What Happens To Moderate Muslims
In some countries, it takes a lot of courage to speak out against primitivism, violence and murder. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, a Bangladeshi Muslim journalist and editor, was arrested and could be sentenced to death if convicted -- for the "crime" of advocating peaceful resolution with Israel. Michael Freund writes in the Jerusalem Post:
As editor of The Weekly Blitz, an English-language newspaper published in Dhaka, Choudhury aroused the ire of Bangladeshi authorities after he printed articles favorable to Israel and critical of Muslim extremism.Bangladesh does not recognize Israel's existence and refuses to establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
In November 2003, Choudhury was arrested at Dhaka's international airport just prior to boarding a flight on his way to Israel, where he was scheduled to deliver an address on promoting understanding between Muslims and Jews. His visit to Israel would have been the first by a Bangladeshi journalist.
Choudhury was charged with sedition, held in prison for 17 months and was reportedly tortured before being freed in April 2005. But the authorities in Bangladesh, which is ruled by a coalition government that includes Islamic extremists, decided to continue pursuing charges against him.
Dr. Richard Benkin, an American Jew who led the fight to win Choudhury's release, told the Post that the situation facing the beleaguered journalist was dire.
"Choudhury has angered the Islamists, who both engineered his arrest and continue to see this as an important case," Benkin said. "He is a pro-Israeli, anti-terrorist Muslim who will not be cowed into silence."
After his release from prison last year, Choudhury proceeded to reopen his weekly newspaper, continuing to publish articles calling for greater interfaith understanding and warning of the dangers posed by fundamentalist Islamic terror.
Please, somebody, tell me again how I'm "racist" for calling the likes of people jailing the Choudhurys of the world "primitive," "savages," and "barbarians." P.S. And here's a tip: Islam is not a race.
Indeed. Just as Judiasm is not a race, either.
I wish there were more stories about people like Choudhury. Those are the kinds of things we need to hear about in the MSM in this country, in order to avoid tarring an entire religion/culture with the same brush. Thanks for posting it.
Kitt at September 24, 2006 6:22 PM
Indeed. Just as Judiasm is not a race, either.
I wish there were more stories about people like Choudhury. Those are the kinds of things we need to hear about in the MSM in this country, in order to avoid tarring an entire religion/culture with the same brush. Thanks for posting it.
Kitt at September 24, 2006 6:27 PM
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