Blaming the Jews for the inability to reform Islam

• Published date: 03 June 2022
• Publication title: Israel National News (Israel)

In this article Jasser noted

…some of our most significant obstacles…come from within the Jewish community.

If any of us reformers are going to ever make any headway at all, then the leadership of leading Jewish political and religious organizations must make strategic alliances with – eyes wide open, please [sic?]. The importance of those alliances cannot be overstated as it provides important legitimacy to American Muslim groups domestically and abroad.

My goal here is simple. It is to shed the antiseptic of sunlight upon the relationships that many Jewish organizations make with American Islamists…In fact, the elevation of Islamists by any leading non-Muslims in the West is just another nail in the coffin of reformers.

Understanding this inextricable connection between the demonization of Jews and the advancement of Islamist movements… is essential in order to break the link and finally give reformers the space to even begin the hard work of reforming various Muslim interpretations of the faith of Islam…And yet, it breaks my heart to see so many in the Jewish community itself actively hampering and preventing such a positive change from occurring.

Except for notable exceptions due to how rarely they happen, larger groups like the ADL have sat on the sidelines as American Islamist groups born out of the Muslim Brotherhood have radicalized American Muslims and poisoned the discourse against reformist groups like the Muslim Reform Movement.

That the Jewish community does not confront the scourge of Muslim anti-Semitism also makes it more challenging for those few Muslim imams, scholars, or activists with the courage to publicly take on the anti-Semitism of Islamist leaders. When these brave reformers arise, instead of being embraced by their Jewish brothers and sisters, they are either silenced, or not given sufficient attention or support.

On the face of it, it appears strange that Jasser places such emphasis on non-Muslim support to ensure the viability of the Muslim Reform Movement and aspiring Muslim reformers. However, Jasser's focus on such non-Muslim support has existed for many years, and for a reason.

His realization that the support of non-Muslims was necessary in the effort to reform Islam might have first taken place as a result of a rally he held in 2004. In April 2004 Jasser organized a "Rally against Terror" in Phoenix, Arizona as a way of showing Muslim condemnation of jihadist terrorism. In an article written shortly after that event, Daniel Pipes noted that there were an estimated 50,000 Muslims in the Phoenix area, but only 30-100 Muslims actually showed up for the rally. Pipes concluded, "One correspondent of mine judged the event 'a total disaster.'"[2]

A few years later, while on a panel discussion in 2010, Jasser emphasized the importance of non-Muslim support in the effort to reform Islam:

I do hope readers leave here, however, understanding that not only does the solution need to come from devout Muslims within the "House of Islam", but we all desperately need to develop a coherent, coordinated, and constructive domestic and international strategy to defeat political Islam…Therefore, it stands to reason that all intellectuals in the west should do whatever they can to facilitate the authentic and moderate Muslim allies of the United States who are working tirelessly to break down those obstacles.[3]

Jasser's focus on non-Muslim support is understandable as over the years Muslim support for his reform efforts continued to be negligible.

For example, in February 2011 a New York Times article described Jasser as:

…a doctor from Arizona and an American military veteran who has little following among Muslims but has become a favorite of conservatives for his...