I had the privilege to attend the Muslims for Peace conference held this past weekend in Harrisburg, PA as a member of the press.

The Ahmadiyyah community held it's annual Jalsa Salana (community gathering) focusing on Islam and Peace. The official attendance was around 9600 but when you add the hundreds of guests, many of us non-Ahmadiyyah Muslims you get a number closer to about 10k.

The motto of this group is "Love for All, Hatred for none" they were celebrating their 100th year in existence and their leader visited the US for the first time.

They number upwards to 100 million world-wide and has always existed as a peaceful group.

It just so happens that I know many of the National representatives and I even met their leader last night at a VIP dinner at the Hilton in Tyson's Corner.

I was told that they reached out to Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, USA Today, local, and other national papers. All the major outlets replied that it was not newsworthy and the Fox News woman (I won't add her name) stated that the only way she would show up was if they could get her a one on one interview with their leader.

At best, if you google, you will get a sprinkling of press releases and mostly local papers in PA.

The most you will hear about is how one Republican legislator in PA protested against a vote to honor this event.

Now, I don't care to get into their individual beliefs as far as Islam is concerned, but the major point is many of you want to know where are the peaceful Muslims.

Here right in your midst 10K met talking about Peace, religious tolerance, loyalty to ones country, etc. etc. all the things you claim doesn't happen.

I was among many Priests, Pastors, Rabbi's, Chiefs, Press, Sunni, Shia, Mormons, etc. It was huge. The Vatican sent an Envoy, so did the LDS Church, Amnesty International, etc.

But it wasn't "newsworthy". Here you have a single leader of 100 Million Muslims worldwide declaring and redeclaring peace and religious tolerance and it's not newsworthy.

This is why I get so pissed off when I talk about these things and you say its a lie. You want to blame someone, don't blame the Muslims, go after the Mainstream media, because this event was Friday thru Sunday and last night several Congressmen, Mayors, and others came to the private dinner here in VA.

Why is it that you don't know about it?

Legislators hold up resolution recognizing Muslim meeting

Pennsylvania Politics: Resolved to Continue Bigotry

Muslim leader visits area

quote:

Ahmad, who lives in London, is on a world tour celebrating the movement's 100 years of spiritual leadership, or khilafat. Ahmadis refer to him as huzoor, which means "his reverence" in Urdu.

The assembly concluded Sunday with his address, encouraging the congregants to rely on God, do good works, seek educational progress and to obey the teachings of the khalifa (spiritual leader).

"A believer does not come to a standstill at any one spot," he said. "I urge you to march forward toward betterment."

Good luck finding anymore links....there are videos of the event on YouTube.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

The MSM is too busy swooning over BO to cover anything else.

Sorry, but it i-s the nature of the beast.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtSchaeffersMom:
Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

The MSM is too busy swooning over BO to cover anything else.

Sorry, but it i-s the nature of the beast.

What really got me was when I was talking to their press reps and I was told they sent out over 5k releases and almost all the National Media Cable, Print, or Otherwise said it wasn't "newsworthy".

I bet if 100 Muslims were burning US Flags that would have been in the news cycle all week.

How dare Muslims actually talk Peace, Patriotism, Loyalty, and Religious Freedom!

First, thank you for starting this thread. Any day when I learn a few new things is a good day and I learned from the articles you posted.

Second, I imagine it got little press play because Ahmadis are already known as the "good guys" and because -

quote:

Ahmad is the spiritual leader of the minority Ahmadiyya Muslim movement, ...

Nonetheless, I think it was newsworthy and again am appreciative of your posting it. I wish the Ahmadis were the Muslim majority rather than the often persecuted (by other Muslims) minority.

The fact that the MSM has largely ignored this doesn't surprise me at all. They should all be ashamed. More than any of the others, FOX Noise loves to condemn Muslims everywhere for not condemning terrorism and violence in the name of their religion(while they heartily approve of violence in the name of Christianity). If they were truly "Fair and Balanced" they would lead the pack in calling attention to this...IMHO their silence speaks volumes.

Sgt. - thank you for the links. I will forward them to everyone I know, and I hope others will do the same.

Obvioously there is an agenda in the MSM to facilite xenophobia against Muslims, because to do otherwise would be seen as "appeasement".

I would guess that because the Muslims are not going to be hosting an open-bar reception, it's difficult to attract boozing journalists looking for freebees.

quote:

Originally posted by BPCR45_90:
The fact that the MSM has largely ignored this doesn't surprise me at all. They should all be ashamed. More than any of the others, FOX Noise loves to condemn Muslims everywhere for not condemning terrorism and violence in the name of their religion(while they heartily approve of violence in the name of Christianity). If they were truly "Fair and Balanced" they would lead the pack in calling attention to this...IMHO their silence speaks volumes.

