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Experiments with an Islamic Netroots
By Ali Eteraz / September 13, 2007
All across the Muslim world, blogging is on fire. Malaysia and Iran are leading states where the political structures are constantly challenged by bloggers. Egypt often has to arrest and jail its dissident bloggers. Other Arab nations are slowly coming to grips with blogging as a check on state power.
By this time, in October, my personal blog was humming along quite nicely, making its way through all kinds of mainstream left and right wing blogs. In that time I had also gotten my hits-whoredom out of the way, and had started to focus on real world issues, most particularly, stonings in Iran, the Women’s Protection Bill in Pakistan, and the prevalence of Wahhabi literature among American Muslims. Looking at the Daily Kos method of dealing with things i.e. turning into a virtual community, I made an offer to a few of the traditionalist-salafist-moderate bloggers to join forces and come together at a place called States of Islam where the pre-eminent goal would be to make real world challenges against injustices committed in the name of Islam while also creating a positive narrative which would demonstrate that liberal and conservative Muslims could work together to improve the religion. We made it a closed community, put it on the Scoop system, and soon were being referred to as “the Daily Kos of the Islamsphere.” Just like Kos, it had a place for reader diaries and frontpagers.
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AdiralAbama, the same retard that spams Digg with LGF entries? lmao you are one to talk faggot.
when one loses an argument, they resort to name-calling. Ali already lost the argument with Robert Spencer, who of course is not a bigot but merely speaks of the textual, legal, and ethical tradition of Jihad within Islam itself.
Unfortunately when you attack you utilize ad hominem to attack your critics, you lose the argument my friend. I think you can do better than “Christian Polemicist” as a rhetorical argument.
Ali,
 Just wanted to know that I have really enjoyed your posts these past few days, and think it was quite brilliant of Jewcy to have you guest post.  Â
There are those in our community who will try to reduce the conversation. Don't let them.
Everyone, Ali has really put himself out there by visiting Jewcy, and he has tremendous knowledge on subjects many of us would like to understand better. Do not let the Zealots shut him down! Ali, don't let them pull you back to The Conflict. Â
http://archive.eteraz.org/story/2007/3/18/9426/53820Â
are u kidding me? that christian supremacist? i used to take him seriously until i realized he's a christian polemicist and not a philosopher. his last book was revealing wasn't it? whats it called? how Christianity is better than everything? Even conservative secularists don't take him seriously anymore (and christian traditionalits like d'souza already called him an islamophobe.). but im glad you mentioned him here so we could air it all out. good job.
maybe you should consider the following:
Robert Spencer, Confused By Islamic Reformer [Ghamidi]Calls Him Inauthentic; Abuses Me Again
As to Spencer maligning me:Â
Despite complaining about how much I abuse him, Spencer keeps misrepresenting me. In the post at issue, I am called a "highly disingenuous Islamic apologist."
Yeah Robert, real apologetic when I call for the separation of mosque and state, and argue for the abolition of the death penalty for apostasy.
are u kidding me? that christian supremacist? i used to take him seriously until i realized he's a christian polemicist and not a philosopher. his last book was revealing wasn't it? whats it called? how Christianity is better than everything? Even conservative secularists don't take him seriously anymore (and christian traditionalits like d'souza call him an islamophobe.). but im glad you mentioned him here so we could air it all out. good job.
maybe you should consider the following:
Robert Spencer, Confused By Islamic Reformer [Ghamidi]Calls Him Inauthentic; Abuses Me Again
As to Spencer maligning me:Â
Despite complaining about how much I abuse him, Spencer keeps misrepresenting me. In the post at issue, I am called a "highly disingenuous Islamic apologist."
Yeah Robert, real apologetic when I call for the separation of mosque and state, and argue for the abolition of the death penalty for apostasy.
Ali’s tendentiousness revealed here
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/015486.php
Cair affiliated with Hamas
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/09/hlf_prosecution_cair_affiliate.php
CAIR revealed
http://ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=273453355481549
i dance for you, masterÂ
When a “Muslim reformist” defends CAIR, which was founded by Hamas supporters, keeps on having its leaders arrested for terror support, and was named as the government as an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator, it’s just too much. Why spread this type of propaganda on a Jewish site? Are the Jihadist sites all full-up with this type of deceit?
I’m sorry that “anti-Cair” rhetoric offends you. I am offended by Muslim apologists that equate anti-Jihadists with bigotry, and defends terror front groups. I’m offended that a so-called Muslim civil rights group is attempting to sue passengers trying to protect themselves from terrorists, never can, by name, condemn Hamas and Hezbollah, and basically acts as an arm of the Jihadist project.
It’s a nice song and dance routine tho, Ali.
“At one point, Charles Johnson was an independent. He had very acute, critical and interesting things to say about George Bush. Then, after his site hit a sort of lull there was a sudden explosion of anti-Muslim and anti-CAIR rhetoric.”
Ali, he was an independent before 9/11. It was after 9/11 that changed him and put him into another position, which would foresee the worst in him.
Anonymous, people like you continue to whine about Hamas supporters, yet where is the criticism towards Irish Americans who supported the IRA openly for years? Why condemn one extreme while staying on the other? It’s no secret that Gerry Adams has been to NYC a few times to raise funds for the IRA.
As for LGF, yes they ARE anti-Muslim because they tar all Muslims with the same brush (except for those sell-outs who bend over for these cronies). There have comments on the site that advocate forced deportation and even sending them to Auschwitz a la the Holocaust!
i was down with understanding the other problems, but the last one i dont get.
"In other words, if Islam taught us to love humanity – instead of just Muslims – then why was our focus just on Muslims?"
because we are Muslims, and bad things are being done in our name. does defining ourselves automatically necessitate creating an "other" whom we cant relate to or empathize with? the fact that you are posting this on a blog called "jewcy.com" is proof enough that this is not the case (props to them for recognizing this). who were we (you) demonizing simply by calling yourselves "states of islam"? to my recollection, all were welcome, and we had a diverse bunch working towards the same goal.
it was fun while it lasted.
so now i am a jihadist "fellow traveler."
nice.
i dont make cair off-limits for criticism. no one is off limits. i have repeatedly asked cair to disavow support of hizbollah and hamas, feel free to look it up at my blog.
nice thread-jacking though.Â
having said that as a lawyer i don't really accept the validity of the unindicted co-conspirator idiocy in any situation. it was dumb when it was applied to nixon, l. ron hubbard, in the whitewater case, and now. in the hlf case its being applied to 300(!) people and organizations. if the prosecutor believes he/she has a good case, he wouldn't need to cast such a vast net. even logically, the term doesn't make sense: you can't be co-conspirator unless you're convicted, and you can't be convicted unless you're indicted.Â
if you want me to pay for you to sit in a basic crim law class, let me know.Â
Your conflation of the two speaks volumes about your take on the subject. Demonization of the anti-jihadist movement as “racist” or “islamophobic” is one of the great weapons of the jihadists and their fellow travelers. And claiming that to be anti-CAIR is to be anti-Muslim is also a falsehood. CAIR was, of course, founded by Hamas supporters and was named as an unindicted co-conspirator by the US govt in the HLF trials in Texas. By claiming that CAIR is “off limits” for criticism, you are trying to immunize an Islamist front group from any kind of scrutiny. But we are waking up to this type of disingenuous crap. Good luck elsewhere with your Muslim “reform” movement.
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