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Rank: Advanced Member  Joined: 3/3/2008 Posts: 12,986
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Does the SIOA name disparage Muslims?
No
Some time ago, my SIOA colleague Pamela Geller and I applied for a trademark registration for the name Stop Islamization Of America. It was rejected: the trademark office stated that "Islamization" meant "Islamic," and that thus to say that Islamization must be stopped disparaged Muslims in general and linked them to terrorism. This is a common canard against my work, but coming from the Trademark Office we couldn't allow it to stand, so we engaged the great lawyers David Yerushalmi and Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center to pursue the matter. Once again, these warriors for freedom unhesitatingly took the case pro bono, and have filed a brilliant response to the Trademark Office's claims.
Pamela has more details here, and you can read the entire document in this pdf. Here is a key section:
I am legal counsel to the applicant, Pamela Geller, regarding the trademark application referenced above. Please consider this letter and its exhibits as evidentiary support of my client's Response to Office Action Trademark Application Refusal filed via TEAS. Specifically, my client objects to USPTO's Office Action refusal to register ("Office Action" ) the trademark "Stop the Islamisation of America" ("SIOA" ) on the grounds that it violates 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a ), and specifically that the trademark "includes matter which may disparage or bring into contempt or disrepute persons, institutions, beliefs or national symbols."1 Even more particularly, my client objects and responds to the Office Action refusal to register the trademark on the grounds that the trademark "consists of matter which may disparage or bring into contempt or disrepute Muslims and the Islamic religion."
I. INTRODUCTION.
The Office Action refusal to register my client's trademark predicates its ruling on two grounds:
(1) that the meaning of the word 'Islamisation' combined with the word 'Stop' refers to Muslims in a disparaging manner because by definition it implies that conversion or conformity to Islam is something that needs to be stopped or caused to cease; and
(2) that my client's trademark, which identifies informational services (i.e., "providing information regarding understanding and preventing terrorism" ), "implies that Islam is associated with violence and threats."
My client objects to these two grounds for the following reasons:
(1) the Office Action improperly and too generally defines 'Islamisation' as referring to Muslims and Islam;
(2) the Office Action fails to identify what specific group of Muslims would be disparaged by the trademark;
(3) there is no showing that terrorism is not in fact associated with 'Islamisation'; and
(4) refusal to grant the trademark is a violation of my client's right to Free Speech guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
II. THE OFFICE ACTION IMPROPERLY AND TOO GENERALLY DEFINES 'ISLAMISATION' AS REFERRING TO MUSLIMS AND ISLAM.
The Office Action premises its refusal to register based upon the following faulty polysyllogism:
Premise 1: 'Islamisation' refers to converting to Islam or becoming more Islamic.
Premise 2: 'Islam' and 'Islamic' refer to Muslims.
Premise 3: 'Stop' disparages that which it seeks to render inactive.
Proposition: 'Stop the Islamisation of America' ("SIOA" ) disparages Muslims.
The Office Action then applies the proposition of its syllogism to draw the conclusion that because ( a ) SIOA provides services relating to information of and about terrorism, then ( b ) SIOA links Muslims qua Muslims to terrorism.
First, the Office Action's proposition that SIOA disparages Muslims, and its further conclusion that SIOA links Muslims qua Muslims to terrorism, both flow from the first premise which is patently false. 'Islamisation' does not refer to an individual or even a society simply converting to the faith of Islam or even becoming more Islamic. The Office Action, in defining 'Islamisation' as merely the conversion to Islam or becoming more Islamic, has improperly relied upon an online dictionary called Dictionary.com (see Office Action Attachments 1-3). The problem with using this online dictionary definition is twofold:
(1) the Dictionary.com definition does not properly characterize how Muslims themselves use the word 'Islamisation,' nor does it describe how professional and academics in the relevant disciplines use the word; and
(2) The Office Action ignores the dominant and prevailing meaning of the term, which is actually provided by Dictionary.com as a second meaning. This alternative definition is closer to how Muslims use the word and how relevant professionals and academics apply the word in the literature of their respective disciplines. Thus, Dictionary.com recognizes that the word can mean "To cause to conform to Islamic law2 or precepts." (emphasis added.) (See Office Action Attachment 2.) But even this definition is woefully inadequate because 'Islamisation' does not just mean "to cause to conform to [Shariah]," but includes the entire politicalization of Shariah so that it controls all aspects of political, social, economic, and religious life.
