by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
PJ Media<\/em><\/p>\n While vexing to many, the\u00a0mega mosque<\/a>\u00a0set to be built two blocks from Ground Zero has produced one interesting but unintended consequence: like the 9\/11 strikes a decade before it, the “9\/11 mosque” is also creating a stir, is making people think and talk \u2014 about Islam.<\/p>\n Consider: Before the Islamist strikes of 9\/11, mainstream America was incognizant of the threat posed by radical Islam. Islamic apologetics and anti-U.S. polemics were unquestioned orthodoxy, not only in their natural habitat \u2014 academia \u2014 but more generally.<\/p>\n After 9\/11, however, the veil was\u00a0partially lifted<\/a>: a flood of books dealing with Islam, political Islam, jihad, sharia, “dhimmitude<\/em>,” and any number of related topics appeared;\u00a0politically incorrect books on Islam<\/a>\u00a0became bestsellers. The media began at least to acknowledge the existence of radical Islam; biased and politicized academics were\u00a0exposed and refuted<\/a>.<\/p>\n In other words, one of the unintended consequences of 9\/11 was that more Americans began to take note and interest in Islam \u2014 which led to greater scrutiny of its formerly esoteric epistemology. After 9\/11, it was no longer a few aging Orientalists who knew, for instance, that military jihad is obligatory in Islam, or that enmity for the infidel is standard, or that women and\u00a0dhimmis<\/em>are subjugated. The layman \u2014 the heart of democracy \u2014 began to be aware. In this sense, then, the 9\/11 strikes were\u00a0counterproductive to the Islamist cause<\/a>.<\/p>\n All Islamists, of course, desire what jihadist groups like al Qaeda desire \u2014 the reestablishment of a global caliphate and enforcement of sharia law. But unlike al Qaeda, most mature Islamists know that the time is not ripe for all-out violence, which only exposes their activities to greater scrutiny. In fact, Islamists have long found it more expedient to “destroy Western civilization from within<\/a>,” necessitating projects such as the\u00a0Middle East Forum<\/a>‘s\u00a0Islamist Watch<\/a>, which monitors and exposes subversive, nonviolent Islamist machinations on U.S. soil.<\/p>\n Yet if one of the unintended consequences of 9\/11 was to place the spotlight on Islam, ten years later, one of the unintended consequences of the 9\/11 mosque is the same: Since it became known, the mosque project has been reported by all mainstream media, including\u00a0CBS<\/a>,\u00a0CNN<\/a>,\u00a0Examiner<\/a>,\u00a0Fox News<\/a>,\u00a0Al Jazeera<\/a>,NY Daily News<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0New York Times<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Reuters<\/a>,\u00a0Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Washington Post<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Washington Times<\/em><\/a>, ad infinitum.<\/p>\n Prominent political personalities, such as former House Speaker\u00a0Newt Gingrich<\/a>and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate\u00a0Sarah Palin<\/a>, have also publicized the matter \u2014 the former arguing that the mosque project is part of “an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization,” the latter calling it an “unnecessary provocation; it stabs hearts.” The\u00a0National Republican Trust<\/a>\u00a0produced an ad saying the 9\/11 mosque constitutes “an invitation for more” strikes like 9\/11. Most recently, the\u00a0Anti-Defamation League<\/a>\u00a0asserted that “the building of an Islamic Center at this location [near Ground Zero] is counterproductive to the healing process.”<\/p>\n The inevitable result of all this media attention is precisely what Islamists seek to avoid \u2014 unwanted attention \u2014 as Americans, once again, take notice, think, and talk, including about dormant issues.<\/p>\n And while the main issue at stake (whether or not the 9\/11 mosque should be built) has little to do with exposing Muslim doctrines or Islamist ideologies\u00a0per se<\/em>, consider: the more it is discussed in the media, the more the great majority unfamiliar with the larger issues begin to wonder what all the ruckus is about. A stray word lingers in the mind \u2014 perhaps “jihad<\/a>” or “sharia<\/a>” or “political Islam<\/a>.” People begin to investigate some more, and learn some more; some become better informed of the Islamist threat, which they go on to discuss with friends and family. A cycle begins.<\/p>\n In short, it took jihadist violence on 9\/11 to alert Americans to the threat of radical Islam. Many Islamists learned their lesson only to join their less conspicuous brethren working beneath the radar, via subversive means. The greater lesson of the 9\/11 mosque, however, is that, so long as Islamists rock the boat and bring attention to themselves \u2014 even through nonviolent means \u2014 so long will they risk exposing themselves.<\/p>\n And if the 9\/11 mosque is actually built, based on the amount of controversy it has already generated, there is reason to believe that it will be a permanent source of attention, provocation, and scrutiny \u2014 that is, a permanent Achilles’ heel for the Islamist movement.