Let's see, Sgt said ALL the media is equally guilty and of course Fox Noise is the anti christ.

too bad they dont go out and counter protest the islamofascist when they are protesting...

quote:

Originally posted by outlaws93:
too bad they dont go out and counter protest the islamofascist when they are protesting...

Yes, after all, you see "islamofascists" protesting every day in America.

Maybe you could tell us where they have their regular protests, outlaw.

?????

quote:

Originally posted by BabySupine:
I would guess that because the Muslims are not going to be hosting an open-bar reception, it's difficult to attract boozing journalists looking for freebees.

quote:

Originally posted by hooah71:

quote:

Originally posted by BPCR45_90:
The fact that the MSM has largely ignored this doesn't surprise me at all. They should all be ashamed. More than any of the others, FOX Noise loves to condemn Muslims everywhere for not condemning terrorism and violence in the name of their religion(while they heartily approve of violence in the name of Christianity). If they were truly "Fair and Balanced" they would lead the pack in calling attention to this...IMHO their silence speaks volumes.

Let's see, Sgt said ALL the media is equally guilty and of course Fox Noise is the anti christ.

You should have noticed that I said they should all be ashamed for their relative silence on this important news. However, since an international organization of Muslims just did precisely what FOX Noise has been demanding for several years, don't you think they had a duty to cover it in the interest of "Fair and Balanced" reporting?

Good Grief, Outlaws93, . . .

I just noticed your post count.

Have you been posting here on mil.com since you were 3 years old or somethin?

First of all, it's very good to see an event such as this. SGT Salaam, thank you for posting about this, and for being part of such an important movement.

Second, there's another less-obvious reason why it's a bloody shame that this wasn't more widely reported. Obviously, it's a shame that there wasn't a chance for non-Muslims to see that there are Muslim groups who adhere to the principles of peace and nonviolence, and who oppose hate. Less obvious is the fact that I wish more Muslims would see this. I'm sure that there are many moderate Muslims who don't think about joining or allying with a group like this because it's not so obvious. If they became more aware of it... then maybe this wouldn't be a "minority" group anymore.

Third... yes, all the news networks were guilty for not even mentioning this. However, after all their blatant challenges for a Muslim pacifist group to step forward and be vocal, Fox News (or Faux Noise) was doing the journalistic equivalent of sticking their fingers in their ears and screaming "LA LA LA LA LA!!! I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I'M STILL RIGHT!" They're less credible than the tabloids at the grocery store checkout. I wonder where Elvis was spotted this week?

Along with not serving booze, being devout in ones faith will guarantee vacancy in the media seating and limitation on friendly faces outside the mosque. Faith has its way of building a wall of separation as well as drawing in the inquirers. Please note, even the few responses on this thread may be the work of Allah, Jehovah, God. A seed has been planted.

quote:

Originally posted by BabySupine:

quote:

Originally posted by outlaws93:
too bad they dont go out and counter protest the islamofascist when they are protesting...

Yes, after all, you see "islamofascists" protesting every day in America.

Maybe you could tell us where they have their regular protests, outlaw.

?????

not all of the time but yes they do protest here in America... mostly at anti-war rallies.... but i was mostly referring to the middle east...

Salaam, this is very interesting, and no I'm not going to bust your balls with any wise cracks. I do applaud your efforts, no shite.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtSchaeffersMom:
Good Grief, Outlaws93, . . .

I just noticed your post count.

Have you been posting here on mil.com since you were 3 years old or somethin?

well i cant work and i have a hard time sleeping at night... oh yea and very opinionated...

This thread belongs in religion in the military

Sgt., do you know any filmmakers? This movement would make a great documentaty - very timely and inspiring.

quote:

Originally posted by Bleah:
This thread belongs in religion in the military

Disagree, It's about religion yes, but it's a topic of debate concerning the media, politics, and our beliefs about other cultures. It would equally be suited in current events, politics, as well. But I chose P/CP because A: this is my favorite forum B: because my point is that these things happen even when it's accused it's not.

quote:

Originally posted by Arielski:
Sgt., do you know any filmmakers? This movement would make a great documentaty - very timely and inspiring.

No I don't. Keep in mind that there is a lot of internal issues between Muslims concerning Ahmadiyyah, but that was not what I was going for, the point was that they call themselves Muslim, even if some disagree, and there were 10K of them right here in America.

Furthermore, they are an international community who has been around for 100 years not once being violent.

If 1 million if that terrorists can be the topic of discussion all the time and in the news, surely 100 Million Muslims with an agenda of peace from the very beginning should be.

Also, as it was suggested already the media failed us on this one.

Proper coverage would have not just been good for non-Muslims to see what Muslims actually believe, but also show and encourage Muslims to do more.