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
Great listing of the facts! The timing of this incident might be either coincidental, or revealing--the same day, bombs also went off in Bali, and "around" the same time. They're saying 8 pm local Bali time; this one went off between 7:20 and 8:00 our local time, depending on which news agency is reporting. (They might have rounded off the Bali time, too.)
Call me a tinfoiler, but I'm convinced there was TROP involvement in this bombing, as well as the 1995 bombing.
It's called "Ramadan." Apparently, the "religion of peace" likes to celebrate the season by killing as many Westerners as possible.
No $hit, where's the mandatory "Religion of Peace" blurb that is supposed to follow all muslim related stories??
Politcal Correctness has infiltrated every newsroom in the Mainstream Media.
PC is running amok!
Seriously though I do hope this was just a nut job and no connection. If they managed to hit NYC subway, several football games and a mall or two all in one weekend then, well.....
Thank you. I wish the sheeple could see what this war is really all about. But they only see what's right in front of their noses. They are incapable of stepping back, looking at the big picture, and understanding how events over a period of several years fit together. No matter what part of the picture they look at, they fail to see the others. It's like staring up close at a jigsaw puzzle. They simply have no grasp of history, not even recent history. And they fall for all the lying and obfuscation from the Left, which clouds the picture for them even further.
"The facts are there if u want to take the time and effort to find them.It's up to you."Well like they say,You can lead a horse to water,but you can't make him drink.Or how bout this one?Ignorance is bliss(not).
Like undercover officers hang out in feed stores. Smells like LE knew something before hand. IIRC, there was an increase in security at the game as well.
Also, can anyone confirm the remote detonation device that went BOOM was the one on his body or could it be that someone else pushed the button when he couldn't get into the stadium and might have been having second thoughts?
Contrary to what some on the Left delude themselves into believing, a lot of us on the right are that way. My first shop foreman was a black guy named Claude Hudson, and to this day I'll cross a busy street to shake his hand- he's a good man. Our closest neighbors are a couple of gay gals- and they are very nice people, not at all like the weird and noisy characters the TV portrays as "spokemen" for the Gay Community. Because of my wife's years at the Temple ( we are both Christians ) I'm as happy worshipping there as in any church I've been to.
But fanatics taint anything they are attached to-- after 9-11, there was a window of opportunity for about a week, for the less-lunatic practitioners of Islam to step up and denounce, refudiate, and distance themselves from the more murderous members.
They lost it. You cannot unring a bell
If anyone has forgotten, go here- and remember the dead:
What? Never heard of this. Another msm cover up?
"Even worse, we hear a lot of whining as they try to turn things around and make themselves out to be the victims. Like the Left, they change the subject and try to obfuscate. If they remained silent, you might ascribe it to fear of the terrorists among them. But when they whine, you know they're just running interference for the terrorists among them."
Good post - tagline rocks too!
The cell in Norman has been there since 1991. The Hinrichs bombing is only the latest episode in a continuing saga.
I don't recall hearing about that. Do you have any links so I can read up on it?
The best place to read up on this is in Jayna Davis's book, "The Third Terrorist." Might be in your library, but I know it's available on amazon, too.
Never mind, I found some articles.
Here are a couple of others:
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