The Media, Immigration, and Islam

And as long as there are millions of hard-working, pro-American immigrants from Latin American and Asia who would like to come here but can’t, why are we letting in anyone from a culture where much of the populace is at least sympathetic to the notion of this country being ruled by Sharia law? 

     If you think I’m exaggerating about the mindset of so-called moderate Muslims, consider the New York Times’ front page feature story of June 18 about two U.S. Muslim clerics who “seek a modern middle ground.” Sheik Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir were presented (as these types so often are) as paragons of enlightened Muslim leaders who are leading the fight against Islamic extremism.

     Yusuf, for instance, is considered pro-American because he thinks Iraqi kidnappers are just as bad as “American bombings in which the military dismisses the civilians killed as ‘collateral damage.’” Now you might think that his comparing accidental deaths in wartime to deliberately targeted civilians is just another barbaric example of moral equivalency. But to Yusuf (and, apparently, the Times) it’s a great concession.

     Shakir, for his part, freely admits that he hopes America will eventually become a Muslim country ruled by Islamic law. Still, he’s a temperate voice of reason, because he would like this to happen “not by violent means, but by persuasion.” Well, I guess that’s a relief.

     Because both these clerics are native-born U.S. citizens, there’s not much we can do about them. But do we really need to import more people who think, for instance, “that anything that is discriminatory does not qualify” as free speech?

That was the theme of a recent USC Muslim Student Union panel about the Danish cartoons, which at least brought up the possibility of a new Muslim disinformation slogan. Islam, Religion of Peace is getting a little old. How about: Islam, the Free Speech Religion? It does have a kind of Pork, the Other White Meat snappiness to it.

Anyway, you can’t avoid importing suicide bombers just by eschewing immigrants from fanatical backgrounds.  Remember Raed Mansou Albanna? He was the Jordanian carbomber who, before finding Allah and blowing up 132 Iraqis outside a medical clinic a few months ago, apparently grew up in a secular home.      Albanna was also a fun-loving Hollywood clubhopper for a spell, admitted to the U.S. on a tourist visa in early 2001 before returning to Jordan in late 2002.

    So other than those who are actually fleeing persecution from Islam, the Free Speech Religion, or who have helped American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, I say keep them all out. Why should even the most festive Arab partyboy be allowed to take the place of one Mexican gardener?

PajamasMedia Special Correspondent CATHERINE SEIPP writes the weekly “From the Left Coast” column for National Review Online, a monthly column for Independent Women’s Forum and freelances other places, such as the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal op-ed pages. She previously wrote columns for: Buzz, Mediaweek, UPI, New York Press and Salon. Her work has also appeared in Reason, Penthouse, TV Guide, the National Post and Forbes.