Pennsylvania Voters Don't Want to Vote at Mosque
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Correspondent
November 15, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - Some voters in Whitehall Township, Penn., were offended that the Lehigh Valley County election board had them vote at a local mosque on Nov. 8. The county uses 58 religious establishments for voting, but this was the first year that residents in the 12th District voted at the Islamic Center of Lehigh Valley…

"Anytime you have people objecting to a voting place merely because it's an Islamic house of worship, I think that is a symptom of anti-Muslim prejudice," Ibrahim Hooper of the Washington, D.C. based Council on American-Islamic Relations, told Cybercast News Service….

"It's something that religious and political leaders, not only in Pennsylvania, but nationwide, need to address," he added….

The Morning Call, which reports Lehigh Valley local news, indicated that one-third of the voters at the mosque expressed concerns about voting there…

 

Mr. Hooper, let’s put aside the fact that there are hundreds if not thousands of mosques in the US that are funded by the Wahabis, the vile Islamist Fascists sect from which all of the wanton slaughter has sprung. Let’s even put aside your own reported estimates that 70% of the American Muslims prefer Wahabi congregations. Let’s focus on one thing – something we can agree on:

American Muslims have an image problem.   

• It’s not like bad breath, where "even your best friends won't tell you". No Mr. Hooper, the voters who object to entering a mosque, do so because your coreligionists have created an image of fear -- an image of Muslims blowing themselves up and blowing up everyone around them. Many fear that entering a mosque, is entering the belly of the beast where they are force to mingle with Muslims.

• With rare exceptions, all Muslims, including American Muslims are now defined by the image that you, by your silence,  have let the Islamist Fascists define for you.  Apparently you haven't heard, but those guys have done some spectacular advertising and they have created a well deserved image of being the source of mindless slaughter thousands of innocent human beings. That image has spilled over on to America and on to you.
   

•  See for yourself, Mr. Hooper, conduct a man on the street interview on any public street corner or in any shopping center in America and ask the interviewee to say the first thing that comes to mind when you say the word, "Muslim".  
   

• You'll get back answers like "Suicide Bomber", "Terrorist", "Jihadist", "Mindless Fanatic", "Death to Jews and Americans". "911", “Beheadings", "Car Bombs". In short, people are afraid to be around Muslims. Its fear that is keeping them away,  Mr. Hooper, and if that's the same as prejudice, make the most of it.  
   

•  If there are really two faces of Islam, why aren't you "Peaceful Muslims", speaking out in defense of your religion? Certainly if there is truly a good image to be presented, it is possible to do that. The Japanese-American units of the US Army in Italy, fought with valor for this country during WWII, and completely converted the previous image of fear and loathing to the position of honor and respect we have for their descendants today.
   

•  Nobody is asking the American Muslims to form a military brigade to fight the Islamist Fascists outside the country, but there are things that you can do, and in fact must do if you want to rescue the image of your religion in America. 

• You do that by condemning the Islamic Fascists and all they stand for – every single time one of those crazies do their Godless work, five time a day if necessary and -

•  You do it wherever they do that Godless  work and  --

• You do it regardless of who it is they murder and –

• You do it with great precision and specificity -- announcements like, “We condemn all violence against all people." show only your cynicism and lack of candor. That type of announcement will continue to cast American Muslims as Fellow Travelers of the Islamist Fascists who we have every reason to fear. 
      

• You do that by speaking out on all available media throughout the world, including Aljazeera -
   

•  You do that by taking very visible and affirmative steps to publicize the Islamist defamation of your religion you and use your influence in the American Muslim community to dry up funds going from this country under the guise of charity, but actually in support of Islamist thugs.
   

•  You do that by getting involved in helping law enforcement to surface Islamist cells in your community. Those Mosques we fear are known hotbeds of Islamist plotting and intrigue. You drain a few of those swamps and you'll begin to have some credibility.
   

•  You do that by setting up and helping to staff a language school in support of the US war effort and its continuing need for cleared people trained in Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, Dari and Pashto.  

 You join the American team Mr. Hooper; so that all Americans come to understand that you are doing all you can to help defeat the enemy. As it stands now, you are doing nothing except sitting around lamenting the fact that many non-Muslim Americans see voting in a mosque as an unnecessary risk they would rather not take.