I don't believe my eyes -- US Muslims denounce terrorism

[stormraiser]

Muslims in U.S. Begin PR Campaign Denouncing Terrorism


By Alan Cooperman and Caryle Muprhy
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, May 28, 2004; Page A10

Amid warnings of another al Qaeda attack on the United States, American Muslims have launched a public relations campaign stressing that they condemn terrorism and should not be blamed for violence committed in the name of Islam.



The loosely coordinated campaign by Muslim organizations includes newspaper advertisements, a petition drive and public commitments to work hand in hand with law enforcement agencies, including a joint effort to begin today with FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III.

"We want to debunk the myth that American Muslims are not concerned with securing our homeland," said Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, which will announce a "grass-roots Muslim initiative against terrorism" with Mueller at a Los Angeles mosque. Al-Marayati said the council will work with the FBI to denounce terrorism, control "belligerence" at mosques and improve communication between Muslims and U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Other national Muslim organizations are engaged in similar efforts. In the past two weeks, individuals and groups representing more than 500,000 U.S. Muslims have signed a petition against terrorism on the Web site of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, according to CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper. "No injustice done to Muslims can ever justify the massacre of innocent people, and no act of terror will ever serve the cause of Islam," the online petition states.

On Wednesday, CAIR also published a full-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times titled "No to terrorism, No to bigotry." Citing the online petition, it said: "American Muslims condemn all acts of terrorism and are outraged as their fellow Americans by atrocities committed in the name of God and their faith."

Hussam Ayloush, head of CAIR's Southern California office, declined to reveal the cost of the ad but said five Los Angeles-area Muslim businessmen paid for it. Fundraising for similar advertisements is underway in other cities, including New York, Houston and St. Louis, he said.

In Northern Virginia, Kamal Nawash, a lawyer and Palestinian immigrant, began the Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism last week to oppose Islamic extremism, whose supporters in the Middle East, he said, are "growing by the day."

Nawash said he believes that most American Muslim organizations are not forceful enough in condemning terrorism. "There has not been a voice that unconditionally opposes terrorism by any mainstream Muslim organization in this country," he said.

But Hooper said every major Muslim group in the nation signed a joint statement against terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.

"Unfortunately, the most frequent criticism that's tossed at the American Muslim community is, 'You never denounce terrorism,' ignoring the fact that we've denounced terrorism every which way from Sunday," he said. "I don't know what more we can do, and that is part of why we launched these initiatives."

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

[streetsoldier]

And a HUGE "Inshallah!" (God wills it!) from the streetsoldier!

[Lindaloo]

Does not surprise me. I am glad they are taking a stance against it. Not all Muslims are bad.

[janswizard]

Doesn't surprise me, either. The majority of Muslims are peaceful people and the majority of foreign-born Muslims living here in the United States are here because of the freedoms and opportunities that our country affords.

[stormraiser]

I know most Muslims are peacable, but there has been a deafening silence from them actually denouncing the attacks on our country. I welcome them here with open arms, if they are here 100%.

[nystate]

Why is this a surprise?? I know many American Muslims and they are very friendly, decent people. Not everyone from the Middle East is a terrorist...

[janswizard]

I know most Muslims are peacable, but there has been a deafening silence from them actually denouncing the attacks on our country. I welcome them here with open arms, if they are here 100%.

I respectfully disagree. There are huge pockets of Muslims living here in the United States and immediately following the attacks, they expressed outrage for what happened. Their outrage soon turned to fear because
racial profiling started and anyone with olive skin, an accent, or dress not considered Western was immediately placed under a microscope.

In April of this year, my cousin, a 3rd generation American of Portuguese descent with jet black hair and very dark complexion, boarded a flight from Boston to Florida with his family. He was searched twice and stated that he was getting some severe looks from both airport personel as well as fellow passengers.

Unfortunately, this is still being done. I've seen tons of comments from people who mention that the gas station down the street is being run by non-Westerners or that the owners of the convenience store on the corner aren't American. Even the FBI screwed up a few weeks back and arrested a man in connection with the Madrid bombings because he was Muslim.

[Lindaloo]

Muslims around the United States were waving American flags in their communities when Bush declared war on Osama Bin Laden and the terrorists.

[j]

I say you have to give them the benefit of the doubt...for now anyway...BUT...if so needed in the future, I would not be against rounding them up and placing them in detention camps ala Japanese Americans WW11, for the same reason we did it then. To protect them, and because we just could not trust them 100%.

[Guest]

I know most Muslims are peacable, but there has been a deafening silence from them actually denouncing the attacks on our country. I welcome them here with open arms, if they are here 100%.

I respectfully disagree. There are huge pockets of Muslims living here in the United States and immediately following the attacks, they expressed outrage for what happened. Their outrage soon turned to fear because
racial profiling started and anyone with olive skin, an accent, or dress not considered Western was immediately placed under a microscope.

In April of this year, my cousin, a 3rd generation American of Portuguese descent with jet black hair and very dark complexion, boarded a flight from Boston to Florida with his family. He was searched twice and stated that he was getting some severe looks from both airport personel as well as fellow passengers.

Unfortunately, this is still being done. I've seen tons of comments from people who mention that the gas station down the street is being run by non-Westerners or that the owners of the convenience store on the corner aren't American. Even the FBI screwed up a few weeks back and arrested a man in connection with the Madrid bombings because he was Muslim.

The fact of the matter is that the people who are terrorizing us are from the middle east. Unfortunately, that means people are going to investigate someone of that origin more critically than someone of another origin. It's not being mean or racist or anything like that, it's simply being safe. I really feel for the innocent Middle Easterners who are subjected to this scrutiny, but the safety of our nation is on the line. I'm sure they can understand.
...Jennifer...

[Stephanie]

That's wonderful! I've always believed that Muslims are peaceful people. There are radicals in every religion, race, etc. Unfortunately, the radicals in their religion are more fanatical.

[nystate]

I say you have to give them the benefit of the doubt...for now anyway...BUT...if so needed in the future, I would not be against rounding them up and placing them in detention camps ala Japanese Americans WW11, for the same reason we did it then. To protect them, and because we just could not trust them 100%.

Detaining Muslims wouldn't solve anything. It is common knowledge that there are westerners (from Europe and the USA) in the ranks of Al Qaeda. So a WWII style detainment in camps would not only be morally wrong, but it would do nothing to keep Americans safer. It would just outrage the majority of the moderate Muslims and actually create a more dangerous enviornment for everybody, no matter what race or religion.

[WEATHER53]

For an example when virtually everyone who is doing you harm has green skin and orange hair you are going to view them differently than those that do not match this discription. Staying alive trumps political correctness.
That being said, I am grateful for this rather overdue denunciation and hope that such sentiments swell to a larger cresendo.
In Iraq, I think that when the cowardly modern day pirates no longer have Americans to throw their jealous fury at there will be a big shift as they will then be killing essentially their own people, the populous over there will no longer be willing to give them cover, and just as we may be seeing the dawn of a newer day here with the Muslim community we will also see social non-support swelling for the bad guys over there.

[abajan]

...if so needed in the future, I would not be against rounding them up and placing them in detention camps ala Japanese Americans WW11, for the same reason we did it then. To protect them...

ROFLOL

You for real?

[BEER980]

Can you say redneck militia.