It was just days after a truck bomb blew apart the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
The Oklahoma City bombing forever changed the organization created to foster communication between American Muslims and the communities in which they lived, Awad said at the recent Council on American-Islamic Relations Oklahoma banquet in Oklahoma City.
"That event shed light on the challenges that faced our community. It started a movement,” he said.
Before the bombing and the anti-Muslim backlash that followed, the council had been asked to review a few incidents in which Muslim-Americans' civil rights had been violated. Harassment and other harmful acts increased after the bombing, showing Awad and other organization leaders "the depth of the challenges before us.”
"That (bombing) shaped the focus for many years to come. It set us on an entirely different track,” he said.
In 1995 and every year after that, the council published a report on the status of Muslim-American civil rights.
And each April, Awad said he remembers the Oklahoma City tragedy.
Imad Enchassi, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, made the phone call to Awad, urging him to come to Oklahoma City.
Muslim Oklahomans, particularly those of Arabic descent, were viewed with suspicion in the bombing's aftermath. In fact, a Muslim family's home had been attacked, presumably by vigilantes who believed the rumors swirling about the bombing being the handiwork of Middle Eastern terrorists.
Awad, who also is the organization's executive director, said he arrived in Oklahoma City on April 26, 1995 — 13 years to the day of his speech at the recent local banquet.
Awad said he remembered meeting with the man whose home had been attacked and speaking with his wife, who miscarried her first child soon after the attack. He said he also remembered meeting with then-Gov. Frank Keating and presenting bombing recovery funds donated by the Oklahoma Muslim community.
He said the bombing and many of the events that followed brought the first of many lessons for America, among them "not to rush to judgment.”
He said that first civil-rights report, called "A Rush to Judgment,” was released in September 1995 and chronicled more than 200 documented incidents of harassment of Muslims.
Oklahoma chapter Executive Director Razi Hashmi said the council increased its level of support for American Muslims after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks. Educating people about Islam became a priority because the 2001 attacks were carried out by Middle Eastern terrorists acting in the name of Islam.
"There was an increase in hate crimes against Muslims,” Hashmi said.
He said there were fewer than 10 council chapters, mostly in major cities, before Sept. 11, 2001; there now are 35. Oklahoma's chapter was started in 2007.
Saturday, Awad challenged Oklahoma Muslims to speak out for themselves and other Muslim Americans.
America, he said, is at a crossroads, and American Muslims must help the country correctly define who they are.
American Muslims are often viewed with suspicion or seen as a threat, Awad said. Many may have been born in another country and have an accent.
Awad said they should not use these factors as excuses not to voice their concerns when the civil rights of Muslims and others are being violated.
"America needs to be reminded that we are equal under God and under the law,” he said.
"The Oklahoma City bombing was a reminder — when people placed blame on us. We have to communicate. We have to let them know that Islam is peace. Islam is love.”
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With all of the verified, documented information that has come to light about the Council on American Islamic Relations and their ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood—not to mention their status as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding trial—there’s simply no excuse for a context-free, totally whitewashed piece like this,!!
Here’s much more information about Nihad “Islam is Peace and Love” Awad, who stated openly in 1994, “I am in support of the Hamas movement:” Nihad Awad :: Apologists or Extremists. Shame on NewsOK.com and the The Oklahoman for publishing such a blatant piece of dishonest-by-omission, pro-extremist propaganda. Was religion writer Carla Hinton unaware of CAIR’s and Awad’s histories, or did she deliberately leave all of that out?
With all of the verified, documented information that has come to light about the Council on American Islamic Relations and their ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood—not to mention their status as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding trial—there’s simply no excuse for a context-free, totally whitewashed piece like this, even if it is in a relatively small Oklahoma newspaper: Murrah Building bombing shaped Muslim organization.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations was a fledgling organization less than a year old when its co-founder, Nihad Awad, received an urgent telephone call from Oklahoma City in April 1995.
It was just days after a truck bomb blew apart the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
The Oklahoma City bombing forever changed the organization created to foster communication between American Muslims and the communities in which they lived, Awad said at the recent Council on American-Islamic Relations Oklahoma banquet in Oklahoma City. “That event shed light on the challenges that faced our community. It started a movement,” he said. ...
Saturday, Awad challenged Oklahoma Muslims to speak out for themselves and other Muslim Americans.
America, he said, is at a crossroads, and American Muslims must help the country correctly define who they are. American Muslims are often viewed with suspicion or seen as a threat, Awad said. Many may have been born in another country and have an accent.
Awad said they should not use these factors as excuses not to voice their concerns when the civil rights of Muslims and others are being violated. ”America needs to be reminded that we are equal under God and under the law,” he said.
“The Oklahoma City bombing was a reminder — when people placed blame on us. We have to communicate. We have to let them know that Islam is peace. Islam is love.”
Here’s much more information about Nihad “Islam is Peace and Love” Awad, who stated openly in 1994, “I am in support of the Hamas movement:” Nihad Awad :: Apologists or Extremists.
Shame on NewsOK.com and the The Oklahoman for publishing such a blatant piece of dishonest-by-omission, pro-extremist propaganda. Was religion writer Carla Hinton unaware of CAIR’s and Awad’s histories, or did she deliberately leave all of that out?
