To Noah, Susan, Dhimmi -" the mythical" Moderate Islam

Submitted by Michel (United States), Feb 6, 2007 at 15:18

Hi all -

I took the time to do a bit of desk research myself in order to find this "mythical" group and bring a bit of facts and evidence to the table in support of my point in many posts outlined position and approach.

I googled away and got swamped by thousands of pages, articles, a flood of info about a segment which supposedly does not exist?

Find below a few examples, including an article of Daniel Pipes himself.

Disclaimer - For every article (Including our US Gov) supporting the idea that Moderate Islamists exist, I found at least 3 which do not support it. Pretty much congruent with the mix of opinions here. All sources, I say this as pure relativist, must be questioned and shall not be seen as ultimate truth. Nevertheless, for a segment, which is according to many of you inexistent, a lot of time as been invested to write about.

My simple mind a la Occam's razor tells me that, where there is smoke, there usually is fire.

Hence my personal conclusion is, that Moderate Islam as a movement is still a work in progress.
Its existence however, as silent or marginal it my be, depending on region or individual category, as described in my paper, can to my opinion not be denied any longer.

In addition to that, most of these authors seem to agree that the grassroot tendencies towards a strong movement within ISLAM should be supported by the west, yet that true reformation can only hold water (get traction, have credibility within the Muslim World), if it comes from within.

As a minimum, the material seems to deliver at least some supporting evidence for my general position, or in other words, we "moderates" may not be as completely off base, as you like to describe us.

I submit articles to the matter originating from 3 different continents/regions for your comments and would appreciate your effort to give it a fair read.

http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=17258&prog=zgp&proj=zdrl,zme

.......Political actors or observers who still insist that there is no such thing as a "moderate Islamist" miss the reality that activist organizations in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and Yemen have evolved after decades of failed opposition to repressive regimes.........To advance significant political reform in the Arab world, the United States and Europe need to engage moderate Islamists, ....

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2226 moderate ISLAM, Identifying

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/alienating-moderate-islam/2006/09/19/1158431708133.html

Alienating Moderate ISLAM

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/GG15Aa03.html

Dealing with moderate ISLAM

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