A few days ago, I read a statement by the Islamic scholar Sheikh Ayed Al-Garni in which he stressed that he did not say that the Jews were the first nation that used force. He explained that he was referring to the Zionist entity in Israel that is waging war on Muslims and abusing the Palestinians in their occupied homeland.

I would like to tell the sheikh not to worry about what he said. As long as one does not attack another personيs religion, it is his or her right to criticize the uncivilized behavior of a people. And uncivilized behavior is a good description of how the Israelis are behaving right now in occupied Palestine. The torture and abuse of innocent Palestinian teenagers makes the American abuses at Abu Ghraib look like a picnic.

But what about the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)? It is an organization founded by Israelis; some of its members are former Israeli Army intelligence officers. They also include many leading American Jewish writers and media people as well as ordinary American Jews. These people in MEMRI love to distort the Arab image and try to create a wedge between ordinary Americans and Muslims. They deliberately mistranslate words, misinterpret statements and try to create the idea that our writers and religious leaders have no other purpose than to conduct an anti-Semitic campaign through our media. They have people who listen to them, but MEMRI also has the support of quite a few important and influential officials in Washington. However, all these people who accuse us of defamation and anti-Semitism indulge in hypocrisy when it comes to our grievances.

Take, for example, the case of Irshad Manji. A self-identified ىMuslim lesbian,î she wrote the book, ىThe Trouble With Islam.î In her book, she calls for the reformation of Islam. She also states, ىMuslims need to change their anti-Semitic and anti-female beliefs.î She accuses Muslims of being backward and accuses the Arabs of being the colonizers of Muslims.

Now the question arises of who has been responsible for her sudden rise to fame. She regularly debates on Canadian television, and she has her own program called ىQueers Television.î Two leading magazines describe her as a ىFeminist for the 21st Centuryî and a ىLeader for Tomorrow.î She is being projected all across the media in North America.

Although Sheikh Ayed Al-Garni chooses to explain his innocent and harmless statement, Irshad Manji takes a trip to Israel paid for by a Jewish organization. She also spoke at a Toronto University Jewish Studentsي Union lecture where she was introduced by a lady in hijab wearing an ىIsraeli Defense Forceî T-shirt. Her book and research was sponsored by a Canadian Jewish organization. She is protected by the Jewish community because her publishers refused to pay for her protection.

Last week in London I was told that she is not under any threat but by ىfearing for her lifeî she gets extra publicity َ and ىMuslim extremismî is attacked in the media. Despite her writingيs lack of veracity about Islam, Muslims and Saudi Arabia, people read the stuff and believe everything she says. A Hindu friend of hers has said: ىShe is a legend in her own mind.î Unfortunately, uninformed Canadians and Americans have also begun to believe her.

In January this year I met Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Weisel who spoke about the elimination of hatred. His summation of manيs inhumanity to man was profound. I told him that we could not be selective in pointing at preachers of hate. They are everywhere, and we should all come together to expose and stop them. I also suggested to others who were present that we should form a joint task force with any attack on one of the three Abrahamic faiths being considered as an attack on all. This was agreed upon by many of the participants in that forum َ but words are not enough. We have to do more.

I also met Manji at the World Economic Forum in Davos and offered to debate with her. She responded by asking me to buy her book for $25. Of course I refused and besides so much has been written about it on the Internet. My $25 should go instead to a poor oppressed Palestinian family. Any protest or any accusation that she is lying or inciting hatred against Muslims will be met by a hail of criticism from the pro-Zionist press who, I can assure you, are not Nepalese. In the same breath, they will talk about free speech.

This fraudulent book has now become a guide to Islam, and this woman who regularly vacations in Israel and has become a ىpro-Israelî TV pundit has also moved even more to the far right than Daniel Pipes and Charles Krauthammer who are known for their hatred of anything Saudi.

The question is when an organization such as MEMRI can be informed literally in minutes of what we have done, why do we merely sit, complain, wallow in self-pity and claim that others are out to get us? We need to galvanize our efforts and resources to create our own organizations to contain and expose those false preachers and critics of Muslims and Islam. I would welcome any support toward this effort. Without that, the message of the mongers of hate will go unchecked and the messages of MEMRI will remain in circulation that sadly are the ones that should be forgotten.