Study: 3 in 4 U.S. mosques preach anti-West extremism

[Chris OConnor]

Study: 3 in 4 U.S. mosques preach anti-West extremism

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php? ... geId=57141

Secret survey exposes widespread radicalism

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Posted: February 23, 2008
9:51 pm Eastern

WorldNetDaily

An undercover survey of more than 100 mosques and Islamic schools in America has exposed widespread radicalism, including the alarming finding that 3 in 4 Islamic centers are hotbeds of anti-Western extremism, WND has learned.

The Mapping Sharia in America Project, sponsored by the Washington-based Center for Security Policy, has trained former counterintelligence and counterterrorism agents from the FBI, CIA and U.S. military, who are skilled in Arabic and Urdu, to conduct undercover reconnaissance at some 2,300 mosques and Islamic centers and schools across the country.

"So far of 100 mapped, 75 should be on a watchlist," an official familiar with the project said.

Many of the Islamic centers are operating under the auspices of the Saudi Arabian government and U.S. front groups for the radical Muslim Brotherhood based in Egypt.

Frank Gaffney, a former Pentagon official who runs the Center for Security Policy, says the results of the survey have not yet been published. But he confirmed that "the vast majority" are inciting insurrection and jihad through sermons by Saudi-trained imams and anti-Western literature, videos and textbooks.

(Story continues below)

The project, headed by David Yerushalmi, a lawyer and expert on sharia law, has finished collecting data from the first cohort of 102 mosques and schools. Preliminary findings indicate that almost 80 percent of the group exhibit a high level of sharia-compliance and jihadi threat, including:

Ultra-orthodox worship in which women are separated from men in the prayer hall and must enter the mosque from a separate, usually back, entrance; and are required to wear hijabs.

Sermons that preach women are inferior to men and can be beaten for disobedience; that non-Muslims, particularly Jews, are infidels and inferior to Muslims; that jihad or support of jihad is not only a Muslim's duty but the noblest way, and suicide bombers and other so-called "martyrs" are worthy of the highest praise; and that an Islamic caliphate should one day encompass the U.S.

Solicitation of financial support for jihad.

Bookstores that sell books, CDs and DVDs promoting jihad and glorifying martyrdom.

Though not all mosques in America are radicalized, many have tended to serve as safe havens and meeting points for Islamic terrorist groups. Experts say there are at least 40 episodes of extremists and terrorists being connected to mosques in the past decade alone.

Some of the 9/11 hijackers, in fact, received aid and counsel from one of the largest mosques in the Washington, D.C., area. Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center is one of the mosques indentified by undercover investigators as a hive of terrorist activity and other extremism.

It was founded and is currently run by leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. Imams there preach what is called "jihad qital," which means physical jihad, and incite violence and hatred against the U.S.

Dar al-Hijrah's ultimate goal, investigators say, is to turn the U.S. into an Islamic state governed by sharia law.

Another D.C.-area mosque, the ADAMS Center, was founded and financed by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and has been one of the top distributors of Wahhabist anti-Semitic and anti-Christian dogma.

Even with such radical mosques operating in its backyard, the U.S. government has not undertaken its own systematic investigation of U.S. mosques.

In contrast, European Union security officials are analyzing member-state mosques, examining the training and funding sources of imams, in a large-scale project.

Some U.S. lawmakers want the U.S. to conduct its own investigation.

"We have too many mosques in this country," said Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y. "There are too many people who are sympathetic to radical Islam. We should be looking at them more carefully."

[Chris OConnor]

Do you assume that this survey is biased and wrong? Or do you know it to be biased and wrong? If you accept the validity of this survey do you think the findings are relevant, important and worthy of attention?

[DWill]

Obviously worthy of attention. There is always that possibility that a study is biased or flawed. I have no reason to think that of the one you cite, but will be interested in hearing any other viewpoints about it.

[Ophelia]

I have two comments about this:
1-
I am always very wary of what is called "radicalism" or often (not in this document) "anti-American" in the US, and already felt suspicious pre 9/11.
In politics I imagine that a very mainstream organization like the French Socialist Party would be called dangerous Radicals, and for the French Communist Party you'd have to fall back on "evil", or jaileable.

2- However, if what is written in this document is true, it is amazing that no measures have been taken, especially when you think of post 9/11 hysteria and what is still going on in airports for example.
I think we would need other documents about whether measures are taken about what is preached in mosques in the US. I find it difficult to believe that nothing is being done, at least unofficially.

These things are being done routinely in France, especially since 9/11.
The preaches of imams that are not known are listened to, it's not even difficult since the crazy types usually come from Pakistan or Gulf countries. They're told what they are allowed to preach and not to preach in France, and if they don't follow the guidelines their visas are withdrawn.
Those things happen discreetely, and I've never heard that the French Muslim communities complained about this. If anything, the foreign imams are competition for the established Muslim churches in France, who are rather moderate.

[Thomas Hood]

An undercover survey of more than 100 mosques and Islamic schools in America has exposed widespread radicalism, including the alarming finding that 3 in 4 Islamic centers are hotbeds of anti-Western extremism, WND has learned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily

"WorldNetDaily is a for-profit website that provides primarily evangelical-conservative-oriented news and editorials...."

In my opinion they ought to be examining themselves.

Tom

[DWill]

In a small neighboring city in the Shenandoah Valley, a proposal to convert a house into a mosque drew vitriolic responses in the newspaper from two ultra-right fundamentalists. One of them cited an unnamed survey of Muslim schools that taught radical jihadism. I'm wondering if the study could be the same that Chris posted about.

[My books]

I use Snopes.com on a lot of the email forwards I get, mostly for a laugh because they are almost always false... I am always wary of articles like this one that describe things in absolutes and seem happy to promote an atmosphere of distrust, hatred and paranoia.

[shawnrohrbach]

1) I attended a Catholic Mass in the Seattle area and the sermon was focused on the inherent evils and nefarious intentions of Muslims. The last time I was in this church, the same priest talked about how evil homosexuals are.
2) I have gone twice after work to a bar for a beer and and no one in the bar likes Muslims, and in fact they talk about how cool it will be when we nuke them. These guys also hate cyclists, women, homosexuals and now me once I told them I ride a bike every day. They told me not to come back to that bar.
3) In the sauna where I work out, some of the regluars are vets, none of whom fought in Iraq or Afghanistan, and they talk incessantly about how much they hate Muslims. They want Israel to nuke Iran.

Hate is common in this country and if they are preaching hate in a mosque in this country, perhaps that is the reason and they are just integrating into the culture.

[DWill]

You burst my bubble. I thought in enlightened Seattle at least cyclists would be OK. (I'm one, too.) But it could be worse, I'm sure. My local newspaper published a letter, in relation to the mosque I mentioned previously, in which the writer asked "Where is Charles Martel when we need him?" That is truly astonishing, that a newspaper would give a voice to someone advocating killing Muslims.
DWill