From: RBNXHS@rohvm1.bitnet
Newsgroups: alt.atheism.moderated
Subject: Re: A non-Muslim scholar on Islam & Rushdie/Civilized West
Date: 18 Aug 92   12:53 EDT
Distribution: world

In article <9208131726.AA26751@rutgers.edu>, I wrote:

In this part (last of the series), I shall present a view expressed
by a *non-Muslim* scholar on the subject of Rushdie affair.

>David James Alexander Hanley <U55870%uicvm.uic.edu@ohstvma.acs.ohio
>writes:
> I *HIGHLY* doubt he is non-muslim.  I have heard this claim used by
>muslims many times to make them appear unbaised.

  Dave is a very typical case of people suffering from paranoia.
  This is a serious mental disease. A person suffering from this
  kind of mental disorder starts doubting others' views, notions,
  statements without even checking. To them, their view is the only
  truth. Dave, you should be ashamed of accusing me before indulging
  into bigotry. Prof. John Esposito is a *non-Muslim* scholar,
  whether you agree with his view or not. You can check this out
  by contacting his college.

>  I guess lying is okay?
  No, lying is not ok. It's you, Dave, who is doing all that.

Prof. John Esposito is a Professor of Religious Studies and Director
for the Center of International Studies, College of the Holy Cross.
He is an author of several books on Islam. Among his recent publica-
tions are Islam: The Straight Path (Oxford University Press) and
Islam and Politics (Syracuse University Press). The following article
is an abridged version of his article which appeared on "The
Minaret", Spring, 1989 (Los Angeles, CA).

> Abridged version?  Did you take out words like "not"?
Again,
 a typical case of paranoia. If you need the xerox copy of the full
 version of his article, contact me. I simply did not have the time
 to write the entire piece on the Net, neither did I think that it
 was necessary.

I quoted from Prof. Esposito:
In a modern context, how would Jews feel if in the name of creative
imagination the memory of the Holocaust and its victims, like
Ann Frank, were distorted or denegerated?

Dave responded:
> The jews probably wouldn't buy the book, or buy books from stores
>that carried it.  This is a decent and civilized action.

 Oh ya, we have been witnessing the actions of *civilized* Israelites
 in the occupied Palestine for quite some years, especially during the
 Intifadah|  The legitimate rights of the Palestinians to live in
 their homeland have been continually denied, their elected represen-
 tives killed by the Mossad (the paid terrorists of the state of
 Israel), their leaders maimed (including Mayors), their
 children killed for waving Palestinian flags, their intellectuals
 deported, universities and schools closed, houses of *alleged*
 suspects (mostly rock-throwers) demolished by the Israeli Defense
 forces, suspected teenagers detained in the prison for years without
 any trial (recently such a suspect was beaten to death in the prison,
 which the Israeli authorities are now trying to cover up by saying
 that the Palestinian had committed suicide).

  Should I go on with the list of such *civilized* actions practiced
 by the Jewish  govt. of Israel?  Jews have done as worse in their
 treatment of people under their occupation than what others have
 done. Who gives them the right to kill more than 1000 people
 for the death of every single Jew?  To the *terrorists* ruling in
 Israel, they have always maintained that if a single Jew is killed
 anywhere in the globe, the Israeli govt. has every right to
 kill innocent Palestinians (or others) for that crime. And they
 have been doing just that since the creation of its state in Palestine.

You talk about writers' freedom of expression. That is a joke.
Tell me, who killed Gassan Kanafani? If you don't know him: he was
a poet who aspired for living in a free Palestine. He had written
several books of poetry (some of these are translated into English
and can be obtained from the American Trust Publications). What's his
crime? Nothing, except that the *civilized* state of Israel did not
like his opinions for the statehood expressed through his writings.
So, the terrorist state of Israel killed him and even his neice who
was a child by planting a bomb in his car. Need I go on with this
list of *terrorist* actions perpetrated by the *civilized* state
of Israel. Don't forget the massacres in Deir Yasin and other
Palestinian villages by the Zionists. The naked corpse of Palestinian
old men and women (who stayed back) were dragged around the streets
by tieing them with jeeps and moved around the villages. This
civilized (??) action really worked. Read, Menachem Begin's "The
Revolt" and you will find out how theis notorious *terrorist* could
justify such *noble* acts of *mercy* against the unarmed Palestinians.

Look at the mirror first before lambasting others of terrorism.
If your own hands are dirty of murder, and you are still practicing
it to this very date, then simply don't blame others. Moreover,
Salman Rushdie is still alive (while Gassan Kanafani is dead) and
well (while about 20 Muslims have already been shot dead by the
government forces merely for demonstrating and burning the effigy
of Rushdie).  Who is terrorising whom? Who are the real victims here?

The West has always (since its colonial period) put on a double
mask of hypocrisy. It tries to appear as a *civilized* nation,
but I seriously doubt if it ever understood the very meaning of
"civilization."  This understanding is not merely mine but has
been shared in the past by great minds of the 20th century, including
Mahatma Gandhi, Jumo Kenyatta, Nkruma, and Nelson Mandela.
And your paranoid views have simply strengthened my understanding.

> DAVE!
Was-salam (Shalom) = Peace.
-  H. Siddiqui.
Newsgroups: alt.atheism