The truth about no-go zones

Recently, a comment was posted on the Heritage’s website concerning an April 18, 2014, op-ed piece titled “Islamic enclaves in America,” by Ed Ziegler in his column “Remember, Never Again.” The comment read: “This is a complete fabrication... so bad that even Fox News retracted the story... My Jewish friends, there are many out there attempting to manipulate society through lies... we have seen this before. Please be vigilant and never forget.”

The writer, who called himself Edison, also referenced http://www.snopes.com to validate his position.

Edison’s reference to Fox News was a result of journalist Steve Emerson’s statement on Fox News about no-go zones in France and Birmingham, England. Emerson and Fox News apologized for what Emerson said. But what did he say?

As the news editor of The Heritage, it is my responsibility to make sure our opinion columnists are accurate. When Ziegler submitted this article, I “snoped” it and “google-researched” it. Now, since this comment was posted, I went back and did my fact checking once again. Not only did I fact check about particular enclaves, but I also contacted several sources to ask about these no-go zones and Emerson’s apology.

This is what I have learned. “No-go zones” in Europe and the United States are not a fabrication or lies. They are real. The problem concerning Emerson’s statement is a matter of semantics and geography. He announced that Birmingham, England is a no-go zone and non-Muslims are not allowed to live in these areas. To say an entire city is a no-go zone is an error. But it does not dismiss the fact that there are areas within Europe and the United States where, unless you are a Muslim, you may not want to go.

Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum, wrote in a recent commentary that there is “no readily-available term” for areas where police, fire departments or EMTs will not venture unless they are prepared to protect themselves.

“I know of no historical parallel, in which a majority population accepts the customs and even the criminality of a poorer and weaker immigrant community,” Pipes wrote.

Pipes then proposed that rather than “no-go zones,” these areas be referred to as “semi-autonomous sectors, a term that emphasizes their indistinct and non-geographic nature, thus permitting a more accurate discussion of what is, arguably, West Europe’s most acute problem.”

Emerson was correct on other information in his report. Back in 2006, Clare Lopez, an ex-CIA operations officer, reported there were 750 no-go zones in Europe; and Martha Neil, an ABA Journal reporter, wrote that since 2008 Islamic (Sharia) law has been enforceable in England.

Ziegler called these areas Islamic enclaves—areas within cities or counties in our country where large concentrations of Muslims reside and Sharia law is enforced.

Gadi Adelman, a counter-terrorism expert, explained that Ziegler used the correct terminology. Adelman covered the Arab Festival in Dearborn, Michigan, back in 2012, where Christians, exercising their freedom of speech in a non-violent way, were stoned by Muslims. The police did not intervene.

In my google-search, I verified the enclaves Ziegler has written about. Two of them are Islamberg, near Hancock, New York and Holy Islamville, South Carolina. Islamberg is a community on 70 acres in rural upstate New York. Islamville is an unincorporated community. Both were founded by Mubarak Ali Gilani, and both are run by Muslims of the Americas (MOA). Since the early 1980s, Gilani has established more than 20 Islamic compounds across the United States with key sites in New York, South Carolina, Virginia and Texas. Herb London, president of the London Center for Policy Research, says there are possibly 67 or more such enclaves across the U.S. today.

The Department of Homeland Security says MOA is linked to Jamaat ul-Fuqra, a Pakistani militant group also led by Gilani. The State Department describes ul-Fuqra as “an Islamic sect that seeks to purify Islam through violence.”

Ziegler is a watchman on the wall who is telling the truth.