Islamo-fascism Awareness Week

So, some of you may have heard about this mass protest going on next week (10/22-26). Information on it is here:
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/news/67/islamo-fascism-week/
Basically, it seems to have two main purposes: to spread the relevance of the terrorist threat, and to spotlight the situation of Muslim women. Nonie Darwish, an Arab-American writer, will be speaking at UCLA. I don't know when or where.

I've been trying to form an opinion on what side to support. Because with any protest, there is a counter-protest. While conservative campus organizations are planning to put on these events across the nation, many other student groups seek to spread what they believe to be the truth. All you have to do is search Islamo-fascism on facebook - there's at least 10 global groups on the matter. Most, I have found, are organized and populated by students of the Islamic faith (no surprise). I was actually invited to one of these groups by a Muslim friend - they are wearing green next week to support their cause. Not wanting to clutter up my groups tab with yet another group, I decided to go and research the topic to see if I would support their cause. Thus, my dilemma.

So now I want to know what you guys think. These are the questions I struggled with, feel free to add or comment on some of your own:
1. Are women truly "oppressed" in the Middle East? Or are they simply being honored as the "weaker vessels"?
2. Is Islam a religion of violence, as we see on the news? Or is it a religion of peace, as Muslim student organizations say?
3. Is Islamic extremism simply a different (and hopefully wrong) interpretation of the Quran? Is that different interpretation similar to divisions in the church (based off conflicting exegesis)?

No, this isn't a post about our faith. As much as I tried to give it a Christian outloook, it's about Islam. I see the relevance in our struggle to spread Christianity in the face of such violence. The War in Iraq has been classified by some as a war of Christianity versus Islam. Some Middle Easterners call us "infidels" and seek to destroy us. Thus, discussion and knowledge about Islam is power to us.

I may have to remove this eventually - just consider it food for thought.