The New York Times, the vanguard of liberal America, has “become complicit in a stealth jihad against free speech in the United States undertaken by Islamists and their sympathizers who masquerade as “civil rights” groups,” according to the Investigative Project on Terrorism.
In a long article on the organization website, IPT founder Steven Emerson says the group recently bought a full-page advocacy ad in the print edition of the Times calling for for awareness of the Islamist connection to a majority of terror attacks and criticising the United States government for ignoring the threat posed by radical Muslims.
At the last minute, however, the Times ordered IPT to insert the word “radical” before the term “Islamist groups,” so that it read, “Stop the radical Islamist groups from undermining America’s security, liberty and free speech.”
“An ‘Islamist’ is not simply an individual who privately observes Islam as his faith. An Islamist is an individual who blurs the ideological lines between personal religion and the nation state — a boundary upheld as one of America’s founding principles and sustained in the First Amendment — to foster a governmental system that relies upon the supremacy of Islam.
“Islamic,” on the other hand, is an adjective that describes an idea or element derived from or inspired by Islam. Islamists promote an Islamic agenda, though some do it more subtly than others,” Emerson wrote.
Emerson accused groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) of using the catch-all epithet “Islamophobe” as a smokescreen for “civil rights,” when in fact the umbrella organization serves the interests of Hamas, Hezbollah and fine, upstanding citizens of the world such as Yousef Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
To discern whether or not Qaradawi is a terrorist, it is best to let him speak for himself.
“Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them – even though they exaggerated this issue – he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers,” Qaradawi told al-Jazeera TV in 2010.
Emerson and others continually stress that they do not view Islam as a problem, but rather radical Islam. As Daniel Pipes says, “I have great respect for the Islam that provides solace and spiritual meaning for a billion people around the world. But radical Islam is a murderous, terrorst entity that threatens the very foundations of our society. We must fight radical Islam at all costs.”
Emerson stressed that America is not at war with Muslims or with Islam,but he warned about attempts to censor discussion of the connection between radical Islam and terrorism.
“The censorship of free speech by Islamist groups and their media apologists continues to prevent America from addressing the core threat of radical Islam.
“Recognizing reality is not an attack on Islam or Muslims. Those who say otherwise are the ones of whom we — and, particularly, those in the media such as the NYT — should be wary,” Emerson wrote.