Formally, the proper and widely understood definition of 'Islamisation' (alternatively spelled 'Islamization' is the political movement prevalent in a society or societal unit which seeks to embrace a political doctrine that calls for the application of Shariah (i.e., Islamic law) as the supreme law of the society. While Islamisation and the call to create a Shariah-adherent political order does include the call to convert non-Muslims, that is not what marks Islamisation as a political and social order, and it is not how Muslims themselves understand the word, nor is it how professionals and academics in the relevant disciplines use the word.
Rather, Islamisation is specifically the politicization of a Muslim's religious faith in that Shariah, in its classic and extant form, demands that a society's laws must all be predicated upon and subservient to Shariah and its legal jurisprudence called fiqh. Islamisation even in its "moderate" form demands that no secular law may contradict any Shariah dictate. The prototypical examples of this form of Islamisation are the constitutional or legal provisions in Muslim-dominated countries that include a "Shariah-supremacy" clause providing that no secular law passed by the political branches may contradict Shariah.
In short, the Islamisation of a society is the conversion to a theocratic political order organized and enforced by the dictates of Shariah. Per Shariah, there is no possibility of "separation of mosque and state." Shariah applies to all political, social, religious, and military institutions within a society that has undergone Islamisation.
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For the foregoing reasons, we ask that you reverse the Office Action's refusal to register the trademark and to take any and all steps to register the trademark immediately.
Respectfully submitted,
David Yerushalmi, Esq.
Source
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? - Galatians 4:16
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 3/3/2008 Posts: 12,986
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Dhimmitude
The Status of Non-Muslim Minorities Under Islamic Rule
Dhimmitude: the Islamic system of governing populations conquered by jihad wars, encompassing all of the demographic, ethnic, and religious aspects of the political system.
The word "dhimmitude" as a historical concept, was coined by Bat Ye'or in 1983 to describe the legal and social conditions of Jews and Christians subjected to Islamic rule. The word "dhimmitude" comes from dhimmi, an Arabic word meaning "protected". Dhimmi was the name applied by the Arab-Muslim conquerors to indigenous non-Muslim populations who surrendered by a treaty (dhimma) to Muslim domination. Islamic conquests expanded over vast territories in Africa, Europe and Asia, for over a millennium (638-1683). The Muslim empire incorporated numerous varied peoples which had their own religion, culture, language and civilization. For centuries, these indigenous, pre-Islamic peoples constituted the great majority of the population of the Islamic lands. Although these populations differed, they were ruled by the same type of laws, based on the shari'a.
This similarity, which includes also regional variations, has created a uniform civilization developed throughout the centuries by all non-Muslim indigenous people, who were vanquished by a jihad-war and governed by shari'a law. It is this civilization which is called dhimmitude. It is characterized by the different strategies developed by each dhimmi group to survive as non-Muslim entity in their Islamized countries. Dhimmitude is not exclusively concerned with Muslim history and civilization. Rather it investigates the history of those non-Muslim peoples conquered and colonized by jihad.
Dhimmitude encompasses the relationship of Muslims and non-Muslims at the theological, social, political and economical levels. It also incorporates the relationship between the numerous ethno-religious dhimmi groups and the type of mentality that they have developed out of their particular historical condition which lasted for centuries, even in some Muslim countries, till today.
Dhimmitude is an entire integrated system, based on Islamic theology. It cannot be judged from the circumstantial position of any one community, at a given time and in a given place. Dhimmitude must be appraised according to its laws and customs, irrespectively of circumstances and political contingencies.
