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Muslims fear backlash in wake of Fort Hood massacre
Raw
Story
Friday, Nov 6th, 2009
American Islamic groups braced themselves for
a public backlash against the faith on Thursday after it was
revealed that the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre
has a Muslim name.
Soon after Pentagon officials named one of the shooters at
the Fort Hood facility as Nidal Malik Hasan, groups rallied
to condemn an act President Barack Obama had earlier described
as a "horrific outburst of violence."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim
group in the country, appealed for calm in the wake of the killing
spree that left 12 people dead and 31 wounded.
"We ask for calm in this situation, and we fear for a
backlash against American Muslims in light of previous unfortunate
incidents that were linked to Muslims," Nihad Awad, the
group's executive director, told the Associated Press.
"Although the attacker has a Muslim name, that does not
mean there is any religious justification for" his actions,
Awad continued, adding that "any faith, any ideology is
vulnerable to claims by some deranged individuals ... for their
irrational and criminal behavior."
Awad said CAIR condemned the Thursday shooting "in the
strongest possible terms," and "our thoughts and prayers
are with the victims of this attack, and our sincere condolences
to the families of those who were killed."
The debate over whether the alleged shooter was motivated by
religion or ideology has already begun.
On Fox News Thursday evening, host Shepard Smith said that
the alleged shooter's name "tells us a lot" about
the incident, though he did not elaborate. Notably, Sen. Kay
Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) agreed with Smith's assertion.
CAIR released a statement Thursday evening, in which it urged
"American Muslims, and those who may be perceived to be
Muslim, to take appropriate precautions to protect themselves,
their families and their religious institutions from possible
backlash."
Qaseem Ali Uqdah, who was a Marine for 21 years before becoming
the executive director at the American Muslim Armed Forces and
Veterans Affairs Council, now fears a "witch hunt"
like that which followed September 11, 2001.
"This is a criminal act and we have to treat it like a
criminal act, not something to do with religion" he told
Agence France-Presse.
For the estimated 3,500 Muslims in the US armed forces, Uqdah
said there could be some fallout from the attack.
"What we don't need is people downrange sitting in foxholes
(in Afghanistan or Iraq) questioning if you are a Christian,
if you are a Muslim or if you are a Jew ... that is not what
we need as a nation.
"We need to fight the war on terror together," he
added.
In a Pew survey published last September, 38 percent of respondents
said that Islam encouraged violence more than other religions.
Fifty-eight percent said there was a lot of discrimination
against Muslims in the United States.
"When the people find they can vote themselves
money, that will herald the end of the republic."
- Fall Of The Republic - Buy
the DVD here
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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