... I see that Dallas Muslim leader Mohamed Elibiary's warning to me that if I didn't stop writing about Islam in ways he disapproves of, I "could expect" someone to put a banana in the exhaust pipe of my car ("or something") is getting some attention on other sites. To be sure, there are worse things that can happen to one than an Islamist to tamper with one's car in that way; a would-be suburban jihadist might short-sheet my bed, for example. Arf arf! What struck me as worth commenting on about Elibiary's missive is the threat that my continuing to draw unwanted scrutiny to Muslim thought and actions would cause someone from his community to tamper with my car, or worse.

...Some commenters think I'm overreacting. Maybe so, but I wanted to get it on the public record that Elibiary made this kind of remark in case something should happen. In any case, it is instructive to imagine the hullabaloo had I written to Elibiary to tell him that if Muslims keep getting arrested here and there on terrorism charges, he "could expect" angry and frightened non-Muslims to tamper with the cars of Muslims with intent to do them harm.

... It's no big deal, in the end, but I note it also because the Elibiary-goes-bananas incident, minor though it may be, offers an interesting insight as to why whenever there is an Islamic terror bombing or terror-related arrests involving Muslims, many Muslim leaders seem much more interested in speaking out against those who would think forbidden thoughts about Islam than they do in speaking out against those Islamic extremists who are doing so much to bring disgrace upon their religion. It'll be a great day when Mohamed Elibiary is more concerned about fellow Dallas-area Muslims hosting a tribute to the Ayatollah Khomeini conference (at which Elibiary spoke) than he is about a local newspaper columnist who troubles himself to ask what it means that Muslims around here hold conferences like that.

... Eric Anondson posted in the comboxes below a link to an extraordinary and very much welcome column by a Canadian Muslim. Here's an excerpt, but you really should read the whole thing. The author, a man named Salim Mansur, deserves everyone's gratitude and support. Even a hundred Muslims with his frankness and courage and willingness to step into the spotlight with his prophetic words, would help immeasurably:

We repeat endlessly that Islam is a religion of peace, yet too many of us display conduct contrary to what we profess.

We keep assuring ourselves and others that Muslims who violate Islam are a minuscule minority, yet we fail to hold this minority accountable in public.

A bowl of milk turns into curd with a single drop of lemon. The minuscule minority we blame is this drop of lemon that has curdled and made a shambles of our Islam, yet too many of us insist against all evidence our belief somehow sets us apart as better from others.

In Islam, we insist, religion and politics are inseparable. As a result, politics dominates our religion -- and our religion has become a cover for tribalism and nationalism.

We regularly quote from the Koran, but do not make repentance for our failings as the Koran instructs, by seeking forgiveness of those who we have harmed.

We Muslims are the source of our own misery, and we are not misunderstood by others who see in our conduct a threat to their peace.

And almost for good measure in proving the point about the MSM's choices to represent "moderate" Muslims, here's excertps from a FrontPage magazine piece on CAIR's Nihad Awad, quoted in Reuter's piece:

Lady Liberty and Old Glory adorn the latest announcement flyer from CAIR-Florida for its annual banquet that is to be held Saturday, April 3, 2004. It's a huge event for the group, described on the flyer as "A Defining Moment." Nihad Awad (Hammad), the Executive Director of the national headquarters -- scheduled to speak at the event -- is sure to be a large draw to all those in the area that care about the propagation of the Islamist cause.

In reality, that's all this event is -- one big illusion.

Wherever Nihad Awad goes, he brings with him a lot of baggage. Thanks to the work of counter-terror expert Steven Emerson, Awad's ties to an overseas Palestinian fanatical group have become legend.

In late 1992, Awad found himself spending a month in war torn Bosnia, by way of the Bosnian Refugee Committee, an Islamic aid organization based in Minnesota. This was at a time when Muslim intransigents from around the world were making jihad in Bosnia their personal cause (or as the Koran states, an obligation).

In an article he had written for 'The Minnesota Daily,' an independent newspaper at the University of Minnesota where he was active at the time in the Muslim Students Association, Awad discussed his experience in Bosnia. He wrote admiringly of the soldiers of the Bosnian Army, who he said, "courageously [stood] up to the might of Serbian tanks and planes" and who "wore patches carrying the Islamic declaration of faith."

He also described, in the article, his interaction with Muhamed Vejzagic, who it turns out was a Brigadier General in the Bosnian Army.

A passage in one report from the time period reads: "...the Bosnian government has allowed an odious force -- what might be called an 'Islamic foreign legion' -- to become a source of weaponry and trained manpower. In Bosnia, this foreign legion (or mujahedeen) includes Afghan guerillas, Egyptian terrorists, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, in addition to Iranian special forces and Revolutionary Guard operatives." It goes on to say, "The foreign Islamic forces and local mujahedeen under their influence have, to varying degrees, been assimilated into Bosnian Army Units."

