Camp Islamberg – Just Religious Training, Nothing to See Here Say Occupants

https://www.facebook.com/LouDobbsTonight/videos/10152632395132951/?fref=nf

 

Background:  Islamberg is a rural hamlet in Hancock, Delaware County, New York,[1] founded by Imam Al Sheik Mubarik Ali Shah Jilani Hashimi, also known as Mubarak Ali Gilani, a Pakistani Sufi cleric, and is a hamlet of The Muslims of America, Inc., a U.S. organization formed in 2013. A documentary video on YouTube purports to show the hamlet itself as well as a network of camps in the United States, and Sheikh Gilani forming the “Soldiers of Allah”.[2] This video prompted The Muslims of America to file a federal lawsuit against the video’s producer, which was dismissed by the court.[3] A video was produced by The Muslims of America to refute the accusations.[4]

The hamlet was founded in the late 1980s, when, reportedly inspired by Gilani, a group of primarily African American Muslims left New York City, reportedly to escape crime, poverty and racism. They built a community of some 40 family houses, with its own grocery store and bookstore and place of worship. Islamberg is the first of a number of communities set up under the direction and tutelage of Sheikh Mubarak Ali Shah Gilani. Similar communities have been founded in other rural areas of the United States. According to locals, the land previously belonged to a woman from Deposit, New York, who opened up her home in the late 1970s or early 1980s to disadvantaged young people.[5]

Although relations with neighboring communities are reportedly cooperative, including World Peace rallies, multifaith celebrations of the life and influence of Jesus, and relief efforts including floods in upstate New York, Hurricane Katrina, and 9/11, Islamberg has been in the media on multiple occasions when reporters and film makers have been rebuffed by residents who generally do not give interviews or normally permit media filming on the properties. Al Arabiya was allowed to do an investigative report on Islamberg and the claims against it. Al Arabiya interviewed the leaders of the community, filmed the community and was invited into some of the residents’ homes.[6]

 

 

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19 Responses to Camp Islamberg – Just Religious Training, Nothing to See Here Say Occupants

  1. Chris says:

    More blatant fearmongering.

  2. Pie Guevara says:

    Re #1 Chris : “More blatant fearmongering.”

    If this were a militia installation Chris would be all over it like white on rice.

  3. Chris says:

    Pie, as far as I can tell, this has nothing in common with a militia installation. It’s a place where a lot of Muslims live. There are accusations of radicalism, but that’s all they are: accusations. Your comparison doesn’t hold up.

    • jack says:

      Chris you are way to quick to dismiss possible threat. I know more a bit more than was published and I think there is reason to keep an eye on them. Would love to hear why you think we should disregard this place?

    • Jack says:

      CNN did a pretty good report called Blindsided about ISIS tonight. If you can watch it later it’s very informative.

  4. Chris says:

    “I know more a bit more than was published and I think there is reason to keep an eye on them.”

    Then…why wouldn’t you publish it?

  5. Pie Guevara says:

    Re #4 Chris:

    The comparison holds up just fine. Thanks for the laugh! I thought you were enough of a bigot to consider a militia town a threat! I put it to you that a patriotic militia is no threat at all compared to Islam.

    Personally, after reading several articles about Islamberg, I feel the jury is out. However, it appears they are secretive isolationists. That is not very encouraging you bigot.

  6. Chris says:

    Peggy–Do you even know who Andy Borowitz is? Do you realize that he’s talking about you?

  7. Chris says:

    Pie: “I thought you were enough of a bigot to consider a militia town a threat!”

    I bet you make out with your strawmen after you beat them up.

  8. Harold says:

    Jacks article maybe “fearmongering “to some, but to others it is just a beam of light being focused on a possible situation. If it even causes the use of the word “fearmongering “from an opposing veiw then something is amiss.

    Given the premise the media on left, (as well as the right to be fair) uses hyperbole every day, it is all about ratings in most cases, not so much about good journalism and triple vetting of different sources, just “Breaking News”

    As I view it, the problem in presenting an opposing view with a label, just shows an attempt at diversionary info tactics, possibly even trying to be deceitful.

    There is nothing wrong with bringing our attention to something that is in line with current problems, especially with today’s recent incidents of “terrorism” (oops to strong a word?) on our soil, which has awakened people’s thoughts, but I am sure some will find that to be just Hyperbole on my part, not my awareness.

    The core of Jacks article is how America’s enemies can use our countries freedoms to help disguise their intentions.

    If you are honest in your thinking, you cannot discount that America’s values are under attack on a daily routine, both abroad and now here on our own soil.

    Should we bury our head and allow todays enemy’s, take our lives, values and even country and destroy all from within, or bring it out in the open and figure out their possible reasons for doing what is being reported.

    Words like “fearmongering “are just politically charged and used to cover weakness within one’s own political party and the failures it might lead to, which should give us reason to consider, what are the political reasons we were not made aware of the possibilities coming from a report such as this?

  9. dewey says:

    Why all the fear mongering? LOL We have real problems.

    Yep. He is talking about you guys!

    Maybe I am missing something here is this blog all about a religious war Israel and the GOP want?

    Islam vs the Christian? I still say rent out the Roman coliseum and let the games begin!

