Zaman vs. Kersten

In “CAIR vs. the NYPD” Stephen Schwartz perfectly describes the modus operandi that CAIR and other Islamist organizations employ against those they deem opponents:

[F]or Islamists in America, charges of “profiling” and “inappropriate” methods are the preferred reply to critical discussion of almost all significant matters. Those who investigate Wahhabism are accused of “profiling” Saudis, even though numerous Saudi subjects hate and reject Wahhabism. Questioners about radicalism in Islam are alleged to “profile” all Muslims, notwithstanding the recognition and repudiation of extremism by millions of ordinary Muhammadan believers. According to the radicals, they themselves represent the Muslim mainstream, their practices and beliefs are harmless, and any questioning of them amounts to persecution.

We see the same modus operandi employed against Katherine Kersten by the executive director of the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy in the Twin Cities. After her first column exposing this public charter school as an essentially sectarian institution, Zaman professed his concerns with “Kersten’s apparent bias against Muslims,” while disavowing what he had told reporter and Zaman supporter Kevin Featherly: “Zaman acknowledged to me this week the most damning part of Kersten’s article — that he refused to allow her to interview him or to visit the TIZA academy because of the tone of her previous columns.”

Among Kersten’s “previous columns” to which Zaman was certainly referring would be those reporting on the role of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota in fomenting the controversy generated by Muslim taxi drivers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Zaman is a cofounder and officer of MAS-Minnesota. The MAS-Minnesota Property Holding Corp. is the owner of the building in which TIZA operates. Not coincidentally, MAS-Minnesota also operates out of the building and provides the religious instruction on offer at TIZA.

Yesterday the Star Tribune posted a story on the fallout from Kersten’s April 9 column on TIZA. Zaman accused Kersten of attacking him and the school on religious grounds. Referring to Kersten’s alleged bias against Muslims, Zaman asserted: “It is vile and unacceptable in any civilized society.” Though the quote quickly disappeared from the story, it nevertheless provides an instructive example of the phenomenon Schwartz describes in his article.

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