Ok… this one is LONGGGGGGGGG. I promise after this, I will let the matter rest.
As a follow up to the disgusting hate emails I have received fom family, one member has been particularly persistant in pushing his views down my throat. After several, “Praise Jesus” and “Arabs as Animal” emails, I did some research and sent one last email to this particularly ignorant person. Below is the response I sent and what followed from them. I have ***starred*** the beginning and ending of the various articles I sent within the body of the email to make it easier to skip if you would like to. Pay close attention to the opening lines of the second email from my family member.
My email to him:
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I’m sorry it’s taken me a few days to get back to you but with the holiday and end of school quarter here, it has been busy. I did however want to take some time to respond. I do not make my decisions without thought. I will have to agree that there are many people who make statements based on popular beliefs versus facts and information. Please let this be the conclusion of our discussion on the matters, I love you guys and do not want to have this stand between us.
Today, I did some research to see if there was any correlation between Murder/Crime rates in countries with higher Muslim or Arabic populations. Take a look at what I found. According to the United Nations Survey of Crime, Trends and Operations of The Criminal Justice System and the CIA World Fact book, (note that I stated my sources of information here) the following statistics represent the rank of countries in order from most to least for murders per capita. I have also cross referenced the religious makeup of each country, comparing the percent of murders to the percent of any given religion population. What I found was this: · The highest Murder per capita rate resides in India, where neither Muslim’s nor Christian’s are the prevailing religion. More than 85% of the population is Hindu. · In second place for the most murders was Russia, where more than 70% of the population consists of a Catholic and Christian mix. The crime rate has risen significantly since the fall of the Soviet Union. · Taking third in the highest Murder rate was Columbia, a predominantly Catholic country where over 90% of the people fall into this religious category. · Interestingly, the lowest Murder per capita rate is in Qatar, where more than 85% of the people are Muslim. · The second lowest murder rate is in Cyprus, where the majority of people are Catholic as well. · The third lowest murder rate goes to Dominica, another country consisting of mostly Catholic people.
Over all, the following statements can be ascertained from the data found on these sites. (I’ve attached the data table for your own review) Out of the top 20 countries that have the highest Murder per capita: · 3 had a population of less than 5% Muslims · 9 had a population of less than 2% Muslims · 15 countries had at LEAST a population makeup of Muslims smaller than 15% · 16 had a population of more than 70% Catholic and Christian people Out of the 10 countries that had the lowest Murder per capita: · 4 had more than 85% Muslim populations · 5 had more than 70% Catholic and Christian populations What can we conclude? Nothing really, except that people all over the world commit horrendous crimes and there is no real basis to judge them on their religious beliefs or their ethnic background. I am saying in no way, shape or form that I condone or support the sick people who committed the attacks on 9/11/08, I have NEVER said that.
You said in your email that the hatred of Arab Americans and Muslims alike began after the attacks in New York. Many reports and articles are available refuting that statement. I have included a few for you to take a look at.. As reported in July 1995 Barna Research Ltd. is the most active religious polling organization in the United States. Barna asked a random selection of American adults in 1995-JUL whether they thought that various religions had a positive or negative effect on U.S. society. American adults, Christians and non-Christians alike, regard Christianity and Judaism as having a positive influence on society. Islam, Buddhism, Scientology and Atheism received negative reviews.. ********************News Article**************************
