Ryan Houldin of the Council on American-Islamic Relations finds it ironic that the new order comes on the anniversary of the reviled Dred Scott decision that denied citizenship to African-Americans. “It’s very unfortunate that 160 years later we haven’t really learned any lessons, and we’re just targeting another group of people at this point in time,” Houldin said.
The 100 headstones toppled over at Mount Carmel’s cemetery in Frankford happened sometime on Saturday night. It came a day before dozens of Jewish centers along the East Coast received bomb threats, including 11 in Pennsylvania. Local leaders of all faiths have deplored the Mount Carmel incident, with some openly connecting the rise in hate crime-related incidents, including those in Philadelphia, to the election of President Donald Trump.
Jacob Bender, Executive Director of CAIR-Philadelphia said, “As both an American Jew and the head of one of 30 local chapters of the nation’s leading Muslim civil rights organization, I am deeply affected by the sight of broken Jewish tombstones at the Mount Carmel Cemetery. This act of hate is another clarion call for Jews, Muslims, and all people dedicated to justice, equality, and pluralism, to join together to defeat the extremist elements now on the rise throughout our nation, including some at the highest echelons of our national government.”
“Even before this new [Trump] administration took over, there was a long history by supporters of Israel to equate criticism of Israeli policies with anti-Semitism. That’s unfortunate and wrong-headed, because many Palestinian speakers have been silenced,” said Bender, who heads the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Philadelphia.
Jacob Bender, our Executive Director, and Ryan Houldin, our Staff Attorney, were interviewed on CH 2/PMCM-TV in a segment about hate crimes. (Video)
Mayor Jim Kenney joined a midday prayer service, Jummah, at the Muslim American Society Mosque in North Philadelphia on Friday morning. Speaking before the prayer, Kenney and other local officials praised the mosque for its volunteer work and promised to defend the congregants against Islamophobia.
It is easy to get depressed these days, and become weary at the thought of four more years under this Administration, as we struggle to defend all the social justice progress of the past century.
Yet I remain an optimist. I am filled with hope at the presence of our courageous Mayor and other elected officials here among us; I am filled with hope at the sight of thousands of our fellow Americans streaming into airports across the country to defy the bigoted Executive Order of the President; and I am filled hope because of the warm welcome that I, a Jew, have received from all quarters of the Philadelphia Muslim community since coming to work for CAIR three years ago.
The mayor — a longtime defender of the Muslim community — pointed at more than 100 Muslims who gathered for afternoon prayers and told them: “You are America. Hopefully, a generation from now this will be a bad memory… I am telling you: We will get through this.”
The past few days have been a nightmare for those of us who believe in the fundamental values of this country: inclusivity, tolerance, and religious freedom. CAIR-Philadelphia, together with CAIR chapters around the country, has been working day and night to defend the American Muslim community against the actions of the new administration in Washington which, of course, follow from the most hateful and divisive presidential campaign rhetoric in living memory.
