Good people,
We are all very angry and upset right now, but we need to channel that rage into constructively helping our nation deal with this crisis. If we blame the Muslims and Arabs among us, then the scum who organized this massacre win in two ways:
We will get distracted from our real target, which is THEM.
They will gain converts among the innocent people who are being abused.
When McVeigh blew up the Murrah building, we were horribly scapegoated. Let’s not turn around and repeat the same behavior.
From the Dallas Morning News at:
[url]www.dallasnews.com/attack_on_america/stories2/470750_muslims_14met..html[/url]
[center][b]Denton mosque is third to be attacked[/b][/center]
Community donates resources, offers reward in latest incidents
09/14/2001
By SELWYN CRAWFORD / The Dallas Morning News
The attempted firebombing of a Denton mosque – the third attack on an area mosque in two days – increased fears that anger about Tuesday's terrorist attacks would be taken out on local Muslims.
Federal authorities and Denton fire and police officials are looking for whoever tossed a Molotov cocktail into the Islamic Society of Denton mosque about 2:30 a.m. Thursday. No one was inside at the time, and the fire caused only minor damage.
No one was injured or killed, but Muslim leaders said they are bracing for more incidents.
"As the death toll mounts [from the terrorist attacks], anger mounts," said Mohammed Elmougy, president of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "But we're just as American as everybody else."
After the mosque attacks, people of all faiths have reached out to area Muslims with prayers, comforting e-mail, financial support and donations of materials for repairs. North Texas religious leaders denounced the attacks.
"I think people are angry in response to what happened in New York and Washington," said the Rev. Larry D. Spencer, a Presbyterian minister and former executive director of the Greater Dallas Community of Churches. "It's appropriate to be angry, but it's not appropriate to scapegoat against people who had nothing to do with that just because of ethnicity."
Mr. Spencer was among 20 Dallas-area clergy members who issued a statement expressing sorrow for Tuesday's assaults in New York and calling for restraint on the part of those who wanted to seek revenge. The Tarrant Area Community of Churches issued a similar statement Thursday.
The Dallas Central Mosque will have an interfaith community meeting Friday morning to discuss ways to build unity. And the Dallas regional office of the Anti-Defamation League has set up a $2,500 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of any perpetrators of the mosque attacks.
Despite those obvious shows of concern, Muslims in North Texas said that fear has become a part of their lives.
The Brighter Horizons Islamic school in Richardson closed its doors at least until Monday. The school at the Irving Islamic Center – where one of the mosque attacks occurred – also canceled classes.
"We are concerned about the safety of the children and the safety of the families," said Dr. Nabil Sadoun, a spokesman for Brighter Horizons. "Time is a healing factor, and we canceled classes today and tomorrow."