An Arab In America By Lorraine Ali From Newsweek Magazine issue dated May 14, 2001Sometimes I feel like part of a new experiment. I am an Arab-American, one of an estimated 2 million who are slowly becoming a recognized political and social force in the United States. Unlike many, I am not a new immigrant but rather the American-born daughter of an Iraqi father and American mother. In less cocky moments, I jokingly refer to myself as a fake Arab, one who knows little about my Middle Eastern heritage, or a half-American who’s still oblivious to some basic U.S. customs. My father came from Baghdad in 1953, then met and married my mother–a blue-eyed California girl. I’ve always been proud of my father for taking a chance, leaving all he knew to “make it big” by starting his own rental-car business. I’ve also admired my mother’s courage in dating and marrying a man so different from her own French Canadian, conservative father and Protestant, American mother. But they were somehow meant to be. It seemed too unlikely that the two would meet randomly at a polka dance in downtown Los Angeles if it wasn’t willed by God, fate, Allah. My two older sisters and I grew up between their worlds–Arab and American, Muslim and Christian. We went to mosque and Sunday school. We listened to rock on the radio and the Quran suras my father would pop in the cassette player on the drive to work. In my lunchbox, I carried dolma and Syrian bread one day, peanut butter and jelly the next.. On the dolma days, the other kids looked at my meal as though it was shot down from outer space. Little did they know that some 15 years later, pita bread and all types of Middle Eastern food would become part of the American diet, served in malls and beachside boardwalks. But there was a great divide. Arabs and Muslims were portrayed in movies and on TV as bloodthirsty savages, terrorists, dishonest and hygienically challenged. The terms Arab, Muslim, Iranian were used interchangeably. The stereotypes were fed by a series of Middle East conflicts–Palestine, Iran, Libya, Iraq. There was also the late ’70s oil embargo. Arab came to mean something negative, which seemed absurd to me. It was simply part of who I was, my family, my loved ones. We were like all the other gangly teenagers in the schoolyard, until someone would ask: “What kind of last name is that?” You knew exactly what they thought from the comment that ensued. Either “Uh-oh, are you packing a bomb?” or “Cool, where is your family from?” The first question I would not answer (they knew all I was packing was my lunch), but I welcomed the latter question, eager to set the record straight and show there was more to the Arab world than what America saw on the nightly news. See, I had visited Iraq when I was 11, and met my father’s whole family for the first time. I sat on the floor in the mornings with my grandma Mahia. I helped her make that yummy lamb and string-bean stew. In my uncle Ibrahim’s backyard we ate barbecued fish from the Tigris river. We danced to Arabic music with my cousins, before playing our Elton John and teaching them how to dance to rock. A place that had at first seemed alien became so comfortable, so normal. My newfound pride in who I was would often be challenged in the years to come. There were the anti-Middle Eastern sentiments surrounding the Iranian hostage crisis and, later, the 1991 gulf war.. It was awful sitting in traffic, reading bumper stickers on cars in front of me: Iraq: kick their ass, take their gas and our colors don’t run, against the red, white and blue of the American flag. It was as if the whole country was pumped up for a football game, never considering that the bombs we dropped were actually killing people–possibly my family. I could not explain my grief without being labeled anti-American. For the only time in my life I thanked God for taking my dad away. Three years before the gulf war he died of cancer, seeming to take all the secrets of my Arab heritage with him. My mom struggled to recall his stories from the old country, but she was often at a loss. I looked for clues everywhere–digging up old photos from his school days in Baghdad, reading the Quran, striking up conversations with anyone I thought came from the Middle East.. Now I realize that part of the search was to regain a little piece of my dad, and to grapple for security in a world I often feel at odds with. But things have changed. I now feel less lost, less embattled. Maturity frees you from that horrible urge to always fit in. And America’s attitude is changing, too. Arabs and Muslims are now next-door neighbors rather than overseas threats. They are a part of the American picture, and I am, too. With my dad’s wide nose and my mom’s light skin, I am my heritage, both American and Arab, and the beginning of an entirely new culture. *********************************End News Article******************************
You also asked where the Muslims and those of Arabic decent were during the attacks of 9/11. They were scared for their own and the lives of their families. Yet over and over I find reports offering up their outrage and condemnation of such attacks. Here are a few examples for you, both recent reports and many from 9/11 itself.
