[HANASHIR:11275] Re: Response to Shirona and Sholom.

[Sholom Simon <sholom...>]

At 10:23 PM 4/9/2002 -0400, Judah Cohen wrote:
>Simply stated, then:  You call your local mosque and I'll call mine (the New
>York Islamic Center, a block and a half away from me on 96th Street and 3rd
>Ave).  And then we'll check back with each other and compare notes via the
>list.  Ground rules:  we're looking for any Arabic songs about peace, right?

Irony of ironies!

Let me tell you about the former Imam of the 96th Street Center -- Imam
Mohammad Gemeaha -- long known for his "moderate" views -- indeed, he used
to lead interfaith discussions.

To quote from an October issue of National Review: "Just days after
September 11, the Egyptian-born holy man gave an interview to an Arab
newspaper claiming that the U.S. government was persecuting Muslims, that
Jewish doctors in New York were poisoning Muslim children, and that
everyone knows Jews were responsible for the attack on the World Trade
Center (you can find most of the interview at the indispensable Middle East
Research Institute website). Gemeaha then headed back to Egypt."

How did he know the Jews were responsible? "only the Jews are capable of
planning such an incident."

Don't take my word for it.  Type in "Gemeaha" into google, and see what you
come up with.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not looking to attack anyone.  I just think it
amazingly ironic that the mosque you are going to call to find out
information on peace songs is the very same one that found itself in the
news because of its former moderate leader.

>Hopefully, this will be an educational experience for both of us.

Amen!


+-------------------------------------------------------+
|   Sholom Simon     | sholom (at) aishdas(dot)org               |
+-------------------------------------------------------+
| proud daddy to Joshua Ari  4/18/93 - 27 Nissan 5753   |
|        and Eliana Rebekah  3/12/95 - 11 Adar-2 5755   |
+-------------------------------------------------------+

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