[HANASHIR:11276] Re: Response to Shirona and Sholom.

[Judah Cohen <jcohen...>]

That is fine, Sholom.  I am aware of these issues, though it is good you
brought them out into the open.  The New York Times covered Gameaha as well.
It would have been nice, though, had you also mentioned that Gemeaha left
the mosque before making these remarks, and that the remarks were criticized
and denounced by other prominent Muslim leaders, including Gemeaha's
successor (though, granted, he did not criticize the remarks as deeply as
the ADL would have wanted him to do, as they mention in an open letter).
(http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSAttack011024/24_mosque-ap.html)

If you want to see more, then come the Center:  for the last several months,
the sign outside its gates has been flashing messages of peace and
anti-aggression, many quoted from the Quran, and denouncing the terrorist
acts in NYC.  

I will call the Center the next day or so, and I will report back on what I
find.  

Judah.


> From: Sholom Simon <sholom (at) aishdas(dot)org>
> Reply-To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 08:08:34 -0400
> To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> Subject: [HANASHIR:11275] Re: Response to Shirona and 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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