September 7, 2010 8:37 AM

For US Muslims, a 9/11 Anniversary Like No Other

By
CBSNews
(CBS/ AP)  American Muslims are boosting security at mosques, seeking help from leaders of other faiths and airing ads underscoring their loyalty to the United States — all ahead of a Sept. 11 anniversary they fear could bring more trouble for their communities.

Their goal is not only to protect Muslims, but also to prevent them from retaliating if provoked. One Sept. 11 protest in New York against the proposed Islamic community center and prayer room near ground zero is expected to feature Geert Wilders, the aggressively anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker. The same day in Gainesville, Fla., the Dove World Outreach Center plans to burn copies of the Quran.

"We can expect crazy people out there will do things, but we don't want to create a hysteria," among Muslims, said Victor Begg of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan. "Americans, in general, they support pluralism. It's just that there's a lot of misinformation out there that has created confusion."

On Tuesday, the Islamic Society of North America will hold a summit of Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders in Washington "to address the growing tide of fear and intolerance" in the furor over the planned New York Islamic community center and prayer room near ground zero.

Islamic centers in many cities are intensifying surveillance and keeping closer contact with law enforcement. Adding to Muslim concern is a fluke of the lunar calendar: Eid al-Fitr, a joyous holiday marking the end of Ramadan, will fall around Sept. 11 this year. Muslim leaders fear festivities could be misinterpreted as celebrating the 2001 terror strikes.

"We're telling everyone to keep their eyes open and report anything suspicious to authorities and call us," said Ramzy Kilic of the Tampa, Fla., chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Other efforts around 9/11 aim to fight bigotry. Muslims will clean parks, feed the homeless, and give toys to sick children as part of Muslim Serve, a national campaign to demonstrate Islamic commitment to serving humanity.

Separately, groups are distributing ads to combat persistent suspicions about Islam. One spot, called "My Faith, My Voice," features American Muslims saying, "I don't want to take over this country."

Sept. 11 anniversaries have always been challenging for U.S. Muslims, who have been under scrutiny since the attacks. This year, the commemoration follows a stunning summer in which opposition to a planned Islamic community center near the World Trade Center site escalated into a national uproar over Islam, extremism and religious freedom.

Islamic centers as far away as Tennessee and California faced protests and vandalism. In western New York, police said a group of teenagers recently yelled obscenities, set off a car alarm and fired a shotgun during two nights of drive-by harassment at a small-town mosque near Lake Ontario.

Usama Shami, board chairman for the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, said a new mosque the congregation has been building for years drew little attention until recently, when some resistance emerged in the neighborhood and from some in city government. Recently, vandals broke into the new building, spilled paint on the floor and broke expensive windows.

Shami believes the ground zero dispute is partly to blame for the trouble, along with passions unleashed by Arizona's strict new law that would require police to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally.

"All of these issues came at the same time," Shami said. "When things like that happen, I think they bring out the worst in some people."

On Sept. 11 in Chicago, Zeenat Rahman, a 34-year-old native of the city, will visit a local nursing home with Muslim and non-Muslim friends to spend time with residents and help serve a meal.

"This is when people are going to look at our community, and when they do, what are they going to see?" said Rahman, a policy director for the Interfaith Youth Core, which promotes pluralism. "Sometimes, saying `Islam means peace,' feels a little defensive and apologetic, whereas service is really core to our faith."

Unity Productions Foundation, a Washington-area group that specializes in films about Islam and Muslim Americans, will hold an interfaith talk on Sept. 11 at the Washington Jewish Community Center.

Speakers include Monem Salam, the subject of a Unity Productions film titled, "On a Wing and a Prayer: An American Muslim Learns to Fly." Unity recently launched groundzerodialogue.org, where visitors can view films and use them for community discussion about Islam in the U.S.

Salam, 38, of Bellingham, Wash., usually spends the Eid weekend with his wife and three young children, but said he persuaded his wife he had to participate in the event.

"I have to leave them and go across the country to answer questions about Islam," said Salam, a portfolio manager who was 4 years old when his family left Pakistan for the U.S. "It's unfortunate. It's the time that we live in."

CBS/ AP
Add a Comment See all 35 Comments
by P0ST1ING_AWAY September 9, 2010 12:14 PM EDT
................................
There is no need to annihilate anyone ... even MoronGelical christians.
Education is the key.

I think you mean <<<< (oops! cut/paste with caution)
Reply to this comment
by newsterI September 9, 2010 12:14 PM EDT
by bigthoughtsforasmallblog
Maggie,
I guess you haven't read about Muhameds fondness for abusing little boys"

I guess YOU haven't read about how the church HERE has protected pedophiles for decades, moving them from parish to parish to shield them and let them molest more victims.
You missed the hundreds of lawsuits that threatened to bankrupt various parishes, a number of whom declared bankruptcy to avoid paying on the suits.
Guess you missed all that, but church + priest = pedophile
Reply to this comment
by AnonymousIV September 6, 2010 7:22 PM EDT
ARABS jihad'ing since 624
Reply to this comment
by mdonn September 6, 2010 5:41 PM EDT
April 20, 2007
Muslim Speaker Tells Of Islam's Plan For Europe And America
1. Terminate America's freedom of speech by replacing it with statewide and nationwide hate-crime bills.
2. Wage a war of words using black leaders like Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Jesse Jackson and other visible religious personalities who promote Islam as the religion of African-Americans while insisting Christianity is for whites only. What they fail to tell African-Americans is that it was Arab Muslims who captured them and sold them as slaves. In fact, the Arabic word for black and slave is the same, ''Abed.''
3. Engage the American public in dialogues, discussions, debates in colleges, universities, public libraries, radio, TV, churches and mosques on the virtues of Islam. Proclaim how it is historically another religion like Judaism and Christianity with the same monotheistic faith.
4. Nominate Muslim sympathizers to political office to bring about favorable legislation toward Islam and support potential sympathizers by block voting.

