Tulsa Muslim leaders express solidarity with Hamas terrorists
About 160 people protested in Tulsa on Friday afternoon over the fighting between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza.Muslim Iman Arthur Farahkhan said the nonviolent protest was by "people of conscience" who want to help "stop the violence and cease all fire."
"I couldn't have a good weekend knowing people in the conflict won't have one," Farahkhan said during the protest at the intersection of 71st Street and Memorial Drive.
He said he wants the United States to intervene in the ongoing clash.
"We're here to say, 'Please, President (George W.) Bush, stop the massacre,'?" Farahkhan said.
Israel unleashed its bombs Dec 27 in a bid to halt weeks of intensifying Palestinian rocket fire directed at Israel from the Gaza Strip....
(I think "Iman" should read "Imam" for that is Mr. Farahkhan's title.)
So that's one week of counterattack by Israel following "weeks of intensifying Palestinian rocket fire" -- rockets fired from within Israel's own sovereign territory, territory that it granted to allow Palestinian self government and that has now fallen under the control of a terrorist group whose goal is the destruction of Israel. Hamas has been launching rockets at civilian targets. (Hamas has also long been involved in suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians -- for example, the March 2003 bomb attack on a city bus in Haifa which killed Abigail Litle.)
Israel has responded by taking out Hamas' headquarters building and other facilities used by Hamas as part of its military infrastructure -- targeted attacks aimed at destroying Hamas' capability to attack Israeli citizens.
I find it ironic to read at the end of the story that, "Palestinian protester Houssam Soueissi said, 'We're here to stop the killing of women, children and civilians.'" That's exactly what the Israeli Air Force is trying to do: Protect women, children, and civilians by eliminating an evil organization that has been attacking women, children, and civilians for decades. If Soueissi and the others were serious about their desire to end violence in the Holy Land, they'd be holding up signs saying, "Go IAF! Death to Hamas!"
Does that protester's name ring a bell? Houssam Elsoueissi was one of several men who Jamal Miftah says angrily confronted him in November 2006 after services at the Islamic Society of Tulsa's mosque. Here's Miftah's story as it appeared in my December 13, 2006 column in Urban Tulsa Weekly:
On Nov. 18, Miftah was attending prayers at the mosque. After prayers, Miftah says he was chatting with friends when he was confronted by the imam (prayer leader) of the mosque, Ahmad Kabbani.Kabbani told Miftah that he should be ashamed of himself for writing the article, saying bad things about Muslims in front of non-Muslims. After Kabbani called Miftah "anti-Islamic," Miftah walked away from the confrontation into the corridor.
There Miftah says he was confronted by the president of the mosque's operating council, Houssam Elsoueissi (also known as Abu Waleed). In a loud voice, Elsoueissi called Miftah "anti-Muslim" and a "traitor" for writing against Muslim organizations.
Miftah defended the accuracy of his article. During the confrontation, 10 to 15 Arab men gathered around in a threatening way, some of them waving shoes and cursing him. A friend of Miftah's stepped in and rescued him from the confrontation.
Miftah says there are witnesses and security cameras that will corroborate his version of events.
In our conversation last week, Miftah explained that there is an implied threat in the label "anti-Muslim." In some parts of the Muslim world, apostates, those who abandon Islam, are deemed worthy to be put to death....
The next day at the mosque, Elsoueissi told one of Miftah's friends that he had obtained a restraining order prohibiting Miftah from returning to the mosque unless he were to apologize in front of Friday congregation.
Miftah says he was told that on Nov. 20, after the final prayer service of the day, Elsouessi discussed Miftah's article, which he said contained "anti-Islamic things."
Elsouessi announced to the assembled faithful that there was a restraining order against Miftah and anyone who saw him in the mosque should call the police.
Elsoueissi is a defendant in Miftah's lawsuit against IST and several other leaders and members of the mosque, for assault and battery, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, relating this incident. (A scheduling conference in the case is set for January 26.)
So there appears to be some consistency here between a willingness to show solidarity with Hamas terrorists and to condemn Israel's efforts to defeat the terrorists, while publicly condemning (allegedly, I have to add) a Muslim who condemns terrorism in the name of Islam.
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Most all of the Islamic societies in Oklahoma, like the Islamic Societies of Tulsa, Greater Oklahoma City, Ada, Stillwater and so on, have aligned themselves with CAIR, an Islamic organization which grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas infrastructure in America.
The Muslim Brotherhood supports Hamas, who in turn seeks the destruction of Israel.
Express solidarity with terrorists?! That's inflammatory.
I believe the terrorists are the IDF, who as I write are bombing mosques and rolling tanks into one of the most densely populated areas on Earth, where there can be no bomb attacks without civilian casualties.
I believe the terrorist is the apartheid regime in Israel, which is in violation of dozens of UN resolutions, that would have resulted in invasion already were the inhabitants brown-skinned.
Although I have at times enjoyed your coverage of the local Tulsa scene, I am appalled by your twisted logic that justifies genocide. I would ask that rather than fan the flames of hatred, you use your voice to encourage those who would work towards peace.
It's not inflammatory. It's the truth. It's Hamas that seeks genocide, not only of the Jews of Israel, but of all Jews everywhere. Hamas was given everything it wanted by Israel, under pressure from the US and Europe, and instead of getting about the business of building a civil society, Hamas remained focused on killing Jews.
Israel has given peace plenty of chances. Hamas doesn't want peace. They want millions of dead Jews. It's time for Israel to destroy Hamas and liberate the Palestinian people from Hamas' evil rule.
If you believe that Hamas is the aggrieved party, SK, you're either ignorant or someone who passionately hates Jews. I'm guessing it's the latter.
SK is right that Israel has state policies that Americans normally find unacceptable, but that's true of that entire region. (Anyone want to discuss the freedoms of Saudi Arabia?) That still begs the question why Hamas would launch attacks into Israel from inside "one of the most densely populated areas on Earth, where there can be no bomb attacks without civilian casualties", as SK observed.
Sure, it's always in Hamas's interest to bomb Israel from civilian areas, since it will never hurt their funding and increases the Palestinian support even when it results in massive casualties among civilians. And the massive male population under 25 who do not have marriage opportunities increases the popularity of violence.
But let's ask "Why now?"
Prabhu Guptara has pointed out that oil prices are rising on speculation that the Gaza conflict will cause disruptions in production. He also points out that Hamas is heavily funded through monies raised by oil production. He follows this to say that Islamic nations with oil interests are supporting Hamas to attack now to raise oil prices back towards $100, and speculates about how many other actors will join this conflict to keep prices high.
Following the money is usually more interesting, even if the "blood of Abraham" covers a lot of ground over there. Hamas is an independent actor but I'd reckon they know who butters their bread.
It appears to me that Israel is in much the same position as they were in Old Testament times, surrounded by the sons of Ishmael and Esau. In those days the Jews were expected by God to be either examples of the Commandments or instruments of His to subdue non believers.
Today, 6,000 or so years later, not much has changed. What does that tell us?
What if the nation state Israel now in the Med is not connected at all to the Israel to come of, say, Isaiah (said Israel to love the Messiah), and only remotely and that via racism connected to Israel of history?
I've little wisdom regarding how to resolve people murdering one another's children in order to score political power, be they Hamas or those who in the 1940's did mean stuff to the locals. I'm no Solomon either in cleverness or power. But one step might be to remove any appeal to the Bible by either side.
Americans needs to make an educational decision about Israel and Palestine after studying the situation, politics aside. www.ifamericansknew.org