SourceHave I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? - Galatians 4:16
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 3/3/2008 Posts: 12,986
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Dhimmi
Dhimmi: "the people of the dhimma or people of the contract" ) is a non-Muslim subject of a state governed in accordance with sharia law. The dhimma is a theoretical contract based on a widely held Islamic doctrine granting special status to Jewish, Christian, and other non-Muslim subjects. Dhimma provides rights of residence in return for taxes. Dhimmi have fewer legal and social rights than Muslims, but more rights than other non-Muslims. They are excluded from the specifically Muslim duties, and otherwise equal under the laws of property, contract and obligation.
Dhimmi status was originally afforded to non-Muslims who were People of the Book (i.e. Jews and Christians), and later came to include Zoroastrians, Mandeans, Hindus and Buddhists. Eventually, the largest school of Islamic legal thought applied this term to all non-Muslims living in Islamic lands outside the sacred area surrounding Mecca, Saudi Arabia. This status therefore applied to millions of people living from Spain and Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean to Indonesia in the Pacific, and from the 7th century CE until modern times.
Treatment of dhimmis
The question of how tolerant Islam was, and is, towards other religions requires a definition of terms. If a lack of discrimination is the criteria for tolerance, one answer will emerge. If a lack of persecution, defined as active and violent repression, is the criteria, the question gets a different answer. Discrimination against dhimmis was institutionalized in traditional Islamic societies. Persecution, on the other hand, was rare and atypical. The dhimmi communities had their own chiefs and judges, with their own family, personal and religious laws. Most of the dhimmi restrictions were social and symbolic in nature. The major financial disabilities of the dhimmi were the jizya poll tax and the fact dhimmis could not inherit from Muslims. The jurists and scholars of Islamic sharia law called for humane treatment of the dhimmis, however the commentators were more severe. Unlike the Jews and Muslims of reconquered Spain, the dhimmis did not have to choose between apostasy, exile and death.
Islam has become the dominant religion in much of the world primarily through three avenues. First, a gradual process of religious conversion for material and spiritual reasons. Second, interfaith marriages, which require the children to be raised as Muslims. Third, and more recently, differing rates of population growth among the religious communities. There were no large scale massacres or expulsions of dhimmi populations until the dissolution of the Ottoman empire, and the resulting emergence of modern secular Turkey, in the twentieth century. Bernard Lewis, in "The Jews of Islam", states the Judaeo-Islamic tradition has been "destroyed."
More from Source
Here's an interesting bit of history considering the mosque at ground zero debate. Notice the significance of the name Cordoba.
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During the Cordoba massacre of 1148, the Jewish philosopher, theologian, and physician Maimonides ruled that one may save his own life by faking conversion to Islam;[not in citation given] he himself never converted or ever described himself as Muslim,[not in citation given] in fact in his writing he was extremely critical of islamic outlooks. As a result of Almohad persecutions and other forced conversions that took place in Morocco afterwards, several Muslim tribes in the Atlas Mountains, as well as many Muslim families in Fez, have Jewish origin.
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? - Galatians 4:16
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 3/3/2008 Posts: 12,986
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Articles that Review the Changes of Indigenous Cultures by Islamization
The Journal for the Study of Dhimmitude is an outlet for scholars and other observers to document the history, culture and civilization of those living in dhimmitude. The Journal aims to promote an understanding of the contributions made by dhimmi peoples in Muslim dominant societies and to facilitate a dialogue between scholars on both sides of the umma/dhimmi divide.
Scholars and cultural observers are invited to submit articles that document the history, culture and civilization of those living in dhimmitude; promote an understanding of the contribution of dhimmi peoples to the culture and societies where Islam is dominant; facilitate dialogue between individuals on both sides of the umma/dhimmi divide; reveal the minority perspective of those living in Arab/Islamic societies; study the development of dhimmi cultures in Diaspora, and promote the preservation of their heritage; promote research into the classical languages which served as vehicles of the civilizations of the dhimmi peoples (Syriac, Coptic Spanish, Hebrew, Armenian, Aramean, Greek, Serb, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Avesta and Pahlavi; and, expose stereotypical notions regarding the dhimmis in Islamic lands.
