By: Tashbih Sayyed
America has been able to provide prosperity, progress and happiness to all of its citizens because it does not discriminate between its citizens on the basis of their color, creed or ethnicity. No one is dhimmi (second class citizen) in America. Everyone is an American. It is one nation under one God. When one American is hurt anywhere, all Americans feel the pain. That's why we fail to understand as to why some individuals and groups claiming to be Americans, can rejoicing in the fact that our fellow Americans are being killed defending our way of life. We have no choice but to doubt their patriotism.
Every day, in different corners of the world, our interests, our friends and our sons and daughters are being attacked and killed by radical Islamists but none of the Islamist advocacy groups condemn the attackers. No American Muslim leader or cleric stands up and tells the Muslim world that the terrorist activities being carried out by organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, Lashkar-e-Toyyabah. Martyrs Brigade, Baathists, Ansar ul Islam, etc., in the name of Islam are in fact against Islam.
Gunmen ambushed a U.S. patrol in Mosul, killings two U.S. soldiers. They dragged them from their car and pummeled with rocks. Witnesses said that an Iraqi mob, most of them teenagers, dragged the two bloodied soldiers from the car, threw them to the ground and pummeled their bodies with concrete blocks scenes reminiscent of the savagery in Somalia against American troops a decade ago. But no Muslim cleric issued any fatwa (religious edict) to declare it un-Islamic.
Attacks against Americans and Iraqis who cooperate with them have been steadily increasing in Mosul. Last week, Col. Abdul-Salam Qanbar, who was in charge of police who protect oil installations, was gunned down while heading to a mosque with his 8-year-old son. No Muslim leader said anything.
Two weeks ago, 17 soldiers were killed when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Mosul. It was the largest loss of American lives in a single incident since the Iraq war began March 20. But no American Muslim leader issued any statement. Are the Muslims claiming to be the citizens of the U.S. are not Americans?
Don't these so called American Muslim leaders know that the American soldiers being killed every day in Iraq or Afghanistan are there to protect our freedoms. They are putting their lives on line to liberate suffering Muslims.
Failure of Islamist leaders in condemning those who are attacking American interests everywhere in the world is a sign that they are rejoicing in America's pain. The silence of Islamist advocacy groups in the U.S. on the deaths of Americans who have put their lives on line to secure our way of life is a testimony that their sympathies lie with the enemies of freedom and liberty.
The Islamists, who have set up their shops in the USA to subvert our freedoms should know that our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are there to protect our freedoms. They should also know that anyone who fails to condemn openly and unconditionally the killers of our sons is the enemy of America. And the enemies of America by claiming to be Muslims are endangering the lives of true Muslims who are patriotic Americans. Such "Muslim" advocacy groups have no business to be here in the land of Jefferson.
The belief in equality and justice has taught Americans to be sensitive for the sufferings of humanity. We recognize that real happiness is in sharing our good fortunes with others. Because, happiness and prosperity cannot survive in the middle of an ocean of injustice and inequality. That's why, we want our environment to be cleansed of injustice and inequality. But we have found to our great peril that not everyone shares our faith in human equality. There are many who dread our democratic values. They want to destroy us. Fairness and justice, in order to take root, need a democratic, pluralistic and tolerant environment and the enemies of American values abhor these virtues.
In light of the foregoing, it is logical to expect that at least those who live in the U.S. and benefit from our system should whole heartedly support our faith. But we see that a good number of American citizens are not really Americans. First, they do not want to condemn the terrorism of the radical Islamists. And when they do, they do it conditionally. They have never condemned Hamas, Hezbollah, Martyrs Brigade, Sipah-e-Sahabah, Lashkar-e-Toyyabah and other terrorist organizations by name. When they say that they condemn terrorism, they actually mean something else.
The time has come when the free world has to recognize the double talk. The United States is being attacked not because it is a hegemonic super power but because it is ready to fight for injustice. We did not attack Iraq because of its oil. We did not remove Saddam Hussein to empower Israel. We did not demolish Taleban because of any imperialistic ambitions. Whatever we do, we do to secure open societies. We always sacrifice our lives to make sure that this world remains free of despots and tyrants. We want every one to be free of exploitation and persecution.
The Islamists are never tired of stressing that the US's foreign policy is directed at empowering Israel. The world should know that If the United States of America is some times seen favoring Israel, it is not because it is a Jewish state, but because it is the only state that shares in our values. Israelis have established beyond any doubt that they believe in democracy. They do not practice discrimination and they practice openness. That's why they are the target of Islamist totalitarian terrorism. The mind and soul that loves freedoms and yearns to live as a dignified, self respecting and free people are not Jewish, Hindu, Christian or Muslim, it is God's mind.
Until 1776, when the United States of America came into being, there was no one to come to the rescue of freedom loving peoples. There was no hope for humanity. The faith of God was absolutely at the mercy of Romans and barbarians. There was no power on earth that could come to the rescue of besieged civilization. In 73 AD when the Palestinians (Jews) in order to protect their honor and dignity, took refuge in the fortress (Masada), they found themselves all alone. They had to choose between a life of slavery or death. Because there was no America to come to their rescue, they had to choose the act of mass sacrifice. Let us see as to how it happened.
"After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE Masada remained the only point of Palestinian (Jewish) resistance. Few surviving Jewish fighters that managed to travel across Judean mountains joined the defenders of Masada, and it became the rebels' base for raiding operations.
In 72 CE the Roman governor Flavius Silva resolved to suppress this outpost of resistance. He marched against Masada at the head of the Tenth Legion, its auxiliary troops, and thousands of Jewish war prisoners, total ten to fifteen thousand people. The troops prepared for a long siege; they established eight camps at the base of the Masada rock and surrounded it with a high wall, leaving no escape for rebels.
Then Romans started to build an assault ramp to the top; thousands of slaves, many of them Jewish, have done that in nine months. After the ramp was complete, the Romans succeeded to move the battering ram up and to direct it against the wall. They broke the stone wall, but the defenders managed to built a wall of earth and wood that was flexible and hard to break. Eventually Romans managed to destroy it by fire, and decided to enter the fortress the next day.
At night Eleazar, the leader of the Palestinians (Jews) gathered all the defenders and persuaded them to kill themselves rather than fall into the hands of Romans. The people set fire to their personal belongings, and then ten people chosen by a lot killed everyone else and then committed mass sacrifice. In the morning Romans entered a silent fortress and found only dead bodies. Two women and five children survived the mass sacrifice by hiding in a cave; they came out to Romans."
I have often thought that if a power like the U.S. would have been there, the Palestinians (Jews) would not have to commit mass sacrifice.
In 680 AD once again, we see the symbol of truth and justice Hussein Ibne Ali the grand son of the prophet Muhammad, besieged by barbarian Islamist forces of Yazid Ibne Muawiya in Karbala, Iraq. And just because there was no power like the United states of America to come to their rescue, Hussein Ibne Ali, his family and companions were massacred by the Islamist forces of Yazid.
Islamist forces like those of Yazid are once again attacking the values of justice, equality, freedom and tolerance. Once again, the symbols of freedoms and liberty are under attack. From Indonesia to Iraq and from India to Israel, there is only one target of radical Islam. It is open societies. But today the freedom loving souls are fortunate. The civilization has come a long way from the days of Masada and Karbala. The United States of America is here. Islamist barbarism will not succeed in destroying the open societies. It is time for the "Muslim" advocacy groups to give up and leave.
(The writer is editor-in-chief of Pakistan Today, a California-based weekly newspaper, president of Council for Democracy and Tolerance and adjunct fellow of Hudson Institute.)
