U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Wichita)
Not mentioned in this lengthy piece is context. The United States has an open society which tolerates all religions. In the 45 Muslim dominant countries Jews, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists are harassed, killed and not tolerated. Muslims should be grateful for the tolerance shown to them which they do not show to others. A large majority of Muslims openly promote Sharia law in the United States and the world. They demand minority status in the United Stated but are a enormous religion which grows faster than others. In the Muslim dominant countries they do not extend minority rights to others religions. Many Muslims in the United States support terrorism as a means to establish Sharia law. These facts are seldom included in media reports. It is a rational basis for the fears of American Christians and Jews when a religious personality promotes terrorist organizations. Muslim state sponsored schools taught children for generations to hate Jews, Americans and Israel. They promote the destruction of Israel. These facts need to be discussed to place the concerns about Islam in perspective.
[From article]
The morning of Thursday, March 24, Hussam Madi got a call from Wichita police.
They said between 20 and 50 protesters would be outside the Islamic Society of Wichita mosque, off K-96 near Woodlawn, that Friday night.
It was the beginning of a collision course between freedom of expression, freedom of religion, community sensitivities and fear of violence. And some might say the right to bear arms, including assault rifles, in a public place.
A week later, the collision is still reverberating.
A protest at the Wichita mosque is unusual. It has happened maybe three times in 20 years, said Madi, a U.S. citizen, Wichita businessman, 49-year-old father of “very, very active (Wichita State University) Shocker students” and spokesman for the local Islamic Society.
Police told Madi that their understanding was that the protest would be peaceful, Madi recalled this past week. Whatever happens, police told him, “We’ll be visible.”
The people planning to protest were upset that the Islamic Society was bringing in Monzer Taleb as a speaker. They viewed Taleb as having been a supporter of terrorism.
[. . .]
The mosque also didn’t want a protest to disturb services at a Lutheran church across the street.
It was a coincidence that Taleb’s talk was scheduled on a Christian holy day, Good Friday, Madi said.
Taleb had spoken at least four times earlier at the mosque without protest, as late as December 2014, Madi said.
Another key factor for the mosque: U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, issued a lengthy statement that Thursday calling on the Islamic Society to cancel Taleb’s appearance on “Holy Friday” and saying that if the society didn’t, “They will be responsible for the damage among religious faiths that is sure to follow.”
[. . .]
The sheriff also noted that he had a concern about the choice of Taleb as a speaker and the timing of his planned appearance.
“I don’t agree with what this guy stands for,” Easter said. “But he has a right to have his First Amendment rights (voiced).”
Easter said he views Taleb as “someone who had ties to a terrorist organization. I was very surprised that they would bring that kind of person in to speak to their congregation,” especially during a Christian holiday.
[. . .]
On the day before Taleb was to speak, Pompeo issued a statement asking the Islamic Society to cancel the address.
The congressman said that while the Islamic Society had a First Amendment right, it “does not permit the Islamic Society of Wichita to escape responsibility for the horrible judgment of doing so – especially by doing so on this important Christian day.”
Pompeo, who describes himself as an evangelical Christian, added that on “one of the most holy days on the Christian calendar, and only days after radical Islamic extremists murdered dozens of innocents of many faiths in Brussels, Belgium, they chose to bring a Hamas-connected sheik to their community center here in Wichita.”
Pompeo, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Hamas is a “designated terrorist organization that has the destruction of Israel as its core tenet and terror and murder as its core operating principle.”
“I can find no mention of the Brussels murders on ISW’s website, facebook page or twitter account,” Pompeo said, referring to the Islamic Society of Wichita. “This is unconscionable. ISW and its leaders should use this to condemn this attack instead of celebrating Sheik Talib.”
[. . .]
Pompeo reiterated on Friday that although he understands the Islamic Society’s right to bring in any speaker it wants, “This is a Hamas-linked cleric.”
Taleb has confirmed that by his own words, Pompeo said.
“There’s no guessing on this one. I do know about Hamas activities in the United States from my work on the committee.”
[. . .]
Pompeo on Friday denied that he is scapegoating Taleb.
“I have been very clear to steer away from any person who has (argued) that all Muslims are persons that we have to fear,” he said. “I have been criticized for that, too.”
But now, thousands of people have been killed and millions more displaced by “radical Islamic terrorists,” Pompeo said. “And that now has reached into our country, and we need … every faith doing everything they can to push back on this violence and terror.”
Salem, the spokeswoman for Taleb, argued that it’s “completely untrue” that Taleb supports terrorism. He has been accused of calling for the destruction of Israel. But there is a key distinction, she said: He has advocated for the freedom of the Palestinian people, and in doing so, he has opposed oppression of Palestinians.
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article69548302.html
APRIL 1, 2016 7:01 PM
How Wichita mosque speaker controversy played out
BY TIM POTTER
tpotter (at) wichitaeagle.com
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