American
Muslim civil advocacy groups Wednesday strongly condemned the killings of the
U.S. Ambassador J Christopher Stevens and three other diplomats and the attack
on the American embassy in Egypt.
This senseless act of violence occurred amidst angry protests decrying an anti-Islamic film produced in the U.S. that appeared on YouTube. Thousands of Egyptians also protested the film at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo Tuesday.
Led by the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a number of Muslim organizations,
held a news conference Wednesday on the Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to
condemn the killings of the American ambassador to Libya and three other
diplomats.
Other organizations
represented at the news conference included Naeem Baig, Vice President of the
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Rafiuddin, President of the Council of
Muslim Organizations of the Greater Washington, D.C., Area (CMO), and Johari
Abdul Malik of the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center. A representative of the Libyan
Emergency Task Force also addressed the
press conference. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the
Muslim Public Affairs Council also issued statements condemning the brutal
killings.
In their
statements the Muslim groups emphasized that while the purposeful provocation
of any religious group is divisive and reprehensible, however, responding with
violence only plays into the hands of those who seek to divide us and inevitably
leads to painful loss.
They said
ee must not let extremists control the political or religious discourse which
means that people of all beliefs should repudiate those who would commit acts
of violence in response to intentional provocations and repudiate those whose
only goal is offending religious sentiments.
While
extending their deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of
those killed, the Muslim groups urged Muslim Americans and Muslims around the
world to always react with reason, not anger, against any ignorant attack on
Islam.
They appealed to Muslims in the Arab region and elsewhere to ignore cheap attempts for publicity by hateful bigots. By engaging in violence Muslims are not only harming innocent lives but also falling in the trap set up by bigots.
They also
appealed to the larger American public to be wary of such attempts by
individuals and groups, who in most cases have foreign ties, engaging in such
hateful projects that not only endanger American and others' lives overseas,
but also incite hate attacks against minorities in America as well.
Demos in Tunisia
Tunisian
police fired teargas and rubber bullets into the air Wednesday to disperse a
protest over a US-made film depicting the Prophet Mohammad near the US Embassy
in the capital Tunis, according to Reuters.
Around 200
protesters, many of whom with long beards and wearing robes, threw rocks at the
police, burned US flags and chanted slogans such as "Obama, Obama, we are
here for the triumph of Islam" and "Mohammad is the master of
creation".
Police
chased the protesters away while Tunisian army soldiers guarded the embassy
building.
Egyptians angry at film
scale U.S. embassy walls
In Cairo,
Egyptian protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy on Tuesday, tore down
the American flag and burned it during a protest over the film.
Event
Christians joined the protest. Rafik Farouk, 38, an Egyptian Christian, also
took part. "I am here because I am Egyptian and reject anything that
insults Islam or anything that sparks division in Egypt," he told Reuters.
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