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On London II: The anti-terrorist
Muslims of East Turkestan
Monday, July 08, 2005
One aspect of the political aftermath of the London
terrorist attack has been painfully predictable: the
discussion of the “Muslim community.” As has become
typical when an attack like this occurs, a whole slew
of pundits, bloggers, and the like are lamenting –
“the muted responses of ‘moderate’ Muslim
spokespersons to attacks on innocents” as the Friendly
Blog Small Dead Animals put it earlier today. Every
time I see this, my blood boils.
Now, that’s nothing against SDA, or anyone else who
brings up this point. What bothers me is that they are
continually looking in the wrong places. Whenever I
see lines like the above, I want to scream, they’re
right here; I’ve known several of them for years.
Well, now I don’t have to scream, I can just type it:
the people you all seek – the Muslims ready and
willing to call terrorism the evil it is and stand up
for those who resist it – have been here for quite a
while. They are the East Turkestan National Freedom
Center and, since September 2004, the East Turkestan
Government in Exile.
For those who are not familiar with the folks I just
mentioned, here's a little background . . .
In 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party defeated
Chiang Kai-shek’s government on the mainland, they
invited the leaders of East Turkestan, then an
independent nation just north of (and a bit larger
than) Tibet, to come to Beijing for talks on the
country’s future. On August 27 of that year, the plane
carrying the leaders of East Turkestan crashed,
killing all on board. The Communist marched in and
have occupied the overwhelmingly Muslim country ever
since (they even renamed it “Xinjiang”).
The occupation has been beyond brutal: open-air
above-ground nuclear tests that killed hundreds of
thousands, executed political prisoners, razed mosques,
mass forced immigration of ethnic Chinese, deliberate
economic discrimination in favor of said ethnic
Chinese, “Sinicization,” etc.
Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden has spoken out against the
American military presence in Saudi Arabia and Iraq,
the Israeli military presence in the West Bank, and
has even talked of reclaiming Spain (last under Muslim
control in the 15th Century), but on the brutal
treatment of Muslims in East Turkestan – just next
door to his five-year headquarters in Afghanistan – he
has been completely silent, lest he offend his
Communist friends.
Despite this, on September 11, 2001, Communist China
saw an opportunity, and grabbed it with both hands.
Suddenly, the Muslim resistance in East Turkestan was
all the rage in Communist China, with one change: the
Communists were now claiming their Muslim dissidents
were supporters of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.
This was, and still is, the height of unmitigated gall.
Communist China is itself one of the leading
supporters of terrorism on the planet, with aid and
succor given to the aforementioned al Qaeda, Iran’s
Islamofascist regime, the Taliban (second and third
items), and Saddam Hussein. The idea that they would
now be fighting terrorism was ridiculous, but they
continue to say it, and far too many people continue
to believe them.
It was in researching for my book that I came across
the East Turkestani exiles here in the United States,
including the folks at the East Turkestan National
Freedom Center. Talking to these East Turkestani
exiles (also known as Uighurs, their predominant
ethnic group, although there are many Kyrgyzs, Uzbeks,
and Tajiks among them), I found Muslims who were
unabashedly supportive of the United States, and
wanted nothing to do with al Qaeda or any other
terrorists. One of them actually told me the country
for which he has the most affection in the Middle East
is Israel.
On September 14, 2004 (on my advice) they formed the
East Turkestan Government in Exile, to give those in
occupied East Turkestan a voice once again, and let
the American people – indeed, the peoples of all
democracies – know that there was a Muslim nation that
condemned terrorism and supported freedom. They have
proclaimed that message ever since.
I have been very close to some of the leaders of the
Government in Exile, and I am proud to call the Prime
Minister, Anwar Yusuf Turani, a friend. As such, the
back-and-forth over Islam that follows every major
terrorist attack, coupled with the fact that no one
seems to notice my friends and what they are trying to
do, always has me seething.
Now, I can finally give them some of the attention
they deserve. The next time someone asks where are the
Muslims willing to stand up against terrorism? – and
believe me, it won’t take long – please point them in
the direction of the East Turkestan National Freedom
Center and the East Turkestan Government in Exile. You
will not only help a group of pro-American Muslims;
you will also help those resisting the terrorists’
greatest benefactor: Communist China.
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