About Dhimmitude
Dhimmi is the status given to Jews and Christians under Islam. Throughout history, these religious minorities in Muslim lands have been oppressed and victimized. Ending the culture of dhimmitude is a prerequisite for achieving peace and justice for all people in the Islamic world.
Source
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? - Galatians 4:16
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 3/3/2008 Posts: 12,986
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Appeal to President Bush on Behalf of Iraq Minorities
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The Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
7 February 2005
Mr. President:
We are writing to express our concern for the future of Christians, Mandaeans, Yezidis and other non-Muslim minorities in Iraq. There are three critical actions that you can take to help guarantee their survival as a community in Iraq:
•Direct all offices charged with the distribution of reconstruction funds to insure that the ChaldoAssyrian community receives an equitable assignment of funds that have been committed for reconstruction purposes. The United States committed $20 billion for reconstruction of infrastructure. Assistance, to rebuild infrastructure, —water system, electricity, sewer, and roads— has not been distributed to authentic leaders and representatives of the ChaldoAssyrian community for their administration. The Christian areas have not benefited from the present administration of these funds through Arab and Kurdish agencies;
• Urge the interim Iraqi government to implement Article 53 ( d ) of the Temporary Administrative Law creating an administrative district in the Nineveh Plains to secure the welfare of ChaldoAssyrian people who wish to remain in their homeland and those who desire to return from areas where they have previously fled; and
• Urge the appointment of seats in the Iraqi Assembly constitutional drafting committee for non-Muslim minorities to enhance the inclusiveness of the constitutional process. Christians, Yezizdis, Shebeks living in the Hamdaniya district in eastern Nineveh may have had their votes disenfranchised by the failure to deliver ballots to them during the election January 30.
Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac Christians of Iraq, called ChaldoAssyrian under the Temporary Administrative Law, now comprise only between 5 and 10% of the population although they are the indigenous people of Iraq. Religious/ethnic discrimination and persecution over the last half-century have driven one-half of their population into diaspora. Over 80% of all Iraqis living in the United States today are Christian. ChaldoAssyrians have been targeted by Islamic fundamentalist militias and insurgent forces that use kidnappings, assassinations, murders of little children, and the bombing of churches in Baghdad, Kirkuk and Mosul.
ChaldoAssyrians are also being persecuted and displaced in Iraq due to active and passive policies of Kurdish administrative authorities, resulting in encroachment on their lands, not allowing them to return to villages or rebuild churches and schools. These acts intimidate the Christian community, leaving them with few alternatives but to flee their indigenous homeland in Iraq.
During the past six months an estimated 40,000 Christians are reported to have fled to Syria and Jordan. Other non-Muslims, such as the Yezidis and Sabean Mandaeans, have experienced similar pressures. Thousands have left Iraq to Jordan and Syria fearing for their lives.
In order to prevent a mass exodus that would destroy an indigenous population, detrimentally affect the preservation of diversity in the Middle East, and, critically, deprive Iraq of an educated and forward-thinking skilled and professional class, the United States do all in its power to guarantee the welfare of Iraq’s ChaldoAssyrian community and other non-Muslim minorities. These communities are strong allies for the promotion of democratic ideals and moderation.
With reports of tens of thousands of ChaldoAssyrians, fleeing Iraq in terror, there now exists the real possibility of the permanent loss of the indigenous ChaldoAssyrian people in Iraq for the first time in their 6700 year continuous existence. Mandaeans and Yezidis also face extinction. The final litmus test for the new Iraqi government and the international community’s genuine commitment to pluralism and democracy remains the preservation of ChaldoAssyrians, Mandaeans and Yezidi, the indigenous people of Iraq, as well as other existing non-Muslim minorities in Iraq.
Respectfully,
The Rev. Dr. Keith Roderick
Secretary General
Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights
Cc: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Sabri Alhan
Assyrian Democratic Movement Europe
Simon Bar Mano
Assyrian Federation of Sweden
Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Charbel Barakat
World Lebanese Organization (WLO)
Ann J. Buwalda, Esq.