********************Begin News Article********************** Prominent Muslims Criticize Attacks on Iraqi Christians By Ethan Cole Christian Post Reporter Thu, Oct. 16 2008 02:05 PM EDT A group of high-level Muslim leaders condemned the recent flare in violence against Iraqi Christians and said that there was no justification in Islam for the attacks. The 17 prominent Muslims, joined by 19 Christian leaders, denounced the persecution of Iraqi Christians in their community, released Wednesday at an interfaith conference hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, according to Episcopal News Service. It was deeply troubling, the leaders expressed, to learn of the situation in Mosul where more than 8,300 Christians have been forced to flee due to violence from Islamic extremists in the last two weeks. “We are profoundly conscious of the terrible suffering endured by Iraqi people of every creed in recent years and wish to express our solidarity with them,” the Muslims and Christians leader at the meeting stated. “We find no justification in Islam or Christianity for those promoting the insecurity or perpetrating the violence evident in parts of Iraq.” They called on religious, political and community leaders to do everything they can to facilitate the return of all persons and communities and ensure a stable environment for all citizens in Iraq. The 36 religious leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, and the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Ali Gomaa, were gathering for the meeting, titled, “A Common Word and Future of Christian-Muslim Engagement,” at Lambeth Palace. Participants addressed issues such as the global economic crisis, interfaith education, different understandings of scriptures, shared moral values, respect for foundational figures in the respective faiths, religious freedom, and the persecution of minorities in Iraq during their Oct. 12-15 meeting. The Common Word conference, which was hailed as the “most significant” gathering of international Muslim leaders ever to be held in the United Kingdom, was purposely scheduled to mark the first anniversary of “A Common Word Between Us and You” – an unprecedented letter signed by 138 diverse Muslim leaders that sought to find common ground between Christianity and Islam with the aim of global peace. “In this conference we are celebrating the shared values of love of God and love of neighbor, the basis of A Common Word, whilst reflecting self-critically on how often we fall short of these standards,” the group said in the communiqué. In addition to urging world leaders to address religious persecution in Iraq, the faith leaders also called on global leaders to work together to ensure that the “burden” of the financial crisis and global environmental crisis “does not fall unevenly on the weak and the poor.” “We must seize the opportunity for implementing a more equitable global economic system that also respects our role as stewards of the earth’s resources,” they said. Attendees of the Common Word conference included: Metropolitan Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syrian Orthodox Church; Dr. Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America and professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut; and Professor David Ford, Regius professor of divinity at the University of Cambridge, England. Egypt’s Sheik Ali Gomaa said at a press briefing that the conference had been a great success “and together we are now on the right path towards the benefit of humanity … We hope to make this world a better place for our children and grandchildren; a place where there is mutual cooperation.”
Gallup Poll: 93% of Muslims Worldwide Condemn 9/11 Attacks Jon Ponder | Feb. 27, 2008 One of the largest-ever opinion polls conducted in the Islamic world found that seven percent of Muslims condoned the Sep 11, 2001, attacks on the US, but none of them gave religious justification for their beliefs, according to the figures released Tuesday. The Gallup organization’s poll of some 50,000 people in over 35 predominantly Muslim countries found that what motivated those considered “politically radicalized” was their fear of occupation by the West and the US, though most even admired and hoped for democratic principles. The overwhelming majority of Muslims – 93 percent – condemned the Sep 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, and most said the biggest obstacle to better relations with the West was the latter’s lack of respect for Islam.
It is advantageous to George Bush and the fear-mongers who run our government to ascribe the terror attacks to the Muslim religion. The reality is, Osama bin Laden and his ilk are conservative political extremists who, like rightwing extremists in the United States, justify their hate-filled political agenda with narrow, self-serving interpretations of mainstream religion beliefs..
U.S. MUSLIMS CONDEMN TERRORIST ATTACKS (WASHINGTON, DC – 9/11/2001)
The American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC), today condemned the apparent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and offered condolences to the families of those who were killed or injured.
The AMPCC statement read in part: “American Muslims utterly condemn what are apparently vicious and cowardly acts of terrorism against innocent civilians. We join with all Americans in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators. No political cause could ever be assisted by such immoral acts.”
Leaders of the American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC) held a meeting in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, to issue the following points related to the terrorist attacks:
1) We assert unequivocal condemnation based on our religious values and our identity as American Muslims; 2) We do not need to defend every maniacal incident emanating from the Muslim world or the Muslim community, just as other religious groups need not defend their extremists; 3) We offer compassion to the victims and solidarity with all Americans in the face of danger; 4) Notwithstanding the disbelief that anyone following the faith of Islam could commit such a heinous crime, we condemn the act regardless of the identity of the perpetrators; 5) We deplore the irresponsible reporting that twists the realities and complexities of the Muslim world in order to project only anti-American sentiment during this disturbing period when we are all attempting to move beyond the state of mourning for the national tragedy; 6) We warn against opportunists who will exploit the misery and hysteria of the public in order to promote a political agenda aimed at tarnishing the name of Islam and Muslims; 7) We should not diminish our resolve to be active in protecting the civil liberties of all Americans and struggling for justice both locally and globally; 8) We need to organize activities to help the victims medically, psychologically and in every other way we can.
