{"id":1036,"date":"2020-12-04T18:00:24","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T18:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=132615"},"modified":"2020-12-04T18:00:24","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T18:00:24","slug":"a-comparison-of-respect-for-the-sanctity-of-mosques-in-france-the-us-and-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/04\/a-comparison-of-respect-for-the-sanctity-of-mosques-in-france-the-us-and-china\/","title":{"rendered":"A Comparison of Respect for the Sanctity of Mosques in France, the US, and China"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>France has seen a spate of attacks carried out by radicalized Muslims. The attacks and killings must be denounced. But more so must one denounce the terrorism and killings carried out by the French state against Muslims in its wars abroad. In a move that gives a strong inkling of <a href=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/2020\/10\/terrorism-and-french-values\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\" >French values<\/a>, the French state has targeted 76 mosques for \u201cunprecedented action\u201d and potential closure.<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe title=\"&#039;Unprecedented Action&#039; | France will raid 76 mosques, shut those under foreign influence\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bObsns3hyeo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>France is a party to the western chorus that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diplomatie.gouv.fr\/fr\/dossiers-pays\/chine\/evenements\/article\/chine-extrait-du-point-de-presse-25-09-20\"  rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">condemns the alleged internment<\/a> of the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China. China has rebutted the western disinformation; for example, China provided <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/content\/1208288.shtml\"  rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">real-site photos in Xinjiang<\/a> to debunk satellite images as purported evidence of so-called internment camps.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"LC20lb DKV0Md\"><\/h3>\n<p>Eljan Anayt, spokesperson of the Xinjiang regional government, said,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I want to emphasize that Xinjiang is an open region, and there is no need to learn about it through satellite images. We welcome all foreign friends with objective, unbiased stance to come to Xinjiang and to know a real Xinjiang.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Qiao Collective, an all-volunteer group comprised of ethnic Chinese people living abroad, complied a must-read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qiaocollective.com\/en\/education\/xinjiang#introduction\"  rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">report<\/a> on Xinjiang that warned of \u201cpolitically motivated\u201d western disinformation:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The effectiveness of Western propaganda lies in its ability to render unthinkable any critique or alternative\u2014to monopolize the production of knowledge and truth itself. In this context, it is important to note that the U.S. and its allies are in the minority when it comes to its critiques of Chinese policy in Xinjiang. At two separate convenings of the UN Human Rights Council in 2019 and 2020, letters condemning Chinese conduct in Xinjiang were outvoted, 22-50 and 27-46. Many of those standing in support of Chinese policy in Xinjiang are Muslim-majority nations and\/or nations that have waged campaigns against extremism on their own soil, including Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan, and Nigeria. On the issue of Xinjiang, the clear break in consensus between the Global South and the U.S. bloc suggests that Western critiques of Xinjiang are primarily politically motivated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>France states that its crackdown on radicalized mosques is spurred by terrorist actions. The Qiao Collective notes that France had earlier <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qiaocollective.com\/en\/education\/xinjiang\"  rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">begun<\/a> its own \u201cde-radicalization programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"preFade fadeIn\"><strong>\u27a4 2015 October<\/strong> \u2013 France begins operating \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/is-frances-deradicalization-strategy-missing-the-point\/a-43772816\">de-radicalization programs<\/a>.\u201d It would seem these programs have since garnered mostly criticism from the public, but mainstream Western discourse has not accused France of cultural genocide.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Earlier in 2020, French media alleged <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/20200925-thousands-of-mosques-in-china-s-xinjiang-region-demolished-in-recent-years-report-says\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\" >the destruction of mosques<\/a> in Xinjiang by Chinese authorities. The <em>New York Times<\/em> ran a similar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2020\/09\/25\/world\/asia\/xinjiang-china-religious-site.html\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\" >story<\/a> claiming that \u201cChina Is Erasing Mosques and Precious Shrines in Xinjiang \u2026\u201d This is coming from the US that erased several Indigenous nations from it landmass at its establishment. This is coming from a country that is engaged in genocide against Muslims worldwide \u2014 calculated to be 34 million avoidable deaths in 20 countries post-9-11.<sup><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>The below video depicts how US forces respect the sanctity of a mosque during its illegal war waged in Iraq, a war based on the fixing of intelligence and facts indicating that Iraq possessed weapons-of-mass-destruction (weapons that the US arrogates the right to possess to itself and some of its allies) around the policy. That war has been condemned as a genocide.