Posted on 09/12/2002 5:36:18 AM PDT by SJackson
AS OUR nation approaches the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, American Muslims around the country will join their fellow citizens in pausing and reflecting upon the horrors of that day and its aftermath. Some media pundits and other well-known figures — including notable evangelist Franklin Graham — have recently accused Muslims of remaining silent after the terrorist attacks. Such charges, which have been covered widely but superficially in the mainstream media, deserve serious analysis. In reality, even a cursory review of press releases, newspaper articles, opinion pieces, and Internet websites reveals that Muslims were uniformly shocked, saddened, and outraged at the vicious attack on our own soil — and they did not hesitate to voice their unequivocal condemnation. In fact, American Muslim and Arab-American organisations and leaders were among the first to react in an organised fashion to condemn the terrorist attacks on that very same day, long before it became clear that individuals calling themselves Muslims were involved in the attacks.
On Sept. 11, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest grassroots American Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, distributed a statement which read: “We condemn in the strongest terms possible what are apparently vicious and cowardly acts of terrorism against innocent civilians. We join with all Americans in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators. No cause could ever be assisted by such immoral acts. All members of the Muslim community are asked to offer whatever help they can to the victims and their families. Muslim medical professionals should go to the scenes of the attacks to offer aid and comfort to the victims.”
CAIR also issued an alert to the Muslim community on Sept. 11, urging that the following additional actions be taken: “Muslim relief agencies should contact their counterparts to offer support in the recovery efforts. Individual Muslims should donate blood by contacting the local office of the Red Cross... They should also send donations to those relief agencies that are on the scene of the attacks.”
Similarly, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) issued the following unequivocal statement: “We feel that our country, the United States, is under attack. All Americans should stand together to bring the perpetrators to justice. We warn against any generalisations that will only serve to help the criminals and incriminate the innocent. We offer our resources and resolve to help the victims of these intolerable acts, and we pray to God to protect and bless America.”
And in a Sept. 11 letter to President Bush, community leaders stated: “American Muslims, who unequivocally condemned today's terrorist attacks on our nation, call on you to alert fellow citizens to the fact that now is a time for all of us to stand together in the face of this heinous crime.” This letter was signed by the leaders of CAIR, MPAC, the American Muslim Alliance, the American Muslim Council, the Muslim American Society, the Islamic Society of North America, the Islamic Circle of North America, the Muslim Alliance in North America, and American Muslims for Jerusalem. These groups represent most of the seven million Muslims in the United States.
Muslims abroad were also unequivocal in their condemnation of the attacks. The 57 member Organisation of Islamic Conference issued a communiquÈ stating: “The conference strongly condemned the brutal terror acts that befell the United States.... It further reaffirmed that these terror acts ran counter to the teachings of the divine religions as well as ethical and human values....”
In the West Bank thousands of Palestinians attended candlelight vigils to express their grief and solidarity with the victims of the attacks, and Palestinian schoolchildren observed five minutes of silence. In Tehran, Iran, (one third of the president's proclaimed “axis of evil”) the main soccer stadium observed one minute of silence in sympathy with the victims of the attacks.
Despite the unanimous and vocal condemnations by American Muslim and Arab-American group and leaders nationwide, some in our country were not satisfied. In subsequent weeks and months, numerous unsubstantiated references appeared in newspaper opinion columns and on television talk shows about American Muslims' alleged “silence” after the terrorist attacks. Such claims were clearly not based on facts, rather they were the products of either outright ignorance — which is inexcusable — or deliberate defamation by some with thinly-veiled Islamophobic agendas-which is utterly deplorable.
This accusation of silence in the face of the Sept. 11 attacks is now coupled with increasingly aggressive rhetoric about Islam being an “evil” religion and Muslims a “fifth column.” Efforts to even teach about Islam in public schools and universities are now routinely attacked if they do not focus on the most extreme interpretations. When Muslims try to correct uninformed statements about Islam, we are labelled apologists. Open and honest discussion about Islam in the public is increasingly silenced by the bigoted attacks of individuals like Franklin Graham, who recently called for Muslims to apologise for the Sept. 11 attacks.
While Muslims join most Americans in seeking unity and solace with their fellow citizens, some Americans are sowing seeds of hatred and ignorance. As Americans, we are all confronted by a number of daunting challenges that we must face together, including concentrated efforts to tear us apart from within. Bigots seem to be the biggest winners in the post-Sept. 11 environment. If they win, then we all lose.
Riad Z. Abdelkarim, MD, is Western Region Communications Director and Jason Erb is governmental relations director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. They contributed this article to The Jordan Times.
Muslims gather behind a banner reading "ISLAM Will Dominate the World", at the Finsbury park Mosque, in London, Wednesday Sept. 11, 2002, to participate in a conference entitled "September 11 A Towering Day in History". The conference is due to hear from some of the most radical Muslim clerics in Britain. (AP Photo/Mark Lees, PA)
Was that before or after the partying in street?
But why is it so easy to find the blame America quotes?
This writer is f'ing delusional. A "cursory" review? I looked long and hard to find outright condemnation from the "Muzzlim" world - I found NONE.
Any "condemnation" by anyone in the Muzzlim world was quickly followed by a blaming of the Jews, and America's "Zionist" policies, as being the "real" reason Sept. 11th happened.
IMO, they're a bunch of murdering, vile, disgusting, unhuman PIGS who no longer deserve to breathe the same air as you and I.
Need more proof? How about that Muzzlim vigil for peace yesterday, in Dearborn Michigan? Dearborn MI has the 2nd largest Muzzlim population in the US. Guess how many of our "friends" the Muzzies showed up? About 50. That includes the event's organizers and the media.
Some "outrage" these Muzzie b@stards show, eh?
Pot calling Kettle ... Pot calling Kettle ... come in, over.
Does that mean you won't help with the Bring Islam to your local Library Campaign by sponsoring a "library package"?
50 (and my thanks to them) show for a rally in Dearborn with an Arab population of 250,000+. There is an alternate reality at work here.
Clearly this is for consumption within the community and overseas, but given the apparent lack of support for America within America's Muslim community, you'd think they'd just keep their collective mouths shut. IMO, statements like this further exacerbate the situation.
What baloney. CAIR is a Hamas-front organization.
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