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St. Louis Post-Dispatch – Sept. 30, 2006
St. Louis: Muslims in US are wary
By Tim Townsend
Since June, area Muslims have become increasingly uncomfortable and even fearful not because of overt attacks or threats against them, but because a sequence of incidents have built upon each other to form an intense, low-grade foreboding.
Beginning with the monthlong Israel-Hezbollah conflict through Pope Benedict XVI's inflammatory lecture last month, American Muslims say they feel more uneasy in their own country. Local incidents, including the August screening of a controversial anti-terrorism movie and an FBI raid on the home of a Muslim in Columbia, Mo., have heightened the anxiety, according to dozens of St. Louis Muslims interviewed over the last few weeks. . .
"It's possible that those who want a tougher stance on terrorism and against Muslims have felt election campaigns might benefit from bringing this issue to the forefront," said Khaled Hamid, a member of the St. Louis chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations….
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/AD366C44902B5D73862571F90060D615?OpenDocument
Miami Herald – Sept. 28, 2006
Where are the moderate Muslims? Everywhere
By Meher Sultana
Re Cal Thomas' Sept. 23 Other Views column, Where are the moderate Muslims? : The simple answer is: They are everywhere.
Many of us are Americans, study in American institutions and go on to work and pay American dollars to our tax system. Like everyone else, we eventually find our better half, have chubby babies, go to zoos, get season tickets to the Miami Dolphins, go on our childrens' field trips and fix the leaks in our roofs.
With all the growing pains in the life that we lead as normal Americans, every day we turn our face to Mecca to pray to what our Christian brothers call God, our Jewish sisters call Yahweh and whom we call Allah.
I am a small-business owner. I am not the only woman who works in my Muslim community. Many are engineers, pediatricians, teachers, research analysts and attorneys. Some are PTO volunteers.
America's Muslims have time and again issued statements denouncing 9/11 and the gruesome killing of innocent Americans. We have denounced the London bombings, the arrests of Americans in Iraq and the Iranian holocaust-cartoon contest. The list goes on and on.
Muslims also ran a full-page ad in several newspapers distancing us from the fringe ideology of the few. In addition, we ran an Internet campaign, ''Not in the name of Islam,'' in which we denounced all acts of terror on innocent civilians. To date it has been signed by more than 700,000 people -- mostly Muslims.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations ( www.cair.com ) has called on Muslims to help repair Palestinian churches damaged following Pope Benedict XVI's remarks, which were perceived as critical of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.
Our actions rarely make it into print. When they do, the coverage is relegated to some corner of the paper or a brief spot on a local TV channel. On the other hand, when someone from some other country issues a controversial statement, it rates headlines and becomes a topic of discussion by all TV hosts.
After last year's hurricanes, Muslims formed a task force and pledged $10 million. At the local level, we had truckloads of food, medicine and clothing sent to New Orleans from South Florida. Are we passionate about America? Of course.
Meher Sultana, Fort Lauderdale
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/15625345.htm
Rutland Herald – Sept. 23, 2006
VT: Trustee sends e-mail disparaging Muslims
BY DANIEL BARLOW
BELLOWS FALLS - Village trustee Stefan Golec forwarded at least two Internet jokes and messages this month to town officials and community leaders that contain derogatory terms for Muslims and are critical of their culture and religion.
One e-mail he forwarded labeled Muslims as "brutal and uncivilized" and another referred to them as "Towel Heads." The e-mails were sent to friends, community leaders and this reporter.
On Thursday Golec said he forwards many e-mails to people and does not always agree with their content or language. He refused to say if he agreed with these messages or articulate his feelings toward Muslims.
"Creating an e-mail and forwarding one are two different things," he said. "I have friends that send me jokes and e-mails and sometimes I forward those along."
Golec has been a member of the Bellows Falls Board of Trustees for a decade.
Rockingham Select Board member Ann DiBernardo received one of the e-mails this week and called the comments they contained "inappropriate." But she also said she does not believe Golec "dislikes or hates Muslims."
"Stefan is very patriotic," DiBernardo said. "He loves this country. I don't think he is anti-Muslim, I think he is just very patriotic."
Village President Clark Barber said he had not seen the e-mails and has no control over what trustees do in their free time.
"I myself deplore any kind of discrimination or prejudice," Clark said. "But unless this becomes a town issue, I don't think we can do anything about it."
One e-mail Golec forwarded Sept. 20 was titled, "Towel Heads," and contained a cartoon showing an elderly Caucasian woman in slippers and holding a coffee mug. The text of the cartoon suggests that "Islamic terrorists" do not like being called "Towel Heads" because "the item they wear on their head is not actually a towel, but in fact, a small folded sheet."
"Therefore, from this point forward, please refer to them as 'Little Sheet Heads,'" the cartoon reads. . .
The Internet has become a prominent source of anti-Muslim rhetoric, and e-mail has made it quick and easy for people to redistribute the offensive material, said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesperson for the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Ignorance of Islam also may run high in communities with few or no Muslims, Hooper added. Vermont's minority population was estimated to be about 4 percent in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is not clear how many Vermonters identify themselves as Muslims.
"It's unfortunate that an elected official choose to send out statements like those," Hooper said. "I recommend that he take the time to speak with a Muslim about their faith."….
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060923/NEWS/609230338/1003/NEWS02
Sun-Sentinel – Oct. 1, 2006
Heed Muslims who decry terrorism
By Teresa R. Herrero
Your article on Americans' view of Islam as promoting violence, "A religion under siege" (Outlook, Sept. 24), gives a clue as to what may be the most effective way of addressing this issue.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations hit the nail on the head with its new ad campaign: "Not in the name of Islam." Americans need to hear Muslim leaders decry terrorism in the name of Islam and have both the Muslim community and the media quit suggesting that Americans' views are due to prejudice, ignorance or religious antipathy…..
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/sfl-pbmail889oct01,0,7288655.story
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