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Muslim students respond to Monday’s Horowitz talk
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Also by Mary Duke:
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by Mary Duke
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
As a response to a lecture by author David Horowitz, the University of Wisconsin Muslim Students Association discussed Tuesday misconceptions of Muslims in America.
Horowitz, a controversial speaker known for what some say are radical conservative viewpoints, spoke at UW Monday, criticizing Muslim extremism in the Middle East and expressing his support for the Iraq war.
According to MSA representatives, Tuesday’s forum was held to inform students about the “other side” of Horowitz’s message.
“MSA is trying to represent the average college student on college campuses through events like tonight,” MSA Vice President Sarrah Abulughod said. “We want to explain what it is like to be a minority and face struggles.”
Other organizations sponsoring the event included Lutheran Campus Center, College Democrats, Americans for Informed Democracy, Hillel, Wisconsin Black Student Union, and Faith and Public Life.
Many of the students at the forum attended Horowitz’s lecture, which kicked off national Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week at the Union Theater Monday evening.
UW sophomore Meaghan Dolan said the conservative author’s speech “could have been better.”
“Horowitz shouldn’t have blatantly attacked the left wing,” Dolan said.
Also commenting on Horowitz’s lecture, Adam Sitte, spokesperson for MSA, said UW has no need for a figure like Horowitz to motivate discourse on campus.
“The discussion is already there; we don’t need anyone there to spark conversation,” Sitte said.
College Republicans Chair Sara Mikolajczak said the week’s events should be about discourse, adding, “[the MSA] forum is their contribution, and that is great.”
College Republicans Vice Chair Mattie Duppler agreed with Mikolajczak’s sentiments.
“They disagree with what Horowitz said, and I think it’s great that they are sharing their view on the issue,” Duppler said.
Dr. Chuck Cohen, UW professor of history and religious studies, believes Muslims’ struggles with public opinion are strongly rooted in political issues.
“I don’t think you get a lot of criticism of the five pillars of Islam,” Cohen said. “To that extent, the reason that most Americans are concerned about Muslims is not because of religion, but politics.”
UW African languages and cultures graduate student Reem Hilal discussed what it means to be female and a follower of Islam in America, saying Muslim women “continue to be a central sight for criticism.”
Maha Hilal, also a graduate student and chair of the group In Your Hands, said discussion is “imperative to help shape social activism.”
“There is always an underlying assumption that Muslim women are silent, and you get the feeling that they are forced into being Muslim,” Hilal said.
MSA plans to continue an open dialogue regarding the Muslim experience in society, Sharif said.
“We don’t want to do anything aggressive towards anyone, we just want to refute the myth of the stereotypes facing Muslims,” Sharif said.
MSA will host a video presentation portraying the story of a Muslim boy living in New York after Sept. 11. The movie, titled “A Son’s Sacrifice,” will begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24 in Smith Hall.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 8:02am):
Minority? One day there are 2.7 gazillion Muslims; the next they're a tiny minority of oppressed crybabies. Can someone decide which is it?
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 9:56am):
"There is always an underlying assumption that Muslim women are silent, and you get the feeling that they are forced into being Muslim," Hilal said.
Maybe be the burkas, honor killings, genital mutilation and general treating of woman as property have something to do with that?
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 10:03am):
8:02 - keep showing your ignorance.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 10:54am):
8:02- Muslims are a minority on campus, in Madison, in Wisconsin and in the US. Around the world they are not so small in number.
9:56- Tell me what's the difference between the frock of a nun and a hijab. Tell me why FGM doesn't exist in Syria or Saudi Arabia and tell me why it's rampant in Christian Sub-Saharan Africa. Honor killings happen with about the same frequency as in the United States, here we just call it domestic abuse.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 11:51am):
To the first comment: wow. Seriously? 2.7 gazillion down to "opressed crybabies." Really? Last nights event was something you probably should have gone to. If you are ignorant of something, you are its enemy. Within American society Muslims are the minority, and the majority doesn't care. This is a problem, and when we don't try to enhance our knowledge on a topic comments such as yours are the result.
To the second comment: Hilal's comment was about women being forced to practice. She said that many women are now being involved in the discussion and attainment of knowledge of their religion and are becoming "more visually active." There was no statement made that all the walls have been knocked down, that all the problems have been resolved, but the issues are being worked on. You probably would have benefitted from attending as well.
Rather than coming out and learning something, the pair of you sit here and spew your ignorance. And here lies the problem. You are not a Muslim and I seriously doubt you have studied anything in relation. All members on the panel have studied, experienced the culture, or are actually Muslim themselves but you are trying to discredit them (very poorly at that).
To anyone not present at the session: do not try to insult these intelligent individuals. What they said had truth and value and greatly helped enhance the knowledge of those in attendence. Wish you could have been there.
The session was great, it really helped break down the stereotypes as was its intent, as well as it greatly contrasted from Horowitz as a truly open discussion and a true dispersment of knowledge onto the audience. Great job to the organizers and the participants.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 12:14pm):
"the difference between the frock of a nun and a hijab"
How about one is a voluntary choice while the other is enforced with whips?