Director
Jubilee Campaign USA
Rich Cizik
Vice President for Governmental Affairs
National Association of Evangelicals
Narsai M. David, President
Assyrian Aid Society of America
Sait Demir
Zentralverband Der Assyryischen Vereinigungen in Deutschland
Dr. John Eibner
Executive Director
Christian Solidarity International –USA
Juliette M. Engel, M.D.
Mira Med Institute
Deborah Fikes
Director /Ministerial Alliance
Midland, Texas
Joseph K. Grieboski
President
Institute on Religion and Public Policy
Tom Harb
Chairman
American Maronite Union
Donna M. Hughes, Ph.D.
Professor and Carlson Endowed Chair
University of Rhode Island
Sheikh Sami al Khoury
President
World Maronite Union
Sheba Mando
Assyrian National Council of Illinois
John C. Michael, MD,
President
Assyrian Academic Society
Faith J. H. McDonnell
Director, Religious Liberty Programs
Institute on Religion & Democracy
William J Murray
Chairman
Religious Freedom Coalition
Dr. Suhaib Nashi
General Secretary
Mandaean Society of America
Yakdan Nissan
Assyrian Democratic Organization USA and Canada
Professor Walid Phares,
Senior Fellow, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
Chairman, Academic Committee, Coalition for Human Rights
Suzanne Scholte
President
Defense Forum Foundation
Nina Shea
Director
Center for Religious Freedom
Freedom House
Adel Sleiman
Lebanese Information Service
Joseph Saouk
Chairman
Middle East Christian Committee, Sweden
Sait Yildiz
Assyrian Democratic Movement of Sweden
Ashur J. Yoseph, USA Liaison
Assyrian Democratic Movement
Manzoor Alam.
Chairmam
Pakistani American Christian Coalition
Source
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? - Galatians 4:16
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 3/3/2008 Posts: 12,986
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The Dhimmi: An Overview
DEFINITION: The status of People of the Book (Jews and Christians) unders Islamic rule.
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DHIMMI HOTSPOTS:
Pakistan: anti-Christian legislation
Iran: Systematic oppression of the Bahai community
Sudan: Murder and enslavement of Black Africans
Saudi Arabia: Apartheid for all non-Muslims
Indonesia: Terrorizing of Christian minorities
Egypt: Oppression of Coptic Christians
Bangladesh: Terrorizing of Hindu and Christian minorities by Islamic radicals
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DHIMMI: A BRIEF OVERVIEW
7th-21st century. The notion of Dhimmitude, originating in the 7th century, still applies today to non-Muslims under Islamic rule—whether Jews or Christians, whether in Saudi Arabia or in Sudan. Dhimmitude began in 628 CE when Mohammed and his forces conquered the Jewish oasis at Khaybar. They massacred many of the Jews and forced the rest to accept a pact ("Dhimma" which rendered them inferiror to their Muslim conquerors. Over the centuries, the ideology of Dhimmitude expanded into a formal system of religious apartheid.
Institutionalized apartheid. In Shari’a law, there are official discriminations against the Dhimmi, such as the poll-tax or jizya.
No legal rights. Jews may not testify in court against a Muslim and have no legal right to dispute or challenge anything done to them by Muslims. There is no such thing as a Muslim raping a Jewish woman; there is no such thing as a Muslim murdering a Jew (at most, it can be manslaughter). In contrast, a Jew who strikes a Muslim is killed.
Humiliation and vulnerability. Jews and Christians had to walk around with badges or veils identifying them as Jews or Christians. The yellow star that Jews had wear in Nazi Germany did not originate in Europe. It was borrowed from the Muslim world where it was part of the apartheid system of Dhimmitude.
Conditional protection. The protection of the Dhimmi is withdrawn if the Dhimmi rebels against Islamic law, gives allegiance to non-Muslim power (such as Israel), refuses to pay the poll-tax, entices a Muslim from his faith, or harms a Muslim or his property. If the protection is lifted, jihad resumes. For example, Islamists in Egypt who pillage and kill the Copts do so because they no longer pay their poll-tax and therefore are no longer protected.
Source
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? - Galatians 4:16
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