The myth of moderate Islam in Ireland: MPAC.ie
by John
I found this video on the website of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee of Ireland. I think people really should watch it:
So, to recap: Any time a kuffar “lays siege” (that term is never actually defined here, and Al-Quaeda has long regarded the mere presence of foreign embassies to fall within its remit) to a “Muslim land” (again, the term is undefined) it is not merely permissable, but obligatory to wage Jihad against them.
It is in order to kill women and children, because this “breaks the heart of the enemy”. And to be clear, you may not rape a woman unless you capture her in battle (a term, once again, not defined) in which case she becomes your property and you may rape her, or slaughter her as a goat.
Elsewhere on mpac.ie, you can read enlightening essays like this one, which is basically a screed against the west in the kind of language I have often heard from Anjem Choudary, and this one, which says that working for the implementation of Shariah law is the “patriotic duty” of every Muslim.
Now, you can read for yourself what MPAC says its aims are. It has a lengthy “about” section on it’s website. To be fair, they never explicitly call themselves moderates.
What I’d like to know is why the media in this country seems so set on ignoring these nutters? “Denying them the oxygen of publicity” would of course be the obvious excuse, but it ignores the fact that they don’t actually require publicity to be successful. Their target audience is not the average reader of the Times or the Independent. They have a platform, built around an image of respectability, from which to reach out and radicalise the young Muslim community growing in our midst.
I visited their website on a whim. That it was so easy to find material which incites hatred is astounding, and disturbing. This country considers itself immune to the threat of Islamic fascism, but we are not. Until we’re brave enough to call these people what they are, shut them down, and kick them out, we’re simply sitting on a time bomb.
Comments
“To be fair, they never explicitly call themselves moderates.”
Well then why did you include the word in the headline of your blog post, presenting MPAC as proof that moderate Islam doesn’t exist in Ireland (i.e. that all Muslims in Ireland subscribe to their views)?
I didn’t actually say there were no moderate Muslims. I said the idea of moderate Islam – as an ideology and a theology is a myth. And it is. Your comment actually spotlights the problem. They don’t call themselves radicals or extremists either, but they are. When you have to identify a religion – and groups of people within that religion – as either moderate or extreme, the entire community of people you are talking about has a problem. “Moderate” Islam is a myth precisely because it enables people to refuse to engage with websites like this one and write it off as the work of a few extremists, and to further write off criticism of the religious underpinnings of terror as sectarianism. It’s a myth because it absolves a faith of responsibility for its own dark side – something it refuses to confront either here or abroad.
whois: mpac.ie
% Rights restricted by copyright;
http://www.domainregistry.ie/Copyright.php
% Do not remove this notice
domain: mpac.ie
descr: MPAC
descr: Unincorporated Association
descr: Unincorporated Association Name
admin-c: AIO139-IEDR
tech-c: ABG704-IEDR
renewal: 12-December-2009
status: Active
nserver: ns1.vidahost.com
nserver: ns2.vidahost.com
source: IEDR
person: Liam Egan
nic-hdl: AIO139-IEDR
source: IEDR
person: Lets Host Domain Services
nic-hdl: ABG704-IEDR
source: IEDR
Now let’s google search this Liam Egan person:
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/letters/muslim-stereotyping-promotes-hatred-1308877.html
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ian-odoherty/manners-maketh-the-person-1476851.html
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/state-to-consider-muslim-schooldress-code-1380624.html
And in particular on http://www.herald.ie/opinion/this-man-is-wrong-about-muslim-rights-1476961.html
a photo and:
Liam Egan, a convert to Islam, and his wife Beverley want their 14-year-old daughter, Shekinah, to be allowed to wear her headscarf to Gorey Community School.
So no really representative of Muslim immigrants, so question is he a straw man created for everyone to fear and loathe or is he just a local crazy who decided to rebel ala John Walker Lindh
about a minute ago
A frontman is just that Dermot, it’s who’s behind this individual that’s the concern. I went on their site today and there’s a reference to this post: http://mpac.ie/2010/01/03/if-you-throw-a-stone-at-every-barking-dog/ so you’ve obviously hit a nerve.
Yeah, I did the same light research on the owner myself, a very frustrating character.
As for your reply, John –
“When you have to identify a religion – and groups of people within that religion – as either moderate or extreme, the entire community of people you are talking about has a problem.”
Well, I hope you hold not only Muslims to this – are there not radical Christians who bomb abortion clinics and murder abortionists? Are there not ultra orthodox Jews who act completely reprehensibly and subject women to similarly awful conditions as do radical Muslims?
Also, you should really install a wordpress plugin to allow users to be notified of follow-up replies in comments. I only came back here after seeing someone visited my site from here.