It was a spectacular protest at the King Fahad mosque on Sunday the 10th — spectacularly pointless. What did the United American Committee (UAC) hope to accomplish? Ostensibly, they wanted the mosque to issue a fatwa against Osama bin Laden, or admit to preaching hate, or confess to harboring terrorists, reform their supposedly extremist ways, or something along those lines. All this, of course, was dressed up in the memory of Sept. 11. But it’s hard to swallow. Five years later, and now they’re protesting at the mosque? Part of their beef was that the mosque harbored two of the hijackers, that the Muslim community supported them, and that an imam at the mosque actively assisted them. The basis for their accusation is the 9/11 Commission Report. But unless they know something law enforcement doesn’t, they’re acting on spotty reasoning. To quote from the report (highlight added for emphasis):

“To understand what Hazmi and Mihdhar did in their first weeks in the United States, we have investigated whether anyone associated with the King Fahd Mosque assisted them. Some have speculated that Fahad al Thumairy, an imam at the mosque, may have played a role in helping the hijackers establish themselves. The circumstantial evidence makes Thumairy a logical person to consider as a possible contact for Hazmi and Mihdhar [two of the hijackers].Yet, after exploring the available leads, we have not found evidence that Thumairy provided assistance to the two operatives. ” (pp. 216-217)

Hardly unequivocal proof of guilt, is it?

Nothing Says Love Like an Execution

In any case, what exactly is a mock execution supposed to do anyway? Make friends out of the Muslims attending the mosque? The UAC might have had more success pulling down their pants and mooning the mosque. As it stands, the inherent violence and hostility implicit in a mock execution makes Ted Hayes’ and the UAC‚s claim to “love” Muslims unconvincing.

But, hey, this is a group that parrots uncritically talking points from the White House, the kind that oversimplifies the nature of Islamic extremism. They reduce it to simply fighting “evil” people, when, in fact, extremism, which obviously does lead to evil, is nonetheless the result of many factors colliding — including the history of colonialism that carved up the Middle East. The Bush-worthy oversimplification is also the kind that associates its opponents with false beliefs. Apparently, opposing the UAC actions on Sunday is tantamount to siding with Osama bin Laden. Ridiculous! No one supports bin Laden here; but that doesn’t mean automatic approval of the UAC’s actions and words. The issue of the counter-protest wasn’t bin Laden, but how people from the UAC, fancying themselves junior G-men, are engaged in a witch hunt that equates Islam with terrorism. This whole bin Laden lynching, and accusations of siding with the enemy, are just rhetorical, propagandistic diversions to mask hostility toward Muslims. What else could it be? For all their talk on the website about other threats to the U.S., they don’t talk about them because they’ve set their sights on Islam. Besides, if the UAC were truly concerned about Sept. 11, they’d protest President Bush, the man who said, on March 13, 2002, “I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority.” And also the man who since failed to deliver on his promise to capture bin Laden “dead or alive.”

Sound and Fury Signifying Zip

The point, though, is that the UAC accomplished nothing in that embarrassing spectacle. Despite their claim that the event was a “great success,” no minds were changed, no threats were halted, no cultures were bridged, no dialogues were held, no partnership was established between the UAC and the mosque — and Osama still remains at large. The whole thing was just a shameless public display that meant absolutely nothing, but probably made them feel good about themselves. At least the counter-protesters succeeded in illustrating something important: Different religious faiths can join together in the face of a mean-spirited and misguided attack. And if there’s hope in fighting against real extremism, whatever form it takes, it lies in showing how people can unite in the spirit of peace and cooperation.