Tennesseans are right to be concerned about bigotry being imported into this state. We share this concern. It is the very reason why we support Geert Wilders’ visit to warn us about the bigotry being imported by Islamic extremists into European countries, such as Mr. Wilders’ Holland — and perhaps also to warn us that the same hatred is being brought into the United States and into Tennessee.
Consider: In 2004, an Iraqi immigrant to Nashville, Ahmed Uqualy, was arrested for stockpiling weaponry and plotting terror attacks against Jews as part of what he explained was his “going jihad.”
In 2007, a Nashville Somali taxi driver, Ibrahim Ahmed, ran down a student with his cab after getting into an argument over religion and praising Hitler for wanting to “cleanse” the world of the Jews. The student was critically injured.
In 2010, Vanderbilt’s Saudi-educated Muslim chaplain Awadh Binhazim was caught on camera claiming that Islam demands homosexuals be put to death.
And just this March, Memphian Melvin Bledsoe testified to Congress about his son Carlos. Carlos had converted to radical Islam, received terrorist training in Yemen, and returned to the United States; where he tried to firebomb a Nashville rabbi’s house and went on to kill an Army recruiter in Little Rock, Ark. According to Mr. Bledsoe’s testimony, it was the imam of Nashville’s Al Farouq mosque who recommended Carlos to his Yemeni contacts.
The hatred that inspired all these acts of bigotry and violence is increasingly common in the West, imported from centers of Islamic extremism in the Middle East by radical preachers and activists. While this is a relatively new phenomenon in Nashville, Holland has dealt with the radicalization of its Muslim immigrant population for decades. Mr. Wilder’s perspective on this issue is, therefore, unique and valuable.
Diverse conversation is often suppressed
It’s important to discuss Islamic extremism, and the only way that we can have an informative discussion is by presenting diverse views.
We all recognize the importance of free speech and open civil discourse in a democratic society. It is always puzzling why some in our community and media are so intent on demonizing people they disagree with. This is a disservice to our community and a corruption of the concept of journalism.
Any attempt to discuss radical Islam in America is immediately attacked as Islamophobia and bigotry.
It’s hard not to conclude that some people, especially in the media, are trying to suppress free and civil discourse about important social problems which pose significant threats to our civil society and the safety of all citizens.
As Geert Wilders’ supporters, being asked by The Tennessean to respond to a loaded “why do you beat your wife"-type question predicated on an accusation of bigotry — indeed a smear instead of an honest inquiry — is to us just another example of this media malfeasance.
Let the public hear what a distinguished parliamentarian from Europe has to say. Those who disagree have and will continue to have significant access to the media to present their views.