The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting the imam of a local mosque, the largest from what I understand, has commended the 9-11 hijackers in a khutba in Lebanon. The defense is that the comments were taken out of context, but the text is not made available. Give us the context. More telling is the final line: “”When you make a speech in an Arabic environment, the translation will be different in an English environment.”” How will it be different to recommend murder in one language than in another?
I agree we shouldn’t rush to judgment, but the Muslim community of Sydney should demand complete transparency here. What did he say and why did he say it? I go to Sydney on a regular basis, and I don’t believe the Muslims there have been so radicalized as to support 9-11 in any way. They do need to start getting more vocal about holding the public faces of the community responsible, and I do believe too many of them are that radical.
A comment on your blog as a whole, rather than on this post per se — I just found your blog, and am adding it to my list of bookmarks. I’m enjoying reading your back posts. Thank you for your thoughts and your voice.