I attended the second annual Rally Against Islamo-Fascism held by the UAC at Ground Zero here in NYC. There was a great crowd at the rally as great speakers from groups on both sides of the political spectrum came together to stand against the attacks of Islamic Imperialists against the free peoples of the world. Ironically, while Americans were rallying in support of the captured British hostages and all the victims of the worldwide Jihad, the Britons were caving in to the mullahs of Iran.

(They could use a few more like her in England.)

Representatives from Gathering of Eagles, You Don’t Speak for Me and The Center for Vigilant Freedom gave passionate, inspiring speeches. Michelle Rojas of Stand With Us made an appearance in support of the event, and announced that along with Amcha they are planning an April 16th march on the U.N., an event Red Alerts will support and keep you updated about.

(Stand With Us had the best signs.)

Of course,there were bloggers aplenty, including a representative from Hip Hop Republican who gave a great speech. I didn’t catch his name, but the site is outstanding. There was even a little ‘net controversy as Ibrahim from FreeMuslims.org made a (admittedly long winded) speech voicing the concerns of patriotic moderate Muslims. This didn’t really sit well with the Loyalist Party contingent, whose leader (I think his name was Vito) later refuted the idea of there even being such a thing as moderate Islam.

Vito(?) made good points and he was actually right about one thing: there is an imperial impulse in Islam that has nothing to do with the current political climate or any country’s foreign policy. On the other hand, is it accurate to say that NO Muslims anywhere want to live in a secular republic? What about gay Muslims? What about the Druze who are not considered Muslim by other Muslims? Wouldn’t they be likely to side with freedom of religion in a secular country?

I’ve toyed with the idea of joining the Loyalist Party, but they just don’t seem to have the political acumen to make advances in NYC politics. Maybe I’m wrong though, but whether you think Freemuslims.org (and for the record I have my reservations about the accuracy of their portrayals of Islam) is on the level or not, having that sound bite and a nice kumbaya moment can do a lot to shut down the “you’re all bigots” crowd.

The Christian Action Network passed out some great pamphlets on the Jihad. Martin Mawyer also made a wonderful presentation at the rally. Any organization concerned about Islamic expansionism should think about investing in these booklets for distribution. They’ll change minds and hearts.

The best part of the rally was meeting so many patriots who cared about our country and the free peoples of the world. In NYC it can be awful lonely for a Republican, much less an old fashioned Reaganite like me. It was nice to see that even in the most liberal place on earth, there are still Americans willing to stand up for their country, and western civilization.

(Dave from Queens, a true patriot.)