http://worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_12.html Muslim group takes responsibility for 9-11: 'We are so sorry' Special to World Tribune.com www.freemuslims.org [Site temporarily down due to traffic volume]Friday, September 10, 2004 We Are So Sorry for 9-11 This September 11 marks the third unforgettable anniversary of the worst mass murder in American history. After September 11, many in the Muslim world chose denial and hallucination rather than face up to the sad fact that Muslims perpetrated the 9-11 terrorist acts and that we have an enormous problem with extremism and support for terrorism. Many Muslims, including religious leaders, and “intellectuals” blamed 9-11 on a Jewish conspiracy and went as far as fabricating a tale that 4000 Jews did not show up for work in the World Trade Center on 9-11. Yet others blamed 9-11 on an American right wing conspiracy or the U.S. Government which allegedly wanted an excuse to invade Iraq and “steal” Iraqi oil. As to apologizing, we will no longer wait for our religious leaders and "intellectuals" to do the right thing. Instead, we will start by apologizing for 9-11 . . . After numerous admissions of guilt by Bin Laden and numerous corroborating admissions by captured top level Al-Qaida operatives, we wonder, does the Muslim leadership have the dignity and courage to apologize for 9-11? If not 9-11, will we apologize for the murder of school children in Russia? If not Russia, will we apologize for the train bombings in Madrid, Spain? If not Spain, will we apologize for suicide bombings in buses, restaurants and other public places? If not suicide bombings, will we apologize for the barbaric beheadings of human beings? If not beheadings, will we apologize for the rape and murder of thousands of innocent people in Darfour? If not Darfour, will we apologize for the blowing up of two Russian planes by Muslim women? What will we apologize for? What will it take for Muslims to realize that those who commit mass murder in the name of Islam are not just a few fringe elements? What will it take for Muslims to realize that we are facing a crisis that is more deadly than the Aids epidemic? What will it take for Muslims to realize that there is a large evil movement that is turning what was a peaceful religion into a cult? Will Muslims wake up before it is too late? Or will we continue blaming the Jews and an imaginary Jewish conspiracy? The blaming of all Muslim problems on Jews is a cancer that is destroying Muslim society from within and it must stop. Muslims must look inward and put a stop to many of our religious leaders who spend most of their sermons teaching hatred, intolerance and violent jihad. We should not be afraid to admit that as Muslims we have a problem with violent extremism. We should not be afraid to admit that so many of our religious leaders belong behind bars and not behind a pulpit. Only moderate Muslims can challenge and defeat extremist Muslims. We can no longer afford to be silent. If we remain silent to the extremism within our community then we should not expect anyone to listen to us when we complain of stereotyping and discrimination by non-Muslims; we should not be surprised when the world treats all of us as terrorists; we should not be surprised when we are profiled at airports. Simply put, not only do Muslims need to join the war against terror, we need to take the lead in this war. As to apologizing, we will no longer wait for our religious leaders and “intellectuals” to do the right thing. Instead, we will start by apologizing for 9-11. We are so sorry that 3000 people were murdered in our name. We will never forget the sight of people jumping from two of the highest buildings in the world hoping against hope that if they moved their arms fast enough that they may fly and survive a certain death from burning. We are sorry for blaming 9-11 on a Jewish or right wing conspiracy. We are so sorry for the murder of more than three hundred school children and adults in Russia. We are so sorry for the murder of train passengers in Spain. We are so sorry for all the victims of suicide bombings. We are so sorry for the beheadings, abductions, rapes, violent Jihad and all the atrocities committed by Muslims around the world. We are so sorry for a religious education that raised killers rather than train people to do good in the world. We are sorry that we did not take the time to teach our children tolerance and respect for other people. We are so sorry for not rising up against the dictators who have ruled the Muslim world for decades. We are so sorry for allowing corruption to spread so fast and so deep in the Muslim world that many of our youth lost hope. We are so sorry for allowing our religious leaders to relegate women to the status of forth class citizens at best and sub-humans at worse. We are so sorry.
I kind of see what you mean. It'd be like every Christian apologuising any time a pro-lifer blows up an abortion clinic. The guilt is not the fault of an entire religion, just a small, minute sect of it..
exactly, i mean i would hate for the local priests to apologize for the actions of say an abortion clinic, it would look jsut plain stupid on their part. When you apologize, you admit guilt, and basically what this group is doing is admitting tht they were a part of 9-11 and other actions...
