Chicago, Illinois – August 6, 2009 – The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (the Council) is dismayed by the numerous credible reports of violence against Pakistani Christians in the city of Gojra, Pakistan over the past several days. The Council condemns the killing of eight Pakistani Christians in that region as well as the burning of homes and of at least one church and calls upon American-Muslims to speak out with one voice, unequivocally, that the murders of Pakistani Christians and the destruction of property in Gojra is an injustice and that those responsible for these crimes must be brought to justice. The Council has very strong relationships of friendship and respect with the Christian community in northern Illinois. Among the Christian communities with which the Council maintains an ongoing dialogue are the Catholic Church, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church and various other denominations through its partnership with the Chicago Faith Coalition for Middle East Policy, United Power of Action and Justice, Faith in Place, ARISE Chicago and Protestants for the Common Good, among others. “We speak of justice as being the foundation of our faith and rightly so, and we know that God commands mankind to speak out against injustice even when we or our family are to blame” said Junaid Afeef, executive director of the Council. “Personally, I believe this is precisely the type of situation God had in mind and that is why we say very clearly that the violence by Muslims against their Christian neighbors in Gojra, Pakistan is evil.” The Council leadership is reaching out to its friends in the regional Christian community to convey the American-Muslim community’s grief over the loss of innocent lives, for the property damage to homes and particularly for the desecration of at least one church in Gojra, Pakistan and the for the fear and pain caused by criminals acting erroneously in the name of Islam. END ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (the Council) is a federation of over 50 mosques and Muslim organizations throughout the metropolitan Chicago region. The Council’s members collectively represent over 400,000 Muslims. The Council works to coordinate the activities of the Muslim community as well as provide education, training, networking and advocacy to and on behalf of our member organizations. |