<\/p>\n Finally, it should be observed that, while the stir being caused by the 9\/11 mosque is not as far-reaching or consequential as that caused by the 9\/11 strikes, it is proportionate: For just as subversive Islamists work bit by bit, so too does every bit of unwanted attention work against them.<\/p>\n \u00a92010 Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why it is counterproductive to the Islamist cause. by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media While vexing to many, the\u00a0mega mosque\u00a0set to be built two blocks from Ground Zero has produced one interesting but unintended consequence: like the 9\/11 strikes a decade before it, the “9\/11 mosque” is also creating a stir, is making people think and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[227,565],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-mC","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1370,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/top-muslims-condemn-ground-zero-mosque-as-a-zionist-conspiracy\/","url_meta":{"origin":1402,"position":0},"title":"Top Muslims Condemn Ground Zero Mosque as a ‘Zionist Conspiracy’","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media In a recent\u00a0article, I argued that the Ground Zero mosque is counterproductive to Islam. The following day, on August 5th, the Egyptian newspaper\u00a0Al Masry Al Youm\u00a0reported that none other than Al Azhar \u2014 one of Sunni Islam's most authoritative institutions \u2014 agrees. My translation of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1480,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-two-faces-of-the-ground-zero-mosque\/","url_meta":{"origin":1402,"position":1},"title":"The Two Faces of the Ground Zero Mosque","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media Depending on whether Islamists address Americans or fellow Muslims, the same exact words they use often relay diametrically opposed meanings. One example: when Americans hear Muslims evoke \"justice,\" the former envision Western-style justice, whereas Muslims naturally have Sharia law justice in mind. Islamists obviously use\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3441,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/mosques-flourish-while-churches-perish\/","url_meta":{"origin":1402,"position":2},"title":"Mosques Flourish While Churches Perish","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Western tolerance had no mirror in the Islamic world. by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media As Muslims prepare to erect a mega-mosque near the site of the 9\/11 atrocities, it is well to reflect that the sort of tolerance, or indifference, that allows them to do so, is far from reciprocated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/religion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3433,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/caliphate-jihad-sharia-now-what\/","url_meta":{"origin":1402,"position":3},"title":"Caliphate, Jihad, Sharia: Now What?","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York You can sit here and talk about jihad from here to doomsday, what will it do? Suppose you prove beyond any shadow of doubt that Islam is constitutionally violent, where do you go from there? Such was Columbia professor Hamid Dabashi's\u00a0response\u00a0to my assertion that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Muslim Brotherhood"","block_context":{"text":"Muslim Brotherhood","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/muslim-brotherhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":709,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/greatest-church-soon-to-be-mega-mosque\/","url_meta":{"origin":1402,"position":4},"title":"Greatest Church Soon To Be Mega Mosque?","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim FrontPage Magazine Ostensibly dealing with a building, a recent report demonstrates how Turkey's populace \u2014 once deemed the most secular and liberal in the Muslim world \u2014 is reverting to its Islamic heritage, complete with animosity for the infidel West and dreams of Islam's glory days of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/religion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6495,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/vote-for-me-or-else-patterns-between-egypt-and-pakistan\/","url_meta":{"origin":1402,"position":5},"title":"Vote for Me Or Else: Patterns between Egypt and Pakistan","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0Gatestone Institute\u00a0 In what seems to be a pattern in many Muslim nations of finding new pretexts to justify anti-Christian\u2014and \u201canti-Other\u201d\u2014behavior, Egypt\u2019s Christians and their churches are under attack, ostensibly because Christians joined the June 30 Revolution, which led to the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood. 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