I think the point (given quite clearly in the article when it says, "What will it take for Muslims to realize that those who commit mass murder in the name of Islam are not just a few fringe elements?") is that the religion, or at least a significant portion of its practitioners is at fault. The reason that Christians don't apologize when a nut bombs an abortion clinic is because 99.99999% of Christians don't support that kind of action. The same cannot be said about Muslims and terrorism. How many Muslims do you think give money to groups like Hamas, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad? I bet it is a much higher percentage.
But if they're not in that percentage, whatever it is, why should they apologize? This is going to reinforce the idea that the Muslim community is this huge Borg-esque group where they are all on the same wave length. These guys are also american muslims. That makes them the least connected to any of this. There are 1.3 billion muslims in the world. For there to be one percent of that population involved in terrorism, it would require 13 million people. There aren't 13 million terrorists, if there were, we'd be in deep sh*t. I'm pretty sure the total amount of terrorist and people who fund terrorist doesn't add up to 13 million people either. Are there people who cheer terrorists on? Yeah, but they are people who are going to obviously have a skewed view of the world like the Palestinians.
Remarks at the 12th and Concluding Plenary on the German Foundation Remarks at the 12th and Concluding Plenary on the German Foundation. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Stuart E. Eizenstat GERMANY We must never forget that half of the 10 billion DM amount to reach a dignified payment level for victims came from the Federal Republic of Germany, through its government and parliament, and thus from all of the German people. Despite the efforts of postwar German governments to address the consequences of Nazi horrors, we found ourselves struggling with this moral issue again, 55 years after the end of Hitler's Germany. Many countries and leaders are reluctant to face the past. Here Germany's leaders were willing to recognize an important gap in past compensation and restitution programs. It is to Germany's eternal credit that your leader, Chancellor Schroeder, chose to face the wrongs perpetrated by Germany's companies during the War and the German state's own employment of forced and slave laborers and to reach out to surviving victims. The leadership and courage of Chancellor Schroeder, and his willingness and that of his government and the Bundestag and Bundesrat to contribute 5 billion DM to the German Foundation at a difficult budgetary and economic time, has been inspirational. This adds a new dimension to Germany's collective and continuing acceptance of responsibility for Nazi wrongs, shouldering an obligation never matched by any other nation in history. Since its founding, the Federal Republic of Germany has made compensation and reconciliation for wrongs committed during the Nazi era an important part of its political agenda. The agreement we sign today is a significant new chapter in that continuing and ongoing responsibility. You have set an example for the 21st Century other nations would do well to follow. No one has set a better moral tone for our work than German President Rau, whose statement in December in which he "begged forgiveness" on behalf of German enterprises and the German people for the wrongs committed, remains the signature moral position in this long affair. Yet from its inception, this has been at its heart a German company initiative. It was this generation of enlightened German industrialists and financial leaders who were willing to meet the moral responsibility for the actions of their corporate predecessors. For sure, there were practical and legal dimensions to their actions, given the pendency of class actions against them in the United States, one of their largest markets. But it would be unfair and misleading to suggest that this was their sole motivation for the actions they have taken. They have contended from the start that they bore no legal responsibility today. Indeed, there are a variety of legal hurdles to any recovery in U.S. courts. But German companies sued in U.S. courts have clearly assumed a moral responsibility, thereby setting a standard for good corporate citizenship. This is evidenced by their willingness to create a Foundation which will pay many more victims than those surviving laborers their companies employed or wronged B- perhaps as many as a million more, those who worked for defunct German companies, those not subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, SS companies, and public employees, and to permit the Reconciliation Foundation to pay agricultural workers. This moral dimension is further demonstrated by the contributions of literally hundreds of German companies who have absolutely no legal risk in U.S. courts or elsewhere. Moreover, German companies insisted on an adequately financed Future Fund within the capped 10 billion DM-plus interest fund, for the benefit of heirs and for education projects and programs to promote tolerance and human rights. We are certain that German enterprises will rise to the challenge of promptly raising their 5 billion DM contribution. There are many German company leaders who deserve credit, including Deutsche Bank Chairman Breuer, and members of the German Foundation Initiative Legal Working Group, headed by Dr. Klaus Kohler. But the leader of the German company effort from the start has been Manfred Gentz, the Chief Financial Officer of DaimlerChrysler. Dr. Gentz, with tremendous business responsibilities, undertook the time-consuming task of leading the corporate effort. He has been a tough but fair negotiator, a diligent defender of German corporate interests, and one who never lost sight of his dual goals of a measure of justice for victims and legal peace for German companies. Both goals are now within sight. We would not be here today without him. The legal team of German companies is ably represented by the firm of Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering, which includes Lloyd Cutler, Roger Witten, Robert Kimmitt, Lou Cohen, and John Trenor. http://www.usembassy.de/usa/etexts/ga7-000717e.htm Former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, Winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Peace, on his knees, in front of the monument for the victims of the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Why a free Germany is today commemorating with the Allies the landings in Normandy Sun, 06/06/2004 Article by Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, for