On Sunday, the annual Muslim Day Parade was held in New York City. Islamic groups and associations marched up Madison avenue for approximately 10 blocks. After the parade, speeches were given by Muslim leaders from New York and around the world.
The parade has a history of being led by and being peppered with Islamic extremists, some with direct ties to Islamic terrorism.
The general tone of the event was moderate, but the street vibe contained a steady whiff of menace. Speaker after speaker preached reconciliation with Christians, Hindus and Jews. But not a single speaker offered specific condemnations of Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Osama bin Laden or any other radical Islamist individual or group.
I spoke with many people at this event, and most of them had the attitude that America, and of course Israel, were the major forces of injustice against Muslims in the world. When I'd bring up the fact that most of the Muslims in the world being oppressed and killed were direct or indirect victims of other Muslims, most of the Muslims I pointed this out to got very edgy. One female supporter of the march suggested I should read Noam Chomsky, since he had the best take on the problem of America as a terrorist state.
Another Muslim woman tried to brush off my condemnations of the violence committed in the name of Islam by implying that radical Christians like David Koresh and Timothy McVeigh are as much of a problem as extremist Muslims are. I have heard that same lame attempt at moral and empirical equivalence from nearly every leftist I've ever engaged in conversation with about either Iraq or the general War on Islamic Terror.
It is interesting to note the use of Chomsky to make apologist points about Islamic extremism.
Unless Muslims can admit this to themselves and to other Muslims publicly as a matter of fact, there isn't a chance that Islamic extremism will die off. No amount of pretty speeches and utter lip service will solve this problem. It can only be solved by the world's Muslim leaders and clerics explicitly calling for the total rejection of violence as a tool to spread Islam.
There were a few tense moments during the march, when Muslim marchers passed two groups of people holding signs saying, "We will not Submit," and "Remember 911." Both groups began trying to out-shout the other, and things got a bit heated. Thankfully, there was no violence.
I'd been on the lookout all day for a radical Muslim group called "the Islamic Thinkers Society." These Islamic radicals preach the "death to America" line openly whenever they protest. My guess is that the parade's organizers had told them to keep a lid on their routine during the event. However, the Islamic Thinkers were in attendance -- one of them handed me a flyer, filled with anti-West, anti-Democracy screeds. An hour later I spied the guy who'd handed me the flyer milling on a street corner with three or four of his fellow wannabe jihadists. I engaged him in a conversation during which he stated that "democracy is a sham." He also said that because they control the world's money, Jews control the US and the world.
One of his acquaintances was wearing a t-shirt symbolically showing a handful of countries, including the US, morphing into Islamic states. At the top of the shirt it said, "A Matter of Time."
Lest I give the wrong impression here, the fact is that the parade was peaceful, its overt tone, moderate. But as I stated earlier, there was a subtle, menacing air about the whole thing. The Muslim speakers said almost all the right things, preaching peace and coexistence with other religions and with cultures whose majorities do not wish to make sharia the basis of their legal systems, but the real question is, did they mean what they had said?
Marchers gather at Madison Avenue and 42nd Street
A father and son prepare to pray
In homage to Allah
Women praying in an area separate from the men
I am not a terrorist, I am a leftwing apologist for the violent actions of my Muslim brothers and sisters
Those murdered in the name of Islam might disagree
A Western convert to Islam riding on a parade float
Speakers preaching reconciliation and brotherhood with all mankind. No direct mention of Islamic terrorism
Listening to the speakers
The parade's Grand Marshal eyes the scene
"We are the Muslims, the mighty, mighty Muslims!
Protesters greet the marchers
. . ."We will not submit! . . .
Protesters highlight terrorist connections of the parade
Debatable. . .
The parade's organizer thanks the crowd
. . ."Islam liberates women! It was the first religion to establish equal rights for them". . .
A liberated Muslim woman
Really?
Is the radical Left and Islam compatible?
A member of the extremist Islamic Thinkers Society
The marchers gather at 42nd and Madison
Introducing the Mighty Mighty Muslims. . .
This woman said that America is an oppressor of Muslims. While being interviewed by a news reporter she said that many Americans were "xenophobes and racists," among other naughty things. Since my current approach to exchanging ideas with leftists is simply to overtly mock their views, I barged into the interview to remind her that she had forgotten to include "homophobia" in the mix. Then I tried to implode her formidable mind by asking her what she thought of the concept of "transgender rights under sharia law."
