Posted on 10/08/2005 4:03:10 AM PDT by LibertyRocks
Muslim communities fear association with bomber
The Norman Transcript
Invites public to mosque for Ramadan
By Carol Cole
Transcript Staff Writer
Distorted media stories have city and student Muslim communities on edge, after it was revealed that bomber Joel "Joe" Henry Hinrichs roomed with a Muslim student at the Parkview apartments near the University of Oklahoma campus.
However, the FBI has found no connection between the 21-year-old engineering major, who died from an explosion at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday about 100 yards outside OU's Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium packed with more than 84,000 fans, and the Muslim community, other than other than Hinrichs' rooming with OU finance major Fazal M. Cheema from Pakistan.
And Hinrichs apparently never visited the Masjid An-Nur Islamic mosque that has served the Muslim community at 1304 George Avenue since 1978.
"He had never been to our mosque and he's not associated with our mosque in any way, shape or form," said 44-year-old Mohamed Farid Elyazgi, who has lived in Norman with his family since 1985. "We had never seen him until we saw his picture in the media."
Elyazgi emphasized that Islam forbids suicide and Muslims condemn all acts of violence.
He said many area Muslims have become concerned about television stations filming stories about the bombing in front of the mosque and its sign, fearing it could fan fear and perhaps violence against Muslims or associate the incident with the Islamic Society of Norman.
The community is mindful of what happened after the 1995 Murrah Building bombing, when it was thought there could be Middle Eastern involvement, spurred on by some Oklahoma City stations.
"(There were) a lot of Muslims who got harassed and some hate crimes against them," Elyazgi said, remembering that Stillwater's mosque was shot at.
The Oklahoma City bomb- ers turned out to be homegrown in the form of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.
OU President David Boren warned against jumping to conclusions in an e-mail that went out to students, faculty and staff Thursday.
"To rush to judge others or make assumptions about them on that basis is nothing short of prejudice," wrote Boren, emphasizing the campus' low crime rate. "It has no place in America and it certainly has no place at the University of Oklahoma."
Elyazgi is especially concerned because two of his six children attend the University of Oklahoma.
"I think the concern right now is because some of the Muslim women, they wear their scarfs and they become a target for everyone to identify them," he said.
When he first heard the news about the bomb, it sent chills and a silent prayer through him.
"To be honest, when I heard about the bombing and that it was a suicide bomb, I just prayed to God that no one was hurt and I hoped that no Muslims were connected to that because we don't need that here," Elyazgi said.
After 9/11, emotions were high and Elyazgi kept his children at home for several days.
"Because you never know how people are going to react," he said. "We're just asking people to be understanding as usual. There was a big difference in how Oklahomans reacted to 9/11 than the way they reacted to the 1995 bombing.
"We are part of society here and we know that one of the things great about America is the diversity in America and the acceptance of different people from different places. They come together and they live in peace. We'd like to see our country prosper."
Elyazgi said they want to invite people to the mosque to see Muslim culture for themselves, with today being the third day of their holy month Ramadan.
"Anybody is welcome to come and eat with us and we welcome them to the mosque," he said.
There are special night prayers and dinners as Muslims break their all-day fast from dawn to sunset.
"So anybody who would like to see what we are all about and how we live and how we try to uplift our souls in this holy month of ours and try to share the hunger and the thirst of others," Elyazgi said. "It's just a beautiful atmosphere. I wish you would come and join us and how we are very peaceful and caring about each other."
Carol Cole 366-3538 ccole@normantranscript.com
Exactly, no muslims have been shot in the streets, no mosques have been burned down, and they still fear. Why? Could it be that they KNOW who is responsible? I think so.
The only thing I'm suggesting is that you are jumping to conclusions. Try breathing into a paper bag, it helps.
The naysayers should just go back to sleep. They serve no purpose other than to obfuscate, and try to run cover for those who tote the party line.
A naysayer on another thread even said he feels sorry for those of us who want to know the truth about what the govt keeps covering up.
Feels sorry for us?
Why is it that we the people, who pay the bills, do not deserve to know the truth?
It's insulting in the extreme.
To those of you who truly believe "nothing to see here, move along", why don't you just move along? But if you'd like to learn something, why don't you use the keyword OUBOMBING and read up on the subject. We're not going to waste the time and effort filling in you late arrivals. You'll just have to catch up. We're too busy continuing to follow this case, while you sit on the sidelines and do nothing and belittle our work.
Hmmm. did the media, in its haste to report the story, get it wrong?
I think this guy has been asleep all this past week and just woke up. He doesn't seem to have read about ANY of the developments in this case. For someone to be here on FR and be this ignorant concerning this case is astounding. I'd expect this from a sheeple watching the MSM.
I'm learning a lot. Such as the fact that, because this guy had a Pakistani roomate, and the FBI has tape of explosives being removed from their apartment, that the Pakistani is automatically implicated.
Well, I've learned that some Freepers are pretty excitable. Remember all the posters who 'knew' exactly who killed JonBenet Ramsey, or the identity of John Doe #2, or that Gary Condit did in Chandra Levy?
Frankly, I hope they ARE concealing the info so that they can continue to search for other cells without those cells being alerted to the investigation. We don't NEED to know any of this, we just WANT to know it. I'd much rather let the authorities go about their business without that business being broadcast nation or world-wide.
Did you by any chance read how much was hauled off, and how long it took? By the time they were done, it was over a half a ton. It took them almost 24 hours to haul it off. Oh, and ps, from those who've been inside these apartments--they're pretty small. Hard to hide that many explosives from a roommate--or to mix them up without said roomie noticing something amiss.
You've been to the apartment, then? You suggest I'm ignorant . . . well, what is your claim to expertise?
I don't think you can credit the notion that this was a suicidal kid. One doesn't buy large amounts of ammonium nitrate to commit suicide. One doesn't travel ten blocks from his apartment to a football stadium carrying a TATP bomb to commit suicide. It sounds more like attempted homicide to me. Question remains, did he have accomplices?
FACT -- re: Hinrich's apart -- from the Oklahoman:
"Police were overheard telling residents it would take “several trips and could take up to 24 hours” to remove it all." "
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1495507/posts?page=3
I disagree with you. Those of us who live here DO need to know what's going on. Our lives may depend on it.
I'm not going to repond to you anymore, and I hope others don't either. You're obviously trying to detour this thread by baiting us into wasting our time and effort debating with you. Won't work. As I said before, use the keyword and read, if you want to learn something. You're not going to force us to rehash everything for you when you're not going to believe it anyway. See ya.
Bookmarking stuff for later read.
Whatever. God forbid that anyone question that your conclusions are based on flimsy evidence. Off to the gallows with this Pakistani kid, I say. /sarc
seems they whitewash alot in OKLA(re OKC bombing)
Good morning, LibertyRocks.
No...I am unable to find any source for that info. BTW, I'll send out an updated list of links later today.
Yes, I've got a folder for OKC myself, but will just start adding in the Norman stuff now.
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