  10. Chris says:

    The timing of this article is interesting. The very next day, a Christian pastor plead guilty to plotting a terrorist attack against “Islamburg”:

    “A former congressional candidate admitted to plotting the annihilation of a Muslim village identified by Sean Hannity and other conservatives as a terrorist training camp.

    Robert Doggart was arrested last month after FBI officials said the ordained minister tried to recruit “expert Gunners” on social media to help him burn down a mosque, school, and other buildings in Hancock, New York – where law enforcement officials are frequently called to investigate right-wing rumors.

    The 63-year-old Doggart was recorded speaking to a South Carolina militia member about the plot, which the failed Tennessee congressional candidate feared could turn deadly.

    “If there’s a gun fight, well there’s a gun fight, and I want to come home because I love my family and I want to see my kids again,” Doggart told the militia member. “But I also understand that if it’s necessary to die, then that’s a good way to die.””

    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/failed-congressional-candidate-pleads-guilty-in-plot-to-massacre-muslims-we-will-be-cruel-to-them/

    So Islamburg is connected to terrorism–but they were the ones being targeted by terrorists, and the terrorists were right-wing Christians. (This, of course, doesn’t change the fact that Islamic terrorism still poses a much greater threat than relatively rare Christian terrorism.)

    Conspiracy theories have consequences.

    • Post Scripts says:

      Talk is cheap, haven’t seen a lot of Christian pastors doing anything remotely close to attacking Mosques or Muslim retreats. I think this was just blown way out of proportion and in truth nothing happened.

      On the other hand… there’s been one or two, er, uh, try three or four hundred, uh, better make that a three or four thousand…no, better make that tens of thousands of acts by rabid Muslim clerics done to jack up their followers, to do something nasty to infidels. Could be a car bomb, an IED, sniping, blowing up the competition’s mosque, a suicide bombing, kidnapping, beheadings, oh its a pretty long list alright…and it all under the broad heading of being “Islamic inspired.” But, you guys go ahead and dismiss it, point your finger at Christians, make fun whenever you can. Some day you may discover all this time that the real enemy of ISIS and al Qaeda are people like you… in their world liberals always die first. Clue: They are not your friends! Better figure out who your real friends are don’t you think? Say, here’s an easy way to learn: Go to Mosul and hold a gay rights parade, that’ll do it. Chris and Dewey get your rainbow posters ready, I will buy your tickets…go celebrate diversity in the Middle East.

  11. Chris says:

    Jack: “Talk is cheap, haven’t seen a lot of Christian pastors doing anything remotely close to attacking Mosques or Muslim retreats. I think this was just blown way out of proportion and in truth nothing happened.”

    So, let me see if I have your argument right:

    1) A Christian minister admits to planning a massacre of a Muslim community which many, including yourself, have baselessly accused of being a terrorist training camp (with no evidence to back this up), and even mentioning that this happened is “blowing things way out of proportion.”

    BUT

    2) Baslessly accusing a Muslim community of being a possible terrororist training camp (with no real evidence to back it up) is perfectly rational, patriotic, and just.

    Is that your argument?

    Because it seems to me that you’re saying even imaginary terrorist threats by Muslims are more important and newsworthy than actually attempted terrorist attacks by Christians against Muslims.

    That’s not rational.

    “On the other hand… there’s been one or two, er, uh, try three or four hundred, uh, better make that a three or four thousand…no, better make that tens of thousands of acts by rabid Muslim clerics…But, you guys go ahead and dismiss it, point your finger at Christians, make fun whenever you can.”

    I’m pretty sure I covered all of this already by saying “This, of course, doesn’t change the fact that Islamic terrorism still poses a much greater threat than relatively rare Christian terrorism.” I’m not sure how you missed that.

    You’re pretending that I made some kind of equivalence between the frequency of Christian and Muslim-inspired terrorist acts, when in fact I very explicitly said that there is no comparison. That is a strawman argument.

    My point in bringing this up was to point out that the conspiracy theory about Islamburg you spread here is what motivated this pastor to act. Obviously this particular article was not his inspiration; he was caught well before you published it. But it’s strange that you posted this without even having heard about this case.

    That tells me that the right-wing media is very interested in drumming up fear against this community, and very uninterested in reporting on the consequences of that fear.

    “Some day you may discover all this time that the real enemy of ISIS and al Qaeda are people like you… in their world liberals always die first. Clue: They are not your friends!”

    No one said anything remotely close to implying that ISIS and Al Qaeda are our friends, so please stop with the strawman arguments; they are getting increasingly ridiculous.

    • Post Scripts says:

      Chris you should take your own advice, “please stop with the straw man arguments, they are getting increasingly ridiculous. “

  12. Chris says:

    I think I know which argument you are referring to, Jack, but I genuinely do not understand what you meant when you said that the incident I reported was “blown way out of proportion.” Blown out of proportion by whom? It’s been barely reported in the media. I only brought it up to show that while Islamberg has been connected to terrorism, it’s been the target of attempted terrorism, not the perpetrator. And to show that this attempt was apparently motivated by the (still unsupported) theory that it was a terrorist training camp. Your response to that wasn’t to condemn the alleged terrorist or to provide additional evidence in support of the theory that Islamberg is a terrorist compound, but to act like the attempted massacre of this community just didn’t matter at all. So I feel comfortable standing by my interpretation of your argument, but I am open to being persuaded that it was wrong.

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