'World

Ask the
Expert

Your Cellular Superstore!

Jennifer Babby

with

Wireless Toyz Manager

Q I have
been
thinking
aboutgetting rid of
my home phone
and keeping just
a cellular phone,
is that possible?

rend is actually a growing
t
trend
for businesses and
onsumer across the U.S.
because of the convenience in
having only one phone bill, the
opportunity to saving money and
the greater availability to take the
calls when your not home. On the
other hand, sometimes you can
have a decreased cell signal in
yourhome which can lead to an
increased amount of dropped calls.
An in-home router can help to solve
this con and we'd be happy to set
you up with one.

Q
A

I have a drawer of old cell
phones, what do I do with
them?

This also speaks to our first
question. If you eliminate
your land line, keep an older
activated cell phone on hand. It
does not have to be on a monthly
calling plan to dial 911. Just want
to get rid of them? You can bring
them into anyone of one of our
locations and we will be happy to
recycle or donate them to shelters
for you. Depending on the model,
we may even be able to trade them

Direct your questions to:
asktheexpertz@wirelesstoyz.com
and visit the nearest locations at:

SOUTHFIELD

Jennifer Babby
248.945.0090

SOUTHFIELD

Elizabeth Price
248.948.5000

PONTIAC

Sandy Maizi
248.253.1400

www.wirelesstoyz.com
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1369780

A30

March 20 • 2008

Waking The Moderates

Moral courage needed by Muslims
to combat radical, violent Islamism.

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

D

r. Zuhdi Jasser, a devout
Muslim, stood under a ban-
ner proclaiming "Remember
the 6 Million Martyrs" in the Holocaust
Memorial Center in Farmington Hills
and reverently did just that.
"I was in Israel in 2006, and I
was moved by Yad Vashem [Israel's
Holocaust memorial]:' he said. "I saw
an exhibit about a Bosnian family that
protected Jews during the Holocaust,
and that's an example of what I've tried
to do in dealing with all faiths. We have
to protect each other from evil, or the
world will not be a better place!'
He then extended prayers to the eight
yeshivah students who had been "bar-
barously killed" in the Yeshivat Merkaz
HaRav attack on March 6.
Jasser, 40, president and chairman of
the Phoenix-based American Islamic
Forum for Democracy (AIFD), spoke
articulately and knowledgeably to a
crowd of more than 150 on March 10
about "Understanding Islamism: The
Ideology Fueling Terrorism."
A former U.S. Navy officer, Jasser is
the son of Syrian immigrants. He is a
physician in Phoenix specializing in
internal medicine and nuclear cardiol-
ogy. And he's passionate about the need
for moderate Muslims to lead the ideo-
logical war against militant Islamism by
separating the spiritual from the politi-
cal in Islam.
"This is not a war against a tactic:' he
said, but against those who spread the
terror.
"We can sit back and say our faith
was hijacked, and we are victims:' he
said. "We are on a plane, and we need to
get control back of our plane and kick
them [Islamists] out. It is not their role
to define Islam.
"It's about respect for humanity and
having the moral courage to confront it
... and to say this is not Islam; this is
barbarism, and we stand against it.
"Evil;' he said, "is that logic that says
any means justifies the end. That's ter-
rorism."
He sees a wide divide between reli-
gious Islam and political Islam.

"My Islam is one of values, of God's
love, of repairing the world and mak-
ing it better," he said. "It's spiritual
Islam based on a personal relationship
with God. I am an American who hap-
pens to be a Muslim, not a Muslim
who demands to be an American and
then uses protected rights to spread
his politics."
Jasser, who wore an American flag
on his lapel, explained that politi-
cal Islam arose in the 20th century
with the Muslim Brotherhood, which
later spawned Hamas. This brand of
Islamism portrays America as a god-
less society because in a democracy
government comes from the people
and their institutions, not from God.
"The goal of terrorists is to implode
Western society and make us pull out
of countries where we have ideological
influence on the people there he said.

Possible Solutiohs
"We need to create a think tank of
Muslims here for political and religious
freedom reasons," Jasser said, referenc-
ing his own efforts with the AIFD. "We
want to fight political Islam, which is
the scourge of the 21st century. This is
a global problem that will probably take
three to four generations to fix. And we
have to fix it through economics. We
have to use the resources between our
ears and not in the ground."
Jasser also advocated fostering
democracies, much like the Marshall
Plan did in Europe after World War II,
in countries where political Islam domi-
nates.
But he says he sees most of the solu-
tions coming from Muslims in America,
especially in cities with large Muslim
populations.
"Muslims need help in networking
and finding resources; help me help
you," Jasser offered. "Help us wake up
the Muslim community. We can't wait
any more."
Jasser fielded wide-ranging questions
from the audience.
Linda Stulberg of Farmington Hills
commented there were not enough
moderate Germans to stop the Nazis
and wondered if there were enough
moderate Muslims to stop political

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser

Islam.
"Look at the ideas and scholarship
coming out of the Middle East:' Jasser
said. "There are a lot of movements out
there, but they are not coming together
yet. If we put our hearts to it, we can
wake up the moderate Muslims ... we
need to break the disease of political
correctness. We need to create aware-
ness of what actually is happening in
Islamic countries. Political Islam is a
disease that is infecting the West, and
we need to know how to treat it."
Many in the audience lingered to
speak with Jasser, who had been meet-
ing all day with various media represen-
tatives.
"I think it was very important to hear
what he had to say:' said Anne E. Ross of
West Bloomfield. "I was really surprised
how open he was about his personal
life and his parents. It reminded me of
when my parents came here. They kept
their religion and became American."
Deanna Sperka of Oak Park said,
"What's happening is happening too
slowly. I don't see that the organizations
giving money to terrorists are being
exposed. We're accepting organizations
that are really terrorists as part of the
political process.
"He's anxious to get the moderate
word out, but most people listen to what
they hear the loudest. We have a long
way to go, and it's going too slowly."
The event was sponsored by
StandWithUs-Michigan. 1:11