When a christian wearing a cross is allowed into Mecca I'l believe the "no difference" propaganda.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 12:45pm):
"There is always an underlying assumption that Muslim women are silent, and you get the feeling that they are forced into being Muslim," Hilal said.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali might disagree concerning the treatment of Muslim, and especially FORMER Muslim women.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 12:58pm):
Islam is a religion, not a race. Sharia law will, however, assert the cultural tenets of a religious-based caste system as the primary determinant of legitimate access to wealth, privilege and power based on Islam as the model for "humanity".
And that would in effect create a system of oppression based on religion which, in effect, dehumanizes all who do not conform to the system of logic, thought, symbol formation, and behavioral standards.
That would create a system of oppression based on religion which, in effect, dehumanizes all who do not conform to its standards for law, entertainment, sexual relations, business, culture, education, science, literature, civic participation, recreation, worship and every other conceiveable aspect of human endeavor.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 1:11pm):
"When a christian wearing a cross is allowed into Mecca I'l believe the "no difference" propaganda."
When a hijabi is allowed on a plane without being felt up, I'll join in.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 1:19pm):
to 12:45 - the topic was CONTEMPORARY Muslims. Therefore Hilal's comment was on CONTEMPORARY Muslim women.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 2:11pm):
While the opponents of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week excoriate us for claiming that women face oppression under Sharia, the jihadists continue to...oppress women under Sharia.
"Girls' school blown up in NWA," from Agence France Presse :
MIRANSHAH: Pro-Taliban militants blew up a girls' school in restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan, security officials said on Sunday.
The school building was destroyed in the attack in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan region, after militants planted explosives there late Saturday, a security official said on condition of anonymity. "There were no casualties as the building was empty," he added. The attack came amid an upsurge in violence in Pakistan's deeply conservative tribal zone where militants consider female education un-Islamic.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 3:54pm):
Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was shot, stabbed and nearly beheaded. Aside from the embarrassingly long time it took to go to trial, what is really disturbing and enlightening is the nature of the killer's confession.
Mohammed Bouyeri, the murderer, is an Islamic extremist, and he told the court that what motivated him to kill was his religion -- van Gogh had made a film called "Submission" that criticized Islam's treatment of women.
"What moved me to do what I did was purely my faith. ... I was motivated by the law that commands me to cut off the head of anyone who insults Allah and his prophet," Bouyeri told the court.
Adam Sitte (October 24, 2007 @ 6:06pm):
Yes she might disagree with that and she has a right to. Part of that is based on her particular experience, which no one can discredit her. However, she also bases most of her critique, especially issues pertaining to sharia and basics of Islamic law, on factually incorrect assesments that should not be taken at face value. She's very similar to Irshad Manji in that respect, who speaks of ijtihad without a real understanding of what ijtihad is. Why people listen to them to gain knowledge on such a collosol breadth of scholarship when there are actual scholars who study those subjects is beyond me.
Shawn Snyder (October 24, 2007 @ 7:54pm):
The problem with creating segregated groups - they enable hate and racism to live longer from both sides. America is no longer this place a minority should fear and saying they are oppressed in it or struggle because of it is laughable. Simply by these groups existing gives reason for people to segregate. If someone is struggling in America, they should start blaming themselves instead of their background because there is nothing holding anyone back anymore.
Anonymous (October 24, 2007 @ 9:25pm):
One Saudi woman ignored the cancer growing in her breast for fear of seeing a male doctor. Another was summarily divorced on the mere suspicion she had the disease, while a third was dragged away from a mammogram machine -- the technicians were men.
Breast cancer is considered a taboo in the religiously conservative Arab countries of the Persian Gulf even as the disease claims more and more victims, but some women are pushing for greater openness about the illness.
Adam Sitte (October 24, 2007 @ 11:37pm):
Do any of the posters here have any experience in studying Sharia? First off, it does not include anything outside of clear Quranic law, that would be fiqh. Second, there is no commandment to cut of the heads of people who insult religion, and the actual facts of Sunnah prove otherwise. Third, 12:58, the tiniest level of knowledge on Islamic history would tell you that the constitution of Medina was essentially secular and no one was forced to practice Islam or live under Islamic law. Christians practiced Christian law, Jews practiced Jewish law, the state was only involved for necessary functions such as protection.
Anonymous (October 25, 2007 @ 1:44am):
Tell me Adam, how many actual Muslims did you have to beat out to become the official spokesperson of the Muslim Students' Association? Your attempt to use surface academic knowledge to replace our lifetimes of personal experience reeks of cooptation. Instead of desperately trying to identify with (and fetishize) people of a different background (in the same way animephiles do to the Japanese), why not try and represent your own culture and your own background. We don't need help from anglo-americans to defend ourselves, unless of course you think we are lesser people who can't function without the white man....
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