(One of the advantages of being as old as I am is the ability to dredge up from my memory something from decades ago, then research the web to confirm my recollections. In fact, just the other day, I was discussing the Hanafi Siege with Mr. AOW. Then, lo, I found a connection of that event with one of the present media darlings.)

Lately, basketball phenom, Sunni Muslim, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's choice of U.S. global cultural ambassador in 2012 Kareem Abdul Jabbar has been yammering about Islam, "the religion of peace."

He has also been slamming Ben Carson for the latter's recent statements about shari'a law.

Let's take a look at Kareem Abdul Jabbar's spiritual mentor Hamaas Abdul Khaalis.

[Image] Hamaas Abdul Khaalis led a group of gunmen from D.C.'s Hanafi Muslim community who stormed three buildings in the city and took hostages in 1977. (AP photo)
From The Hanafi Siege of 1977 (emphases mine):
When Pierre L’Enfant designed the city of Washington, he structured the wide boulevards and traffic circles so that it could not be easily tied up by violence, as Paris had been during the French Revolution. Yesterday, it was obvious that L’Enfant failed.[1]So read the Washington Post on the morning of March 10, 1977. But traffic was the least of Washington’s concerns that day.

The previous afternoon, twelve armed Hanafi Muslim gunmen under the leadership of Hamaas Abdul Khaalis had stormed three different buildings in the city and taken nearly 150 hostages. The ordeal started at lunchtime at the B’nai B’rith headquarters on Rhode Island Ave. NW. About an hour later the group raided the Islamic Center of Washington on Massachusetts Ave. and then the District Building at Judiciary Square.

Several captives at B’nai B’rith were beaten and stabbed by captors who brandished machetes and guns. At the District Building, the gunmen killed WHUR reporter Maurice Williams and shot three others, including then-and-again city councilman Marion Barry.

With hostages corralled across the city, authorities struggled to restore order. Meanwhile, the aggressors promised more violence if their wishes were not met. As one of the gunmen at the Islamic Center told the Washington Post, “Everything’s fine. We’re all having coffee and tea and a nice chat. But heads will roll and people will die unless we get our demands.”[2]

So, what were the demands, exactly?

Well, first off, the group wanted to halt the release of the film, Mohammed, Messenger of God (also called The Message), which was set to premiere in New York and Los Angeles. As orthodox Muslims, the Hanafis objected to any pictorial representation of the prophet Mohammed (or suggestion thereof through shadows or artistic camera work). As Khaalis told reporters, “We have told this government that that picture is not to play in this country, that we will not stand for the mockery of our prophet and our Lord Allah, not while we live. Some Muslims must stand up.”[3] (Interestingly, the film did not actually portray the prophet.)...Read the rest HERE.

What is it with Muslims wanting to ban movies and going ballistic when they can't get their way? Hmmmmm?

And how is it that nobody in the media is calling on Kareem Abdul Jabbar to discuss that siege and his spiritual mentor's part in that siege? Instead, the media are fawning all over Kareen Abdul Jabbar as he criticizes Ben Carson for speaking the truth about Islam.