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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 2006, page 65 Muslim-American Activism CAIR Counters Al-Qaeda Tape
AS AMERICANS commemorated the fifth anniversary of the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) held a news conference at their Capitol Hill office “to challenge the rhetoric and the worldview” of a recent videotape issued by al-Qaeda. In the video, al-Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri, threatened more terror attacks in the Middle East and urged Muslims to attack Western targets. “To more than a billion Muslims worldwide, Islam is a religion that teaches tolerance, freedom and compassion,” CAIR’s executive director Nihad Awad told reporters. “Unfortunately, for many who know little of Islam or Muslims, al-Qaeda has come to represent both. American Muslims will not allow terrorist groups to be the voice of Muslims or the representatives of Islam to the rest of the world,” he vowed. Added Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s national communications director, “Notwithstanding the fact that there are legitimate political grievances in the Muslim world today, Islam has never, and will never, justify the killing of innocent civilians in order to achieve political or religious goals.” Al-Qaeda’s worldview is a complete distortion of Islam, Hooper explained, because Islamic teachings clearly state that the killing of one innocent life is the moral equivalent of the killing of all humanity. “As Muslims, we will continue to condemn al-Qaeda and ensure that the rest of the world learns the true message of Islam and its teachings of peace, justice and compassion for all,” Awad concluded. —Delinda C. Hanley |
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