Muslim communities fear association with bomber

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."

FreeRepublic mentioned ...

http://www.theconservativevoice.com/articles/article.html?id=8842

News & Commentary

by Cinnamon Stillwell
Terrorism Strikes the Heartland
October 09, 2005 12:00 AM EST

If you happened to be browsing the Internet last weekend, the headline, “Suicide bombing in Oklahoma” just might have caught your attention. After all, it’s not every day that there’s a terrorist attack on U.S. soil and supposedly there hasn’t been one since 9/11.

But that’s exactly what happened outside a packed football stadium at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma on Saturday night (10/1). 21-year-old engineering student Joel Henry Hinrichs III of Colorado Springs detonated a bomb near the stadium, killing himself in the process. The explosion was so powerful that people up to four miles away reported hearing it and windows in the George L. Cross building 100 yards away shattered. One of the drivers of several buses parked in a nearby lot was taken to the hospital after being knocked over by the blast.

No one else was injured and 84,000 fans left the stadium, mostly unaware of the magnitude of what occurred outside. Some reported hearing the explosion and seeing rising smoke, as did a few people living in the area. There was a brief delay following the game during which crowds were kept inside while authorities combed the area for evidence and other potential threats. According to Douglas Hagmann, Director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, an anonymous official later confirmed that “other un-detonated explosive devices were found in the area cordoned off by police and federal officials” and were brought in for further testing.

No sooner had the dust settled when officials tried to play the bombing off as the act of yet another crazed “lone gunman” type. Oklahoma University (OU) President David Boren, no doubt trying to protect the university’s reputation, eagerly opined on Hinrich’s supposed history of mental instability. “We know that he has had what I would call emotional difficulties in the past,” he said. “There is certainly no evidence at this point which points to any other kind of motivation other than his personal problems.”

Law enforcement officials offered a similarly watered down version of events. The FBI’s Oklahoma bureau chief, Salvador Hernandez, U.S. Attorney John Richter and OU Police Chief Elizabeth Woolen, in a joint statement, said, “At this point, we have no information that suggests that there is any additional threat posed by others related to this incident.” Not once was the word “terrorism” used by any official involved in the case.

The mainstream media wasn’t exactly forthcoming either. Those seeking information immediately following the bombing were hard pressed to find it as there appeared to be a virtual media blackout. None of the cable news networks, including Fox News, referred to the incident and the major wire services, newspapers and websites skipped it entirely. Once again it was left up to bloggers like Mark Tapscott, Michelle Malkin, Wizbang, Gateway Pundit, The Jawa Report and Zombie (photojournalist for Little Green Footballs), as well as the “Freepers” of FreeRepublic.com, to pull together first hand accounts and links to the miniscule amount of news coverage available at the time.

(snip)

You're very welcome! I agree with you that all the circumstantial evidence up to this point leads far away from the official "lone suicide bomb" story. There are reports from credible sources who would confirm our speculations from what I understand, but they can't go on record for various reasons. I'm expecting everything I've said in relation to this whole event to be relegated to the "tin-foil hat" conspiracy realm.

BTW: I've updated my summary with more information, source links, and downloadable docs if you're interested. I'm still plugging stuff into it, but there is a link to it above this post if you're interested.

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