So a little while ago I was at work on break. While casually channel surfing i find this on CNN.
At first i was like what the hell is going on. Then i recognized Azeem Khan! For those of you who don't know him, he was a member of Young Muslims, a youth division of the Islamic Circle of North America. I guess he's all grown up now and moved on to becoming a representative and secretary for I.C.N.A.
Personally I don't see what all the commotion is about. I think the ads are respectful and are not being "preachy" in anyway. Congressman King's complaints are really illogical. His two main complaints are that 1) the main person behind these ads is Imam Wahaj 2) these ads are offensive.
Congressman King contradicts himself, though. At 0:36 he states that "There is nothing wrong with these ads, theres is nothing wrong with educating people about Islam, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country are outstanding citizens." Later though Congressman King states these ads are offensive because they are occurring on Sept. 11th.
First, Congressman King was mistaken since these ads are starting Sept. 15. Second, even if they were overlapping they are still protected by the First Amendment. Third, neither the MTA nor the Homeland Security CMTE have a right to regulate offensive material and media. That falls under FCC regulation. So Congressman King is way out of bounds.
Also, this whole issue is very very very hypocritical because just a couple years ago when the Dutch published pictures of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, they offended Muslims around the world. When organizations and governments petitioned the paper to retract the pictures every political pundit, shock jock, and politician were firmly opposed to any retaction or apology. Why? because the paper had a right to free speech. Now, when these ads go up, even though they are in no way offensive or crude, a congressman, someone who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, is trying to suppress the Freedom of Speech and the Freedom of Religion of 7 million American Citizens.
Although the ads are roughly coincide with the 7th anniversary they are not geared towards the commemoration and even if they were Muslims have a right to commemorate the event as they see fit along with the rest of America. When Congressman King states that these ads are "offensive to the families, and its offensive to the memory of those killed that day" he is alienating and denying American Muslims their place in America. American Muslims witnessed the events that took place that day as well as non Muslim Americans and there were many Muslim victims in those attacks. If American Muslims want to take this opportunity to educate Americans or clear bigotry then they have a right to do so. There could be no better way of honoring the memory Sept 11th victims of then to educate people and stop hatred.
The second complaint Congressman King has is in regards to Imam Siraj Wahaj.
In the beginning of his interview Congressman King states that the problem isn't with these ads but that the main person behind these ads is Wahaj, and this is a problem because 1) he was a character witness 2) he made several comments about democracy, America, the FBI, and the CIA.
Congressmen King's complaints are ridiculous. First, these ads are organized by I.C.N.A. no Imam Wahaj, so this argument has no basis what so ever. Second, even if Imam Wahaj was single handedly organizing these ads they are not promoting terror, they are merely education people about Islam, and he stated at the beginning of the clip that "There is nothing wrong with these ads, theres is nothing wrong with educating people about Islam, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country are outstanding citizens."
Imam Wahaj has nothing to do with this whole "terror train" situation and it seems as if Congressman King is trying to pull a character assassination against Imam Wahaj. He states that "These ads attempt to give credibiltiy and respectibilty to people such as Wahaj..." but no where in the ads is Imam Siraj Wahaj praised, and yet Congressman King brings this up and denounces Imam Wahaj.
I am not a lawyer but even if Imam Wahaj did testify for the blind Shaykh who was indicted in the 1st trade center bombings that does not mean he is automatically a terrorist. Citizens have a right to a fair trial by jury and Imam Wahaj was merely taking part in a judicial process! For example if somebody testified for O.J. Simpson's character does that mean they are guilty of murder along with O.J. Simpson?
Also, Imam Wahaj was clearly not indicted in the 1st trade center bombings meaning that the government did not find him of any wrong doing. Meaning he was INNOCENT! Congressman King is bring up past statements of Imam Wahaj and trying to use them to paint Imam Wahaj as a guilty or violent man. This is quite unfair and hypocritical of Congressman King. Citizen Wahaj has every right to the freedom of speech just like Bill O'Rielly, or Howard Stern, or Don Imus. He has a right to criticize a political theory such as democracy, he has a right to criticize a government such as America. Citizen Wahaj also has a right to criticize government agencies such as the FBI and CIA. Coincidently independent organization such asthe red cross and Amnesty international have found that the CIA, and the armed forces have been using torture techniques such as stress positions and water boarding. So Imam Wahaj's claims, although exaggerated, were based upon the truth.
So the question i leave you all with is...
Why then, is Imam Wahaj the victim of a character assassination? Why then, is this educational ad campaign being repressed?
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