the "Bild am Sonntag". For the first time the French President has invited the German Chancellor to attend the cere_monies commemorating the landings of Allied troops in Normandy. I was very glad to accept this invitation, which I consider a great honour for our country and for German democracy. Today, 6 June, is the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day. On that day in 1944 American, British, Canadian, Australian and other Allied troops landed on the French coast in Normandy. They came to end the war. They came to terminate Nazi rule in Europe. Thanks to their dedication to this crucial endeavour, which cost thousands of soldiers on both sides their lives, the ter_rible years of the Second World War, which in Germany, too, took a horrendous toll, finally came to an end. Today we Germans can commemorate this date with heads held high. The Allied victory was not a victory over Germany but a victory for Germany. It was a victory over the barbarism of the SS units, which on their march to the French coast callously massacred almost the whole population of Oradour. It was a victory over an inhuman regime that murdered six million Jews - and hundreds of thousands of opponents, members of minorities and anyone judged "unfit to live". It was a victory over a regime that had made killing an industry. And it was a victory for those courageous men and women who on 20 July 1944 had sought, albeit vainly, to put an end to Hitlerism. In his momentous speech of 8 May 1985 Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker sent a clear message to the whole world: For us Germans the end of the Second World War was a day of liberation, not defeat. Today Germany has regained its unity, in the wider world we are a respected partner. We have assumed responsibility - and we do so where necessary, as in Bosnia, Kosovo or Afghanistan, also through the use of armed force. But we do not use our armed forces to impose our rule. German soldiers today risk life and limb to bring people safety and protection. To build schools and provide water supplies. For the services they render in the cause of peace people all over the world are grateful. The Germany I am privileged to represent today in Normandy is a partner that assumes inter_national responsibility - for peace and development in the world, against violence and in_justice. It is a country that is fully aware of the crimes in its past - and has learnt from that legacy. Precisely for that reason we can make an immense contribution to building a peaceful world in the 21st century. Especially at the present time, however, it is important we also remember that the United States and the American people are our friends. American soldiers paid with their lives to liberate Germany and Europe from Hitler's tyranny and enable us - those of us at any rate in the western part of the country - to build a free and democratic Germany. The eastern part of the country had to wait for that forty long years: a telling difference. Those men and women in Eastern Germany who yearned for a life in freedom and dignity had to rely on the most powerful weapon known to man: their own courage and sense of solidarity. Thanks to them, the partition of our country has been overcome. The invitation to attend the commemoration in Normandy is a tribute also to their valiant struggle. Like many of my fellow countrymen, I have no personal recollection of the War. My father, whom I never knew, was killed. After the War my mother toiled literally by the sweat of her brow to give us children a future. Only those who face up to the past can build the future. No one demands that we feel guilt for the crimes and genocide perpetrated by an unspeakably evil regime. But we bear responsi_bility for our past, and we bear it for both past and future generations. What that means, above all else, is that never again must we yield to racism, anti-Semitism and tyranny. The world expects of us the same as we ourselves expect: tolerance, civil courage and responsibility, a commitment to human dignity and the common good. Since 1 May of this year Europe, too, is at last whole again. The post-war era is over also for Hungary and Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states. Our neighbours have finally rejoined the European fold. That is perhaps the main contribution our generation has made to peace, prosperity and stability - and it is one of no small importance. For young people today in Germany and Europe European unification is a matter of course. They live their lives in the happy awareness that reconciliation here on our continent is irre_versible, war between the nations of Europe is now an impossibility. These young people can do what their fathers and grandfathers could only dream about: go to neighbouring countries to travel and explore, not to conquer. Go not to shoot each other but have good times with and learn from each other. One last point: this 6 June is also a very special day for Franco-German friendship. Without the reconciliation between our two nations, with our common commitment to building a better world, European unification would never have happened. Without our French friends we would never be appreciated and respected by the world as partners as we are today. Let us therefore never again forget what is our common bond: the values proclaimed by the French Revolution and Article 1 of our Basic Law: liberty, equality, fraternity; human dignity shall be inviolable. Today in particular it is important that we bear these key ideas in mind when we commemo_rate D-Day. http://www.bundesregierung.de/servl...tiz_druck&global.printview=2&link.docs=662841
Payments from the German Foundation will add another 5 billion dollars to the 100 billion (in current dollar terms) in compensation, restitution, and pensions that have been paid and will continue to be paid by Germany for acts arising out of the National Socialist period. http://www.usembassy.de/usa/etexts/ga7-000717e.htm
Is there such a thing as collective guilt? Interesting question. I believe Germany has answered this question for their own case. I am still paying for atrocities committed not even by my ancestors, but by former governments, and I do not object to it. But I understand that the question where collective guilt starts and where it ends is a tricky one. However, adeelsiddiqui's response "Thats stupid, why would someone apologize for anothers actions..." shows that he does not even understand the existence of the issue. I would like to respond with "why would someone kill thousands of people with planes or hundreds of children in a school or hundreds of people on commuter trains for a perceived repression of others by others?".