5. Take control of as much of Hollywood, the press, TV, radio and the Internet as possible by buying the related corporations or a controlling stock.

6. Yield to the fear of the imminent shut-off of the lifeblood of America - black gold. America's economy depends on oil and 41 percent of it comes from the Middle East.

7. Yell ''foul, out-of-context, personal interpretation, hate crime, Zionist, un- American, inaccurate interpretation of the Quran'' anytime Islam is criticized or the Quran is analyzed in the public arena.

8. Encourage Muslims to penetrate the White House, specifically with Islamists who can articulate a marvelous and peaceful picture of Islam. Acquire government positions and get membership in local school boards. Train Muslims as medical doctors to dominate the medical field, research and pharmaceutical companies. (Ever notice how numerous Muslim doctors in America are, when their countries need them more desperately than America?) Take over the computer industry. Establish Middle Eastern restaurants throughout the U.S. to connect planners of Islamization in a discreet way.

9. Accelerate Islamic demographic growth via:

* Massive immigration (100,000 annually since 1961).

* Use no birth control whatsoever - every baby of Muslim parents is automatically a Muslim and cannot choose another religion later.

* Muslim men must marry American women and Islamize them (10,000 annually). Then divorce them and remarry every five years - since one can't legally marry four at one time. This is a legal solution in America.

* Convert angry, alienated black inmates and turn them into militants (so far 2,000 released inmates have joined al-Qaida worldwide). Only a few ''sleeper cells'' have been captured in Afghanistan and on American soil.

10. Reading, writing, arithmetic and research through the American educational system, mosques and student centers (now 1,500) should be sprinkled with dislike of Jews, evangelical Christians and democracy. There are currently 300 exclusively Muslim schools in the U.S. which teach loyalty to the Quran, not the U.S. Constitution (edit - that was in 2003, 4 years ago). In January of 2002, Saudi Arabia's Embassy in Washington mailed 4,500 packets of the Quran and videos promoting Islam to America's high schools - free of charge. Saudi Arabia would not allow the U.S. to reciprocate.

11. Provide very sizable monetary Muslim grants to colleges and universities in America to establish ''Centers for Islamic studies'' with Muslim directors to promote Islam in higher-education institutions.

12. Let the entire world know through propaganda, speeches, seminars, local and national media that terrorists have hijacked Islam, when in truth, Islam hijacked the terrorists.

13. Appeal to the historically compassionate and sensitive Americans for sympathy and tolerance towards Muslims in America who are portrayed as mainly immigrants from oppressed countries.

14. Nullify America's sense of security by manipulating the intelligence community with misinformation. Periodically terrorize Americans with reports of impending attacks on bridges, tunnels, water supplies, airports, apartment buildings and malls.

15. Form riots and demonstrations in the prison system demanding Islamic Sharia as the way of life, not America's justice system.

16. Open numerous charities throughout the U.S., but use the funds to support Islamic terrorism with American dollars.

17. Raise interest in Islam on America's campuses by insisting freshman take at least one course on Islam.

18. Unify the numerous Muslim lobbies in Washington, mosques, Islamic student centers, educational organizations, magazines and papers by Internet and an annual convention to coordinate plans, propagate the faith and engender news in the media.

19. Send intimidating messages and messengers to the outspoken individuals who are critical of Islam
Reply to this comment
by P0ST1ING_AWAY September 6, 2010 2:02 PM EDT
................................
There is no need to annihilate anyone ... even MoronGelical christians.
Education is the key.

I think you mean <<<< (oops! cut/paste with caution)
Reply to this comment
by P0ST1ING_AWAY September 6, 2010 1:57 PM EDT
by bigthoughtsforasmallblog September 6, 2010 1:49 PM EDT
Alas, I can't take credit.
Adj. 1. Koranic - of or related to the sacred texts of Islam; "Koranic laws"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. ? 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
The aforementioned circle referenced is a group activity involving a race to ejaculation. In this case, atributed to those hairy handed, going blind posters who gather together in a circle fantisizing about the annialation of evangelical Christians with their tiny sword in hand.
=========================================================
Uh, thanks for point #1.
Another word to add to the vocabulary.

About point #2 ......
The word is "annihilation".
I think you and your friends need to find something else to do
with your spare time.
This activity you have described sounds uninspiring to say the least.

There is no need to annihilate anyone ... even MoronGelical christians.
Education is the key.
I think you mean
Reply to this comment
by P0ST1ING_AWAY September 6, 2010 1:26 PM EDT
by bigthoughtsforasmallblog September 6, 2010 12:28 PM EDT
..................................................
Or was this comment just an example of typical Koranic teaching or an an impotent, limp Muslim-American fantasy of genocide
..................................................
Do you think you can break of the circle jerk for long enough to DO it?
==================================================
Thanks (?) for donating a new word (Koranic) to English lexicon.
I follow NO form of ANY religion.
All of them are MIND pollution in one way or another.

I anxiously (???) await the English translation of your second
sentence. Are you trying to tell me that this circular jerk fellow
is friend of yours ?????
Reply to this comment
by P0ST1ING_AWAY September 6, 2010 11:55 AM EDT
Let us all work together to rid this country of the scourge
of MoronGelical christianity.
Reply to this comment
by AnonymousIV September 6, 2010 9:05 AM EDT
http://sitrep.globalsecurity.org/articles/100903652-obamas-doctrine.htm
Reply to this comment
by AnonymousIV September 6, 2010 8:46 AM EDT
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