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Human rights rally against radical Islam
I attended the last half hour of the Human Rights Coalition against Radical Islam rally at Times Square yesterday. It was a small but spirited demo, consisting of perhaps 200 people in a roped off area along the east side of Seventh Avenue between 40th and 41st Street. Standing in the steady rain, listening to speakers with mostly foreign accents shouting over blasting loud speakers, I could understand only snatches of what was being said. I couldn’t make out any statements about what should be DONE about “radical Islam,” with the exception of one speaker—the only European American I heard and the only speaker who didn’t shout and whom I could understand—who said that immigration of dangerous Muslims should be stopped. Given that this coalition is entirely liberal in its ideology, that was something. While I cannot get excited about a movement that criticizes “radical” Islam rather than Islam itself, a movement that also sees America exclusively in terms of diversity and human rights, any effort to alert the world to the Islamic danger is a good thing. It’s a good thing for Westerners to hear from the non-Western peoples who have been victimized by Islam over the centuries, particularly Hindus. One of the last speakers was a Sikh, who stood on the stage with two fellow Sikhs next to him. With their full beards and traditional dress they are cool looking dudes—but I couldn’t help but wonder, what are they doing in the U.S.? Why aren’t such traditional people living in their own country?
Here is the coalition’s website and mission statement. Jihad Watch has posted some photos of the demonstration. Email entry |