AMC Deplores the Attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (WASHINGTON, DC – 9/11/2001)
The American Muslim Council (AMC) strongly condemns this morning’s plane attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and expresses deep sorrow for Americans that were injured and killed. AMC sends out its condolence to all victims of this cowardly terrorist attack. There is no cause that justifies this type of an immoral and inhumane act that has affected so many innocent American lives. AMC supports all efforts of the investigation in order to track down the people responsible for this tragic act of terrorism.
Donate Blood To Help The Innocent Victims (WASHINGTON, DC – 9/11/2001)
The American Muslim Council calls upon the members of the Muslim community to come together at this tragic time where so many of our fellow Americans have been killed and injured. This American tragedy affects all of us and we should do whatever we can do help save lives of the injured victims. AMC encourages Islamic Centers to start blood drive campaigns and encourages everyone to visit hospitals and medical centers in the capitol and New York City to donate much needed blood to those who are required to receive immediate medical assistance.
American Muslims for Jerusalem Condemns the Terrorist Attacks (Washington, DC 9/11/01)
Joining the Muslim community around the country, the Washington based American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ) is appalled and strongly condemns the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, and other parts of the country. AMJ sends out its deepest condolences to the families of the victims of these cowardly attacks.
As Muslims we utterly deplore these heinous and barbaric acts and hope for the quick apprehension and swift applications of justice. We also urge the media to exercise restraint, act responsibly when reporting, and not rush to judgment. Until the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice, all media reports should be accurate, restraint, and sensitive. AMJ calls on Muslims nationwide to offer every assistance they can to help the victims of today’s terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. Muslims in local communities should take the following IMMEDIATE ACTIONS: * Muslim medical professionals are asked to go to the scenes of the attacks to offer aid and comfort to the victims. American Muslims for Jerusalem
ISNA CONDEMNS TERRORIST ATTACKS (Plainfield, IN – 9/11/2001)
The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) joins Muslim Americans and all Americans in expressing its deep sorrow over the apparently deliberate air-crashes in New York and Washington, DC that have led to the loss of countless innocent lives.
ISNA joins Muslim organizations throughout North America in condemning theses apparent terrorist attacks and calls upon Muslim Americans to come forward with their skills and resources to help alleviate the sufferings of the affected people and their families. ISNA condemns these apparently senseless acts of terrorism against innocent civilians, which will only be counterproductive to any agenda the perpetrators may have had in mind. No political cause could ever be assisted by such immoral acts.
We join with all Americans in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators, and call upon our justice system to maintain strict standards of justice and fairness in these trying times.
We also urge the media to exercise restraint, and to act responsibly when reporting on these terrorist attacks. Until the perpetrators are brought to justice, all media reports should be accurate, restrained and sensitive. Let us pray to God that He may Guide us all to keep firm in following our principles and offer relief to the victims of violence wherever they may be.
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Now with these things said, I feel like I should restate my position on a few things. Regarding the attacks on 9/11….. I believe “pieces of crap” as you described them is too weak a word.They were sick fuckers with twisted warped minds not worthy of living. On our Military… these men and woman, both past and present, deserve absolute honor and respect and don’t imagine for one minute that when I see someone in uniform that a sense of pride does not fill my chest. I am not proud of some of the things that America has done. BUT IN NO WAY does this make me think negatively of America as a whole. We are a great nation, incredible changes in the world happen because we care enough to make them happen. There are many things that need to still change… everywhere.
Anyways, I hope you guys had a good Halloween and that you enjoyed seeing all the kiddos dressed up. I ‘ll say it again, I love you guys. Uncle Bruce, just imagine how many people I would run over if it wasn’t for you!
Love, K im
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Love, XYZ
