Marlowe's Shade

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

The Two Faces of the Islamic Society of Boston

For those who haven't been following the events surrounding the ISB's construction of a $22 million dollar mosque in Roxbury, CBN has done the best overview I've seen.

There were a few new angles uncovered:

Former Harvard professor Dr. Ahmed Mansour says when he visited the present mosque in Cambridge with his wife, he found Wahabbi reading materials that preached hatred toward America.

CBN News tried repeatedly to interview new ISB Chairman Yousef Abou-Leban. Although the ISB says it has begun a new period of "transparency" and outreach to the media, the leadership declined to talk on camera with us. On its website, the ISB says, the "negative media attention given to the ISB is not the result of honest, diligent journalism, but of malicious intent to discredit our organization and the new Cultural Center in Boston."

The ISB website has also put a statement of faith on its Web page that condemns bigotry, racism and anti-Semitism. It also affirms the equality of men and women, although we found instructions on the website on the correct way a man should beat his wife.


Learning more about the upstanding and courageous Ahmed Mansour alone was worth the price of admission. I was also very impressed with the meticulous job they did investigating the ISB's site. I had been over it many times and never drilled down to the aforementioned article, which not only has the tips on wifebeating, but also has several anti-semitic references such as this:

In modern times, when the kuffaar needed women’s labour after the two world wars, to make up for the resulting lack of men in the workforce, and there was a critical need to rebuild their economies, this coincided with the Jewish plots to “liberate” women and advocate their rights with the aim of corrupting them and consequently corrupting society as a whole. Thus the idea of women going out to work was established.

Note the use of "kuffaar", a derogatory term for non-Muslims. Yet in their value statement they wrap themselves in the mantle of moderation and tolerance and gender equality. I've pointed out this kind of contradiction before.

And the question of why the City of Boston approved the sale of land to a $22 million dollar mosque at bargain basement prices remains unanswered.
papijoe 6:53 AM
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