What is the purpose of a parade? That’s easy. It’s to celebrate
or honor particular people or events. Irish-Americans celebrate St.
Patrick’s Day. Italian-Americans celebrate the Genoa mariner on
Columbus Day. Macy’s celebrates Thanksgiving with a parade of giant
balloon figures. Gays and lesbians celebrate their lifestyles with
Gay Pride parades. What do American Muslims celebrate when they
parade?
Consider the date of this year’s United American Muslim Day
Parade in New York City: this coming Sunday, September 9, only two
days before the sixth anniversary of the radical Islamists’ attacks
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in which more than 3,000
people died.
For 20 years, thousands of Muslims gathered in New York City on
the last Sunday of September for their annual parade. It came off
without incident. Then, last year, with Siraj Wahhaj, a fiery
Brooklyn imam as grand marshal, the parade moved its date forward
to come within a whisker of 9/11. The “Mainstream” media have been
asleep about this, not asking the pregnant question: Why time the
parade to nearly coincide with an infamous event perpetrated by
radicals purporting to be martyrs for Islam?
Although the congressman’s office has denied it, parade
organizers were claiming this year’s grand marshal would be Rep.
Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim to be elected to Congress.
It’s perhaps understandable why they made that claim. Ellison, who
likes to be thought of as a moderate, has been anything but in some
of the things he’s been saying.
At a recent meeting of 300 members of Atheists for Human Rights
in Minnesota, he compared the horrible acts of destruction of
September 11, 2001 with the fire that destroyed Reichstag,
Germany’s parliament building, in 1933.
Referring to 9/11, he said, “It’s almost like the Reichstag
fire; kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned,
they blamed the Communists for it and put the leader of that
country (Hitler) in a position where he could basically have
authority to do whatever he wanted.” His audience applauded the
allusion. He added that he wouldn’t accuse the Bush Administration
of planning the 9/11 attacks because, he said, “You know, that’s
how they put you in the nut-ball box — dismiss you.”
Stalwarts in the annual Muslim Day Parade include last year’s
grand marshal, Wahhaj, who was named as a potential co-conspirator
in the 1993 basement garage bombing of the World Trade Center. In
2000 he said, “America has to learn, if you remain on the side of
injustice, the wrath of G-d will come.”
Another past grand marshal is Muzzami Siddiqi, former president
of the Islamic Society of North America, an association of mosques
that was recently named a co-conspirator in financing millions of
dollars of funds to Hamas.
The Islamic Circle of North America is co-sponsor of the parade
and a major donor to a Pakistan charity that provides substantial
funds to the head of Hamas.
One wonders what the parade’s grand marshal, whoever he turns
out to be, will be celebrating this year, marching as he will be
two days before the sixth anniversary of 9/11 with all those
Muslims, including several who don’t hesitate to speak out against
their nation and who support radical terrorists.
(Corrected and updated, 9.7.08, 12:03 pm)