<sup><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe title=\"Historical US Special Forces Raid On Golden Mosque\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KL4ANIYCoqo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>Regarding the situation surrounding mosques in China, CGTN <a href=\"https:\/\/news.cgtn.com\/news\/2020-11-03\/Xinjiang-releases-report-on-freedom-of-religious-belief-V7bZ6b2eCQ\/index.html\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\" >corrected<\/a> the western disinformation:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Western accusations of \u201cforceful demolition of mosques,\u201d \u201cpersecution of religious leaders,\u201d and \u201crestrictions of religious freedom\u201d in Xinjiang are \u201cridiculous\u201d and \u201cgroundless,\u201d and the lies and slandering have deeply offended the feelings of Xinjiang people and tarnished the true picture of Xinjiang, Xinjiang Islamic Association said in a statement\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Xinhua, the largest media organization in China presented an affirmative and uplifting video on the respect for Islam by the Chinese government.<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe title=\"How mosques are protected for China&#039;s Xinjiang Muslims to pray\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oS9M5ifFd9M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>Another video report cites the greater number of mosques in China than in either the US or France, even when compared per capita; the modernization of mosques having been carried out; the effectiveness of a respectful de-radicalization program in Xinjiang; and the reluctance of western governments and western media to acknowledge terrorism having been carried out in China.<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe title=\"What&#039;s China&#039;s &#039;re-education camp&#039; in Xinjiang really about?\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/U3YBomwuB10?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Qiao Collective provides relevant background information that China has been a victim of several attacks by Muslim terrorists:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"preFade fadeIn\"><em>Although there were many attacks between 1990 and 2016 and not all of the information is yet available, some high-profile attacks are as follows:<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"preFade fadeIn\"><strong>\u27a4 2009 July 5<\/strong> \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinadaily.com.cn\/china\/2009-07\/06\/content_8384017.htm\">The Urumqi Riots<\/a>, 197 killed, 1700 wounded\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"preFade fadeIn\"><strong>\u27a4 2013 October 28<\/strong> \u2013 Tiananmen <a href=\"http:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/content\/821389.shtml\">Attack<\/a>, 5 killed, 40 wounded\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"preFade fadeIn\"><strong>\u27a4 2014 March 1<\/strong> \u2013 Kunming Train Station <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinadaily.com.cn\/china\/2014-03\/04\/content_17321831.htm\">Attack<\/a>, 31 killed, 141 wounded\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"preFade fadeIn\"><strong>\u27a4 2014 May 22<\/strong> \u2013 Urumqi <a href=\"https:\/\/baike.baidu.com\/reference\/13977616\/a307-tMhxq4w31-D3J6RS5cOAMY42z7nxbzIlHzTeFMb9vYop_sfEb5w2zaY4fY8cVNstP4O0Ts5R9YIq0VcjCLgS4BFVnuZmrbh2aU6uaT4EFYJMJgyew\">Attack<\/a>, 39 killed and 94 injured \u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"preFade fadeIn\"><strong>\u27a4 2014 July 30<\/strong> \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecns.cn\/2014\/08-01\/127243.shtml\">Assassination<\/a> of Imam Jume Tahir at the Id Kah Mosque after morning prayers\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"preFade fadeIn\"><strong>\u27a4 2016 September 6<\/strong> \u2013 Kyrgyzstan\u2019s state security service <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-kyrgyzstan-blast-china-idUSKCN11C1DK\">attributed<\/a> the suicide bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek to the ETIM\/TIP.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While terrorist actions have been carried out by Muslims, this points to a minority among Muslims. In no way does it diminish Islam as a religion compared to other religions because there is plenty of terrorism to be attributed to other confessions such as Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. Unless otherwise demonstrated by solid evidence, then the terroristic actions must be acknowledged as that of a minority in the religion. Any actions taken to remediate the violent factions must be undertaken in a respectful manner that does not tarnish the entirety of a group.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, to stake out the moral high ground, the state must abstain from carrying out its own terrorism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"postmeta\">This article was posted on Friday, December 4th, 2020 at 10:00am and is filed under <a href=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/category\/asia\/china\/\" rel=\"category tag\">China<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/category\/religion\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Religion<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/2020\/12\/04\/a-comparison-of-respect-for-the-sanctity-of-mosques-in-france-the-us-and-china\/\">Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>France has seen a spate of attacks carried out by radicalized Muslims. The attacks and killings must be denounced. But more so must one denounce the terrorism and\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,4,105],"tags":[379,421],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1037,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036\/revisions\/1037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}