Posted on 06/06/2005 9:49:30 PM PDT by ambrose
Local Muslims protest Quran abuse
By Laura Van Hyfte, Daily News Editor
June 06, 2005
Members of the Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor voiced their outrage at the U.S. government and military last Friday in response to Quran desecration and alleged mistreatment of Muslim detainees in American Military detention facilities.
The crowd of about 100 protesters gathered outside the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor and demanded that a commission be created to investigate allegations of torture and abuse. They also demanded that all detainees be given full due process rights and that they either be charged with a crime or be released. Protesters specifically said they want the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba shut down, saying it disregards universal human rights and is a national embarrassment.
“This demonstration is to say we’ve had enough,” said Kristine Abouzahr, the event’s organizer. “Respect Islam; stop the torture and the inhuman treatment.”
According to a report released by the Pentagon last Friday, a copy of the Quran had been deliberately kicked and another stepped on at Guantanamo Bay. One Quran was accidentally splashed with urine when a prison guard urinated outside and the waste traveled through an air vent, landing on a prisoner and his Quran, according to the report. The guard who stepped on the Quran was fired, and the one responsible for urinating on the book was relocated away from prisoners.
Of all the allegations against the U.S. government, Quran mistreatment largely motivated the protesters.
Abuse of the Quran angered Muslims because it has a large part in their beliefs and lifestyle, Abouzahr said, adding that Muslims are very sensitive to mistreatment of the Quran because of its importance in Islam.
“It has a different level for Muslims; it’s integrated into our daily lives. We have a very high sensitivity toward it,” Abouzahr said.
Abouzahr said she was not surprised when hearing about allegations and admissions of Quran mistreatment.
“Right when I heard (about the Quran abuse), I was angry. The sad part is, I expected that. These days we trust U.S. officials to humiliate (Muslims),” Abouzahr said. “It’s another way of humiliation and enraging Muslims. More and more it seems that the war is on Muslims and Islam,” Abouzahr added.
Muhammad Hachimi, an Imam who gives a Friday sermon at the Islamic Center, also expressed his disappointment upon hearing the news.
“What I am angry about is the confirmation of this story. I’d be angry if I heard that anyone touched the Bible. I respect people,” Hachimi said.
On May 9, Newsweek reported that a Quran had been flushed down a toilet at Guantanamo, but the magazine later retracted the article after its source could not be certain he read about the allegations in the Pentagon report he had cited.
Protesters acknowledged that many of the allegations they cited have not yet been proven and stressed that an investigation of all the accusations is necessary.
Regardless of the outcome of any future investigations, the protesters stressed that the Guantanamo Bay prison must be shut down.
“The Guantanamo Bay prison has become a source of shame,” Nazih Hassan, an organizer of the, said to the crowd.
After hearing this, the crowd began to shout, “Shut it down!”
Why not post some of our Green Berets on horseback in Afghanistan alongside that pic? You know..cowboys and muslims and what not.
So? DO it! :)
The crowd of about 100 protesters ...
Are these 100 idiots US citizens??
Sheesh you people are picky! LOL!
OK. BRB...I'll see what I can drum up.
"They also demanded that all detainees be given full due process rights and that they either be charged with a crime or be released."
Since when do foreign terrorists have RIGHTS???
I wouldn't doubt that these were some of the same people who laughed when the twin towers was hit.
Nam Vet
That's GREAT!
Done! :-)
It's beginning...the enemies within are mobilizing. Let's see how the Media Insurgency reports all this.
When Muslims in the United States start respecting OTHER religions than their own, when they admit that they DO NOT have the direct, last and unimpeachable word of God, when they respect the government and the people who have taken them in and provided them with shelter and protection, and when they denounce in unambiguous terms, with no if, ands or buts, their co-religionists who feel it is their God given right to slaughter those who disagree with their disgusting and primitive "religion", when Christians are allowed to build a church in Mecca, and Buddhists a temple in Jeddah, and all are allowed to worship there freely, then and ONLY then, will I consider the prospect of "respecting" Islam.
But of course, if it did all these things, it wouldn't be Islam any longer, would it?
I'd say I don't have to worry much about ever "respecting" Islam.
Since when do 100 "immigrants" set US policy???
Since when do foreign terrorists have RIGHTS???
They don't.
Did they let the women out to protest?
Steal it! I did! ;)
Good job!!
Well, there isn't any doubt where you stand! I admire your frankness and honesty.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1411567/posts
How about the tax dollars we give away that aren't for humanitarian aid. .....like the $2 billion/yr to Egypt, for example. .....or building nuke plants in China.
Funding our own destruction.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.