And according to another report, many of these mujahedeen entered Bosnia "posing as relief workers."

It was around this time that Nihad Awad got involved with the Islamic Association for Palestine, or in Awad's words: "After the Gulf War was over, I was offered a job with the Islamic Association for Palestine as their public relations director." He took the job, and soon after that, he accepted a position as a contributing editor for one of the organization's publications, the Muslim World Monitor, as well.

...The Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) is widely regarded as the "primary voice in the United States" of the terrorist group Hamas. The IAP was founded by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a "senior political leader" of Hamas, and the organization is credited with publishing the actual Hamas charter. In a prepared statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government Information, Steven Emerson stated, "internal Hamas documents strongly suggest that parts of the Hamas charter... were first written by members of the IAP in the United States in the early to mid-1980's."

...About the IAP, former FBI counterterrorism chief Oliver "Buck" Revell stated, "IAP is a Hamas front. It's controlled by Hamas, it brings Hamas leaders to the US, it does propaganda for Hamas."

...The IAP publication that Awad became an editor for, according to Steven Emerson in his book American Jihad, "celebrates successful Hamas terrorist attacks."

...Question: In the month that Nihad Awad stayed in Bosnia, was he there just distributing "relief aid," or did Awad meet up with Hamas operatives that got him involved in "Allah's greater cause?"

....Whatever the answer to this question is, one thing is for certain, Nihad Awad's support for Hamas was absolute. In fact, while with the IAP, in a March 22, 1994 symposium at Barry University in Florida, he stated just that. Awad said, "...after I researched the situation inside and outside Palestine, I am in support of the Hamas movement..."

....This same year, according to The Weekly Standard, when Mike Wallace of CBS's "60 Minutes" asked Awad if he supports the "military undertakings of Hamas," Awad stood up for the terrorist group and told him, "The United Nations Charter grants people who are under occupation [the right] to defend themselves against illegal occupation."

....At the behest of then-IAP President Omar Ahmad, Awad met with him (Ahmad) and Rafeeq Jaber (Ahmad's successor and current IAP President) to discuss the IAP branching out in another direction. That direction was CAIR.

...Just three months after the infamous "I support Hamas" statement, in June of 1994, the 'IAP three' incorporated the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), in Awad's words, "to bridge the chasm of ignorance between Muslims in America and their neighbors." Nihad Awad became the group's Executive Director, Omar Ahmad took on the title of Chairman of the Board, and Awad solicited his friend and colleague from the Bosnian Relief Committee, Ibrahim Hooper, as CAIR's Communications Director.

...Using a $5000 dollar "modest donation," CAIR opened up an office in the nation's capitol, Washington, D.C. That donation came from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a self-described charity that, like the IAP, was founded by Mousa Abu Marzook.

....Two years after CAIR's inception, in May of 1996, the group coordinated a press conference to protest the decision of the United States government to extradite Marzook for his connection to terrorist acts performed by Hamas. In addition, CAIR signed a letter, which was printed in the June 1996 edition of the Newsletter of the Marzuk Legal Fund, calling the extradition "anti-Islamic" and "anti-American."

...Shortly after September 11, 2001, while the world grieved over the attacks on America, Nihad Awad and CAIR took advantage of the suffering by placing on their website a picture of the World Trade Center in flames and under it a call for donations. It read, "What you can do for the victims of the WTC and Pentagon attacks," and by clicking on "Donate to the NY/DC Emergency Relief Fund" one was unsuspectingly sent directly to the website of the Holy Land Foundation. A week later, the wording of the site was changed, as visitors to the site were directly told to "Donate through the Holy Land Foundation." The link was on CAIR's website up until the beginning of December, when the information mysteriously disappeared.

....On December 4, 2001, the reason for the disappearance was apparent, as the Holy Land Foundation's assets were blocked by the United States government for funneling money to Hamas. According to the White House website, "The U.S.-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development [provided] millions of dollars each year that [was] used by HAMAS."

...This particular episode is indicative of Nihad Awad's lifelong journey, coming from a Middle East mired in terrorism and violent rhetoric and bringing that mentality here to the States. Who knows how many individuals lost their lives, because Awad and CAIR used a tragedy to mislead well doers into donating their money to the reprehensible cause that is Hamas!

...And now Awad's deceptive journey will take him to sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to rally the jihadi troops in support of his veiled radical Islamist agenda. His success or failure may very well depend on who does or does not take him and his past actions seriously.

A big hat tip to Tommy for picking up on yet another MSM masterpiece of deception.