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May 25, 2005 Hussein Ibish and Kamal Nawash squared off last night [24 May 2005] on Washington Insider, a weekly television show sponsored by James Zogby to debate their differences over whether the American Muslims or Muslims any where on earth ought to collectively apologize for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on Washington and New York. After watching for one full hour, I was chagrined by the realization of how little did the two men contribute to those of us that discern Islam and those that are incognizant of the faith. I couldn't tell if they were verbally fighting, arguing, debating, protesting, advising, blaming, deriding, name-calling, or what! Even the two hosts, Maya Barry, and Hala Qotob joined in on the melee and the whole show turned unto hodgepodge. Ibish is usually succinct, accurate, and methodical, regrettably, he didn't manifest any of these traits during the debate, and although he appeared aggressive and unctuous, he was no match for Nawash's aridities and strident speech. By listening so attentively, It seems to me like the Muslims still until our present day didn't get their act together, as some of them still believe that 9/11 was some kind of a Jewish conspiracy, others believe it was a CIA insider job, and lastly, while some reluctantly acknowledging the nineteen hijackers were Muslims they still feel that they shouldn't apologize on their behalf because apologizing may end up being misconstrued as an admission of guilt. It also seems that Muslims still don't have a consensus on what terrorism is all about, some for instance believe that Hamas's suicide bombers that kill Israeli civilians in restaurants,night clubs and at bus stops is considered legitimate resistance against occupation ,and every Israeli be that a soldier or a civilian is a fair target. Some think that the United States itself is a terrorist country, they cite the long years of sanctions against the Iraqi people as well as the Iraqis that were killed during the toppling of Saddam Hussein regime and after as a classic example of US terrorism. Messrs Ibish and Nawash dueling extended beyond the normal high pitch voices and into name-calling as at one point in the show Mr. Ibish referred to Mr.Nawash as "Idiot" and he threatened at some other point to repeat the name-calling one more time. Mr. Nawash on his part challenged Mr.Ibish to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization and condemn suicide bombing as a form of terrorism, Ibish complied willingly. The two contenders accused one another of having dubious financial sources and supporters. Nawash was accused by being financed by right wing religious right racists groups, Nawash defended his organization by stating that his finances are membership driven and he has about nine thousand members that contribute to the well-being of the free Muslim against terrorism organization. Mr. Ibish on his part stated that his organization consists mainly of young Muslims that are born in the USA and immigrants from over sees, it is pluralistic and diversified in nature. It wasn't clearly understood as to where its financial support is coming from. Mr. Nawash believes that all of the Muslim organizations in America have failed miserably in articulating their position, while they say in a hush voice that they are against terrorism, they don't speak out very loudly against it, they even refused to join a rally he and his group held in Washington last week specifically to condemn terrorism. Mr. Nawash believes that his organization [free Muslims against terrorism] was founded for the purpose of fighting the ideological Muslims from within, he believes than only Muslims can, and must clean up their own house before they expect any one else to give them the respect and dignity that they seek. Mr. Ibish on his part believes that Nawash is taking this exclusivist position as if no one else out there from the Muslim community is doing anything about terrorism, Mr.Ibish asserts that all of the Muslim organizations in the USA are doing their part in fighting terrorism and in aiding the federal government in its ongoing war on terrorism with the only difference is that they don't wear it on their sleeves, & they don't gloat about it, and they don't demonstrate the same hubristic attitude that Mr.Nawash's organization is doing on Fox news and on the other neocon conservative websites. In my naive mind I thought that the fissure exists only between the Muslim world and the western world, after watching the debate I concluded that the Chasm between Muslims themselves is much wider and much harder to bridge than the one that is existing between Muslims and nonmuslims. I think that we are are no where near any kind of reconciliation, the Muslim people and I'm one of them need to take a hard look at their own religion and see how they can mesh it into the 21st century. I understand that the versus and the sura's couldn't be altered in any way , shape, or form. However, the interpretation can and should be be scrutinized yet one more time to correlate the language of the sixth century with the language of the 21st century. Staying put and claiming that the Koran fits for every era and every individual on the universe without updating some of the outdated interpretation is a cop out and a formula for stagnation, failure, and backhandedness. ------------ About the author: Hatem Abunimeh writes about the Arab people culture, religion, and politics. He is a gadfly for Palestine media watch, based in Washington DC. Email: habunimeh@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. 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