Middle-East based Islamonline follows CAIR in Oklahoma:
CAIR-OK to Host 2nd Annual Banquet in Oklahoma City
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 4/10/08) – On Saturday April 26, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) will host its S (more)
Okla. Conference to Examine Islamic Perspective on Terror
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 3/25/08) - On Saturday, April 5th, the Institute of Interfaith Dialog will host a day-long conference, "Denouncing Violence in (more)
CAIR-OK Co-Hosts Screening, Discussion on ˜Prince Among Slaves
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 3/7/08) - On Wednesday, March 5, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK hosted a screening (more)
Why does this Middle East based website have any interest in what CAIR-OK does? This should concern every Oklahoman significantly.
More here:
http://ztruth.typepad.com/ztruth/2008/04/qatar-based-isl.html
Middle-East based Islamonline follows CAIR in Oklahoma:
CAIR-OK to Host 2nd Annual Banquet in Oklahoma City
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 4/10/08) – On Saturday April 26, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) will host its S (more)
Okla. Conference to Examine Islamic Perspective on Terror
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 3/25/08) - On Saturday, April 5th, the Institute of Interfaith Dialog will host a day-long conference, "Denouncing Violence in (more)
CAIR-OK Co-Hosts Screening, Discussion on ˜Prince Among Slaves
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 3/7/08) - On Wednesday, March 5, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK hosted a screening (more)
Why does this Middle East based website have any interest in what CAIR-OK does? This should concern every Oklahoman significantly.
More here:
http://ztruth.typepad.com/ztruth/2008/04/qatar-based-isl.html
has anyone at the Oklahoman looked into the origins of the Council 0n American-Islamic Relations and it's founder, Nihad Awad? If you had done your homework, instead of writing this creampuff piece, you could have informed your readers of the ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, two jihadist organizations. You might even have discovered that CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial in Federal Court in Dallas.
Failing to mention the true nature of Nihad Awad and his pals, is a real disservice to your Oklahoman readers and every citizen of this state.
Pathetic does not do justice to how negligent you were in researching this piece. Or did you research it?
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Here’s much more information about Nihad “Islam is Peace and Love” Awad, who stated openly in 1994, “I am in support of the Hamas movement:” Nihad Awad :: Apologists or Extremists. Shame on NewsOK.com and the The Oklahoman for publishing such a blatant piece of dishonest-by-omission, pro-extremist propaganda. Was religion writer Carla Hinton unaware of CAIR’s and Awad’s histories, or did she deliberately leave all of that out?
The Council on American-Islamic Relations was a fledgling organization less than a year old when its co-founder, Nihad Awad, received an urgent telephone call from Oklahoma City in April 1995.
It was just days after a truck bomb blew apart the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
The Oklahoma City bombing forever changed the organization created to foster communication between American Muslims and the communities in which they lived, Awad said at the recent Council on American-Islamic Relations Oklahoma banquet in Oklahoma City. “That event shed light on the challenges that faced our community. It started a movement,” he said. ...
Saturday, Awad challenged Oklahoma Muslims to speak out for themselves and other Muslim Americans.
America, he said, is at a crossroads, and American Muslims must help the country correctly define who they are. American Muslims are often viewed with suspicion or seen as a threat, Awad said. Many may have been born in another country and have an accent.
Awad said they should not use these factors as excuses not to voice their concerns when the civil rights of Muslims and others are being violated. ”America needs to be reminded that we are equal under God and under the law,” he said.
“The Oklahoma City bombing was a reminder — when people placed blame on us. We have to communicate. We have to let them know that Islam is peace. Islam is love.”
Here’s much more information about Nihad “Islam is Peace and Love” Awad, who stated openly in 1994, “I am in support of the Hamas movement:” Nihad Awad :: Apologists or Extremists.
Shame on NewsOK.com and the The Oklahoman for publishing such a blatant piece of dishonest-by-omission, pro-extremist propaganda. Was religion writer Carla Hinton unaware of CAIR’s and Awad’s histories, or did she deliberately leave all of that out?
CAIR-OK to Host 2nd Annual Banquet in Oklahoma City
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 4/10/08) – On Saturday April 26, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) will host its S (more)
Okla. Conference to Examine Islamic Perspective on Terror
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 3/25/08) - On Saturday, April 5th, the Institute of Interfaith Dialog will host a day-long conference, "Denouncing Violence in (more)
CAIR-OK Co-Hosts Screening, Discussion on ˜Prince Among Slaves
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 3/7/08) - On Wednesday, March 5, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK hosted a screening (more)
Why does this Middle East based website have any interest in what CAIR-OK does? This should concern every Oklahoman significantly.
More here:
http://ztruth.typepad.com/ztruth/2008/04/qatar-based-isl.html
CAIR-OK to Host 2nd Annual Banquet in Oklahoma City
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 4/10/08) – On Saturday April 26, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) will host its S (more)
Okla. Conference to Examine Islamic Perspective on Terror
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 3/25/08) - On Saturday, April 5th, the Institute of Interfaith Dialog will host a day-long conference, "Denouncing Violence in (more)
CAIR-OK Co-Hosts Screening, Discussion on ˜Prince Among Slaves
(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 3/7/08) - On Wednesday, March 5, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK hosted a screening (more)
Why does this Middle East based website have any interest in what CAIR-OK does? This should concern every Oklahoman significantly.
More here:
http://ztruth.typepad.com/ztruth/2008/04/qatar-based-isl.html
Failing to mention the true nature of Nihad Awad and his pals, is a real disservice to your Oklahoman readers and every citizen of this state.
Pathetic does not do justice to how negligent you were in researching this piece. Or did you research it?