Could it be said if not for Nazi Germany trying to eradicate the Jews, Isreal would never have been conceived as a nation-state, and the Jews would continue to be such peace lovers as they were before Hitler, rather than becoming such a legendary militant force which they are today? It was after Hitler that they decided to not become vulnerable again, and take up arms like never before... Evil has a way of forcing others so attuned to peace become attuned to war...
Man, That is AWESOME !! It is going to take the majority of Muslims to stop sitting on their hands and take charge of their religion. Great read, and it is unfortunate that it takes such tragedy to wake people up. DD
What happens to the Muslim botherhood you tallked so much about. If one of my family member had done something outrageous and immoral in the name of the family, I sure would feel infuriated or even ashame about it, especially if I had been SUPPORTING his or her upbringing in one way or the other. I sure won't remain silent, or celebrate about it, even I didn't directly engage in those atocities. It's quite hypocritical for someone to champion on behalf of the Palestinians' plight, while at the same time remain mostly silent when all these killlings of innocent people, especially children, were done by Muslims 99.9% most of the time all over the world. It's good to see some Muslims, even 0.1%, at least have some guts and decency to speak up against those committing crimes in the name of their religion, and stop making excuses for them. I truely don't see any hope for the Muslims if they don't start looking inward and reflecting upon their own shortcomings, like the Christians did hundreds of years ago.
Excellent, excellent point. adeelsiddiqui kept going on about how all Muslims are brothers, and that somehow seemed to give them a "just cause", because they were all brothers of the "poor Palestinians". So the "brotherhood" was used as some sort of justification or excuse. However, when they go and kill people, adeelsiddiqui and Sane make it so easy for themselves...they just say "those people are not Muslims" or "why would I have to apologize for them, they are others". I guess they just try to flip it whichever way serves them best in the particular situation.
Just curious to know what's your position on Affirmative Action. America nowadays is made up of different races from all over the world, including whites. 99.9% have nothing to do with slavery in the past. Why should they still continue to pay for, in a way "apologizing for others", in an atrocity that they had not personally involved. FYI, I'm pro Affirmative Action because I do believe in collective guilt. Our government should rectify the wrongs from the past for a better future of the society, even though I had nothing to do with it. The difficult part is to determine when to stop this practice of racial preference, when it'll become counterproductive. I'm sure there is no 13 million Muslim terrorists worldwide. However, there are many polls on the Muslims world showing a strong support for Bin Laden, and many other "terrorist groups" It's not an overwhelming majority, but definitely not an insignificant minority. It doesnt take a genius to know that the verwhelming majority of Muslims have not directly engaged in terrorists' acts, but many of them, harboring a strong anti-Western sentiments wrongly or rightfully so, have remained silent in face of all these killings of innocent people in the name of their Creator all over the world, refusing to criticize and continuing to support all these radical clerics who preach hatred and VIOLENCE against Jews, Christians, and others.
It is great that some Muslims are apologizing for 9/11. Many have done that repeatedly after 9/11. What is bs is to deceive and pretend that this is the exception rather than the rule. So sad. BTW, this American Christian apologizes for all the Iraqis we have killed needlessly from the First Gulf War through the sanctions to the present war. . Will some of you other Christians join me in apologizing for the horrible actions of the US toward Iraq?
