Islamic Leader Says Drop the ''We Are Victims'' Mentality !

Dr M. Zuhdi Jasser, a conservative author, activist and the president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD), has a message for Muslim Americans and those in other Western countries: ''Step up to the plate and work diligently to combat Islamism and extremism.''  Jasser spoke out this week about his reaction to the Boston Marathon terror attack and his views on steps that should be taken within Islamic circles to prevent further extremism. When asked how he believes Muslims should be reacting to the terror attacks, the faith leader noted that he has been disappointed by the response thus far. He claimed that many Islamic leaders and mainly Imams have simply not done enough to speak out to condemn terrorist acts and that much more is required of the Muslim community as a whole.

''Swift condemnations of the act of terrorism are just not enough. I don't believe that the non-Muslim public is buying their mantra of denial and victimization, just look at the boys mother's yelling they were set up...spare me! They deny that the perpetrators were Muslim (basically committing 'takfir' as is typical for Islamists) -- all the while the list of hundreds of American Muslims either attempting to commit or having committed acts of terrorism continues to pile up." Jasser said.  He took particular aim at those Muslim leaders who he believes ''focus on their own victimization, patronizingly reminding the rest of the West not to be 'racists' or 'bigots.''' This Muslim leader said that it is time for faith leaders to confront the issues that so often lead to radicalization.

Jasser believes that rather than avoiding the discussion and claiming victimization, it is paramount for these leaders to figure out what's separating some Muslim youths from Westernization and leading them ''toward supremacist Islamism'' -- and he wants to address this phenomena sooner than later. We can't afford to wait any longer. ''There is a deep soulful battle of identity raging within the Muslim consciousness domestically and abroad between Westernism and liberalism,'' he said. ''In essence the Islamists confront every situation in a selfish 'we are the victims' mentality and the rest of  non-Islamist Muslims need to instead respond with a louder and more real leadership and say: 'We will not be victims.'''

Dr Jasser also noted that those who embrace the Muslim faith should openly acknowledge that the radicalisation problem requires believers to tackle the issue from within -- and that Muslims who embrace reform are the most essential to preventing future attacks. By all accounts, Jasser practices what he preaches. Through AIFD, he seeks to educate Muslims and non-Muslims, alike, in an effort to prevent extremism. We have been trying to engage as much of the public as possible as the long overdue attention to the greatest threat to our security in the 21st century is beginning to be realized,'' he said. ''The Islamist threat manifests as the early stages of radicalization domestically and it manifests as theocratic regimes (like the Iranian Khomeinists or Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood) abroad who will NEVER be our allies and ultimately seek our destruction.''

It is through engaging the public that he hopes Americans will see that AIFD can help keep the nation safe through vital and unique programs. One of those is called the Muslim Liberty Project, which works to engage young Muslims, ages 15 to 30, in an effort to help foster American identity -- a worldview that embraces the Constitution and the ''separation of mosque and state.'' The goal? To prevent youths falling into the paranoid extremist trap. Another program, the American Islamic Leadership Coalition, brings together diverse Muslim groups that are opposed to Islamism. Through public statements and press conferences their goal is to get the word out about combating extremism in all its forms and neutralize the hate-preachers like that Australian deadshit Imam Feiz Mohammad (photo right).

The Way I See It.....for more wide-ranging solutions, America needs to come to a national consensus -- one that examines terrorism as something rooted in a larger problem. I believe that political Islam (also known as Islamism) can't be defeated by military might and that these structures must be combated through a moral indignation-style engagement. The battle against these groups, though, must be waged by Muslims themselves. This needs to be engaged on many fronts with a public-private partnership where government, media, activist groups and academe begin to push any and all pressure points which break down the power systems of Islamist groups and ideas of victimization while bolstering the infrastructure and ideas of non-Islamist groups here and abroad. We don't need douchebag media personalities such as Geraldo Rivera or Tom Brokaw mouthing off with their leftist-liberal crap by saying that Americans must accept some of the blame for these home-grown terror attacks. Islamists feed on Western self-loathing. I'm happy to say that Dr Jasser has taken the politically incorrect bull-by-the-horns and called for President Obama to develop a Liberty Doctrine as the guiding philosophy for the nation to counteract the threat of Islamism. Let's hope Obama has the guts to do it.
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