A mind is a terrible thing to use : The Islamic Thinkers Society finds no publicity bad publicity and gives interview

This time the Islamic Thinker Society is going to be publicized on the New York Times. Similar to the New York Observer, the New York Times is going with sources which are questionable. Again and again, the Muslims of Islamic Thinkers Society have denied any interviews to the media. From CNN to the Observer, we the Muslims of ITS have not consented to any interviews. Due to the unavailability of any direct source of information, even the reputable media outlets have turned into tabloids. The goal of the media is to suppress Muslims who stand up for injustice is vindicated even more now.

Andrea Elliott of the New York Times has been told numerous times that no interviews are available, but she dogmatically pursued to find information on the Muslims of Islamic Thinkers Society. The information gathered by Ms. Elliott is from sources which have no direct connection to the members of Islamic Thinkers Society whatsoever. The sources are people with prejudice understanding towards the views of Islam. Ms. Elliott has gotten hold of one of the members father from Islamic Thinkers Society. The New York Times profiling of Islamic Thinkers Society will be based on the interview with the father of one of the members. We the Muslims of Islamic Thinkers Society state that even the father of one of the members of ITS is not a credible source because first of all the views of the father are secular and against what Islam stands for. The brother from Islamic Thinkers Society has stated that his father is "completely secular and a non-practicing Muslim." The father therefore is not a credible source to write a sound article that would present the correct views of Islamic Thinkers Society.

Ms. Elliott and other members of the New York Times have been trying to profile members of the Islamic Thinkers Society as militant extremists. Like the Observer and other similar outlets The New York Times will attempt to label and generalize Islamic Thinkers Society. This again reveals the motives of the media today, which is to demoralize Islam and Muslims. The media is suppressing Muslims and their views by falsely associating peaceful/non-violent groups like Islamic Thinkers Society with militant groups. It seems that whenever a Muslim disagrees with the current "policies" then he or she is automatically targeted and labeled as an extremist militant or an Al Qaeda sympathizer.

A double standard is present when groups like God Hates America (http://www.GodHatesAmerica.com) voice out their opinions about issues in America and have not been speculated by the media. The prejudice in the media can bee seen when groups like God Hates America praise the 9/11 attacks and the media ignores their comments. Yet when Muslims who condemn the 9/11 attacks voices their views are portrayed negatively. This leaves us to question if the Muslims today are even given a right to express their opinions or will they forever be suppressed by the media and Islamophobes?

Here is a transcript of the the death threat made by Christine Withers:
Couple of points to note on the audio:
At about 3:00 on the audio, a member of Islamic Thinkers Society mentions about the District Attorney telling Christine to stay a distance from us. Christine say that the District Attorney DID instruct her to stay away from us but she never recieved any written statement stating to stay away from us.(See article - 2nd paragraph from bottom "We all arrived at an agreement where as I will attend anger management classes, I believe 24 sessions, and a fine. This also includes an order to stay away from them, and a period of probation")

Also around 15:40:
Christine Withers tells br. Abul Ghareeb that if she doesn't see anything on the I.T.S. website clarifying that she(Christine) is a lesbian female, then she will come after us:

15:50
ITS member : Is that a threat or something?
Christine Withers: Yea
ITS member : ok. It's a threat.

16:35 - 17:12
ITS member : Listen I told you that I'd clarify that for you, you know, but I didn't expect a threat back, that's all.
Christine Withers: I didn't threaten you.
ITS member : But you just said a little while ago you just did. I told you, are you trying to threaten me...
Christine Withers: I think that you don't take out f**king what you defamed me with, I'll kill you. That's a threat.
ITS member : Oh ok.
Christine Withers: Since that ain't online.
ITS member : Is that what you're saying...
Christine Withers: You want me to say that somewhere, I did not say that. But YOU know I did. And guess what?
ITS member : What?
Christine Withers: I'm Italian
ITS member : Ok
Christine Withers: I don't care what the f**k that has to do with American, Christian, or anything, but I'm a f**king Italian, and I won't do it, I won't do it. My f**king family has enough connection that THEY'LL f**king do it.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/nyregion/22islamic.html?pagewanted=print.

Queens Muslim group opposes violence and America By ANDREA ELLIOTT Published: June 22, 2005

The young Muslim men, with beards and bullhorns, work the streets of Jackson Heights on the weekends. They surface at parades and protests around the city, loudly declaring America the enemy and advocating for an Islamic state. Several weeks ago, they publicly tore up an American flag as payback for the reported desecration of the Koran at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Their own videos of violence against Muslims, one with the title "Muslim Massacres," have recently appeared on Queens Public Television.

When a woman broke with tradition to lead a Friday prayer for Muslims in March, the Islamic Thinkers were among those protesting outside the Synod House in Morningside Heights, where the event took place.

In the annals of New York City's political outspokenness and fringe-group culture, the Islamic Thinkers Society may seem unremarkable at first glance. But after 9/11, in the city most damaged and unsettled by the terrorist attacks, the emergence of this young, however limited, Muslim-American voice is strikingly bold. In its fliers and on its Web site, the group describes itself as an "intellectual and political nonviolent organization," but it bears a strong resemblance to Islamist movements in England that try to unite Muslims by inciting anger.

"Wake up and realize that the line has been drawn between the camp of Emaan and the camp of Kufr and there is no middle ground as of right now," reads a glossy publication by the group that is titled "Islamic Revival." In Arabic, Emaan can be translated to mean "faith" and Kufr, "disbelief."

"We are not afraid to speak against the unjust rulers of Muslim world and replace them," the statement reads. "To the Muslim scholars for dollar$: Speak good or remain silent!"

The group's spokesman, Ariful Islam, said he was a 21-year-old student at La Guardia Community College who came to Queens from Bangladesh when he was 8. He said the group's purpose was promoting unity among Muslims and that the F.B.I. had been monitoring it for two years. The F.B.I. would not comment.

"What they're worried about is, are we recruiting for jihad," Mr. Islam said. "Through our past couple of years we have never recruited anyone to go to a foreign land. We have always made that clear through our activities. We have always stressed nonviolent means. However, that does not mean that we don't address American foreign policy, and we strongly disagree with their policies."

After years of quietly ignoring the group, the city's Muslim leaders began to speak out against it this week after reports of the flag desecration. Imams, activists and other leaders worry that the group is misrepresenting Islam, sending a negative message to Muslim youths and damaging a hard-earned, fragile trust between the Muslim community and those in law enforcement.

"They do not sound like thinkers," said Mohammad Tariq Sherwani, the imam of the Muslim Center of New York, who said the group has frequented his Flushing mosque, brandishing fliers with bloody photographs from Iraq and Palestine. "We, as leaders, have to help them think. Islam does not believe in any extremism. Islam is not fanaticism. Islam believes in balance."

"These are bad times for Muslims, he added. "We don't want to increase the problem."

For such a public group, much about it remains a mystery. As a policy, its members do not give interviews and members' names are not listed on the group's Web site, www.IslamicThinkers.com. In recent days, the site has been devoted to the inquiries of several newspaper reporters, asserting that they intended to paint the group as militant extremists, with a motive to "demoralize Islam."

Yesterday evening, Mr. Islam made an exception and granted an interview, in which he said that the group, which has less than a dozen members, opposed participation in the American political system, and would only approve of an Islamic leader "guided by the Koran."

He dismissed criticism of the group by the city's Muslim leaders as fear of a "backlash."

"We have nothing to hide," he said. "We are always in the public."

"We're all just regular kids in New York City," he added. "We grew up here."

Known in Queens simply as the Thinkers, the group carefully videotapes its interactions with the public, as well as its own activities.

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