Contact: Traeh Lledew.......................................................FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
traehnam@yahoo.com
Three months ago, a volunteer group began coalescing in cyberspace. In a little over two months, the “Jihad Awareness Project” had over a hundred members from forty-seven U.S. states. Concerned about the “more than 10,000 jihad terror attacks” media analysts like Glen Reinsford have counted in news reports from around the globe since September 11, 2001, and upset by terrorist death threats against cartoonists, authors, feminists, and politicians critical of Islam, the internet group wanted to do something “to protect Western values,” according to Traeh Lledew, the group’s organizer. The group was also alarmed over what its members perceived as the subtle creep of elements of Islamic law and practice into public institutions and economic life in the U.S. and Europe.
So two weeks ago, on November 5th, each of the more than one hundred members of the group sent author Robert Spencer’s provocatively titled book Religion of Peace? Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn’t to a U.S. senator or representative. Many also sent the DVD Islam: What the West Needs to Know, a film that makes few concessions to what some deem political correctness. The DVD interviews Mr. Spencer and a number of other scholars who argue that core elements of Islam’s texts and traditions urge warfare against unbelievers and their subjugation as second-class citizens under Islamic law. Mr. Lledew said many in his group believe that unless the “supremacist” elements of Islamic doctrine are abandoned, over time it will become “increasingly difficult for anyone to escape a sad clash of civilizations.”
That is not an uncontroversial position, of course. But according to Mr. Lledew, “it probably doesn’t get enough airplay, because too many journalists and public figures are afraid to criticize any aspect of Islam.” Asked to elaborate, he said that “not all Muslims want Islamic law imposed, but surveys show that a great many do. And it’s true that Muslims who agree with jihad terrorism are not the majority, but they are by no means a tiny minority either. For example, a survey commissioned by the Guardian newspaper and carried out by the ICM polling organization a few weeks after the deadly terrorist attacks in the London subways showed that five percent of Muslims in the United Kingdom thought those attacks were justified. Five percent works out to about 85,000 UK Muslims. Other surveys came up with similar or more disturbing numbers. Close to half of UK Muslims would like to live under Islamic law rather than under a Western legal system. Nearer to home, a 2007 Pew survey showed that at least 15,000 American Muslims think suicide bombings against civilians are ‘often justified’ to defend Islam. Too many people are afraid to acknowledge these facts. If there is to be a chance of reform in the Islamic world, more people will need to face up to and reject the aspects of Islamic doctrine that support jihad terrorism and that command the imposition everywhere of Islamic law.”
Mr. Lledew, who like his volunteers earns nothing from the project he started, said he expects senators and representatives to receive most of the books and DVDs during the second week of November. But what does he hope the group will accomplish? “I’m optimistic,” he said. “I like to picture a few senators sitting around together after hours, sipping drinks, watching the DVD and learning. I hope the project will plant some seeds for the future and that perhaps we’ll be able to pursue additional projects and continue to grow.”
If you’d like more information about this topic, or would like to schedule an interview with Traeh Lledew, please email Traeh at traehnam@yahoo.com.