by Jacob Bender
Executive Director, CAIR-Philadelphia
Responding to Terrorism
CAIR’s mission is to provide legal services to the Muslim American community in matters of job discrimination and government abuse, whether related to security or immigration issues, as well to combat Islamophobia and educate the American public about Islam and Muslims. Consequently, CAIR deals almost exclusively with domestic issues, except when foreign issues become part of the domestic Islamophobic discourse, and therefore impact the public’s perception about Muslims in general.
It can be argued that such a case developed in the past few weeks when the kidnapping of hundreds of Nigeria school girls by the extremist group Boko Haram vent viral, and became THE lead story in many media outlets. In cases like this, I believe it is in the best interests of the Muslim community to respond; failure to take a position immediately becomes ammunition for Islamophobes to argue that Muslims are “soft on terrorism.” In agreement with this analysis, the mainstream Muslim American community, and such Muslim advocacy groups as the umbrella Council of Muslim Organizations, CAIR National Headquarters, ISNA, MPAC, and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, all responded to the story, condemning Boko Haram’s actions as “un-Islamic.” Many CAIR local chapters took the same path.
I sent a Letter-to-the-Editor about the kidnappings to The Philadelphia Inquirer, which published the letter on May 9:
To the Editor:
Muslim Americans condemn in the strongest possible way the kidnapping of Nigerian girls by Boko Haram.
The national headquarters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has noted: “It is almost impossible to express the level of disgust felt by American Muslims at the un-Islamic and obscene actions of the terrorist group Boko Haram for kidnapping and threat to ‘sell’ hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls.”
Muslims in Philadelphia join their fellow Americans in urging the government of Nigeria to do everything it can to immediately return the abducted girls safely to their families and eliminate the threat posed by Boko Haram.
Jacob Bender
Executive Director
Philadelphia Chapter
CAIR / Council on American Islamic Relations
About Town:
On May 7, I went to a public program at the Lutheran Philadelphia Seminary on “A Religious Conversation between Christians and Muslims.” The event was co-sponsored by the Seminary and The Community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed in Philadelphia. The Imams who spoke were Imam Muhammad Abdul Aleem of Masjidullah, Imam Salaam Muhsin of Philadelphia Muhsin, and Imam Eric Turner of Masjid Freehaven. The event was an important opportunity for Christians and Muslims to get together and exchange views in the spirit of furthering mutual understanding.
I introduced myself during the Q&A, and after the event, many people came up to me and spoke highly of CAIR. I also gave out our new brochures to many people. I spoke with the three imams named above, and all expressed great interest in collaborating with CAIR in the future.
