The Lawsuit The Moslems Did Not File

In his post Kosher Cooking, Soccer Dad notes that the Star-K has a Virtual Kosher University that is funded in part by McDonald Corporation's Cy Pres Fund--a fund that is maintained with money from a settlement that McDonalds reached. Soccer Dad gives the breakdown of who benefits from this settlement:

McDonald’s will pay the Settlement amount of $10 million. Those funds will be placed in a cy pres fund for distribution to charitable or other tax-exempt organizations to be mutually agreed upon by the parties on or before the effective date of the Settlement. The distribution will occur as follows: 60% to vegetarian organizations; 20% to Hindu or Sikh organizations or both; 10% to children’s nutrition or hunger relief organizations or both; and 10% to organizations promoting the understanding of Jewish law, standards and practices with respect to Kosher foods and dietary practices, and the observance of such standards by persons of the Jewish religion.

I thought it was interesting that of all the groups who got a share of this money--Moslems are not one of them. Why is that?

Apparently there were some Moslems who wondered the same thing:

Certain Muslim objectors contend that the Settlement disregards class members of the Muslim faith, principally those who observe the Islamic dietary laws of Halal. The objectors state that the Muslim community, approximately 7 million in the United States, comprises a large portion of the putative class. Approximately 2000 Muslims have elected to opt-out of the Settlement. The objectors allege that no efforts were made to contact or solicit Muslim groups prior to the receipt of the objections.

...Both Plaintiffs and McDonald’s deny that Muslims or any other putative members of the Settlement class are excluded from the benefits provided for in the Settlement. Moreover, Muslims did not bring suit against McDonald’s despite the nationwide publicity associated with the dispute and will nevertheless receive benefits under the Settlement. [emphasis added]

Whatever the reason that Moslems did not participate in the suit, ignorance is not one of them.

So why didn't they bring a suit as well?

Let's play a game--which of the following things is not the same?

1. Protest against limits on immigration
2. Write letters demanding the firing of a radio personality for comments about Islam
3. Complain about a TV series portraying Moslems as terrorists
4. Demand that a speaker not be allowed to speak on campus
5. File a suit to get a share in a settlement

My point?

The first 4 examples are emotional cases that Moslems have gotten passionate about. There was a perceived threat and the Moslem community responded to it.
Not so in the case of the McDonalds Fund.

I remember that between the 2000 and 2004 elections, there was talk about the importance for Moslems to get involved in the process, the political process. To an extent that is beginning to happen, but to a larger degree this has taken the form of protests and demands to squelch and shut up any perceived threat or insult.

Historically, actions taken by the Moslems have been passionate and reflexive, rather than proactive.

Examples of reacting to rumored threats:

August, 1929 Arab Riots and Massacres in Hebron, Jerusalem, Safed, Haifa, Motza and elsewhere. The Jews had set up a dividing screen at the Wailing Wall in Yom Kippur of 1928 to separate men and women worshippers, prompting rumors that the Jews wanted to build a synagogue at wall, which were spread deliberately by Haj Amin El-Husseini. Amid heightening tensions, a demonstration by Jews in 1929 and Arab incitement ignited violence and rioting again Jews. Thousands of Jews fled the ancient Jewish quarter in Jerusalem. The Hebron Jewish community was evacuated after 64-67 were killed in riots.

July, 1951 Assassination of Jordan's King Abdulla because of rumored plans for peace with Israel. His grandson Hussein was crowned in his place following the brief reign of Tallal.

Sept, 1996 Al-Aksa tunnel riots - Arab sources spread the false rumor that a gate opened in an underground tunnel tourist attraction by the Israeli government, endangered the foundations of the Al-Aqsa mosque. This caused several days of rioting and numerous casualties.

More recently there were the violent Moslem protests against the Danish cartoons--4 months after they were published, sparked in part by the addition, by an Imam, of 3 faked cartoons to the original 12 which he then brought to the Middle East and displayed them, claiming they were indicative of the Danish attitude towards Moslems.

And when Moslem leaders are not instigating?

In The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem, Daniel Pipes notes the mild Moslem response to the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, until by various means--including creating new Hadiths--the Moslems were aroused to take it back. Even after Saladin captured Jerusalem back from the Crusaders, 2 later Moslem leaders--one of them Saladin's grandson--willingly traded Jerusalem away for political gain. Pipes quotes Emmanuel Sivan of the Hebrew University that Jerusalem:

was a city strongly coveted by the enemies of the faith, and thus became, in a sort of mirror-image syndrome, dear to Muslim hearts.

One need only look at the pictures of the desolation Al-Aqsa mosque from 1877 and 1922 to see that (see also here, here, and here; hat tip: The Astute Blogger).

Right now Moslem emotions are easily inflamed and their leaders--whether CAIR, Imams, or Arab despots--are making use of that.

Meanwhile, straightforward possibilities to work within the system and to take advantage of opportunities slip under their radar.

Opportunities like funding for projects.
And opportunities for peace.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Moslems and Cy Press Fund and Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque.