010, Muslim students had beaten up Jewish students. In Seattle, at Washington University, how did Dr. Kedar deal with a three-man mini-Intifada? He put on his keffiyah with its map of Palestine in Arabic and began talking in Arabic to about ten disgruntled Arab Muslim students. “They were so happy, so grateful to hear their native language, so surprised and happy to see a keffiyah with its Palestinian and Arabic comments, that we actually had a conversation.”
Maybe everyone should learn Arabic. And keep a keffiyah in their pockets in order to quell a riot.
Dr. Kedar totally believes that Jews and our allies should hold Islamic Apartheid month and finally start telling the truth about Islam, as opposed to merely defending Israel when it is attacked by lies, bullies, goons, and the genuinely misinformed.
Why not sponsor an Islamic Apartheid day, week, or month in your neck of the woods? Let me know how it goes.
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