The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, a federation of over fifty Muslim organizations, and Muslims across the city are greeting the jury's verdict in the case of Mohammed Salah with relief. Mr. Salah had been initially been indicted for allegedly running a terrorist-recruiting and financing cell in the United States. The jury has acquitted him of all charges of racketeering. As a community leader, I can say with confidence, that yesterday was a good day for justice in America.
The jury must be given due credit for taking on Muhammad Salah's difficult case, deliberating in a serious and methodical manner, and providing a just ruling. It’s clear the jurors were able to transcend the atmosphere of Islamophobia that has been created by the government's policies and many in the media, especially in the last five years.
Islamophobia is the fear and
hatred of all things related to Islam and Muslims. In our culture today,
it has become an acceptable form of racism. Like racism and anti-Semitism,
Islamophobia hurts all of us. In America, it is eroding our civil liberties.
It is also contributing to grave misunderstandings that perpetuate hatred
and the demonization of a people.
The Salah case is yet another example of the government publicly declaring
war against terrorism by indicting innocent American Muslims, only to
dismiss or drop these charges to lesser, non-violent crimes. The prestigious
Social Science Research Council examined more than 300 prosecutions
of individuals on terrorism-related charges, and found virtually none
that were connected to a plot against America. It is about time that
our country began a debate on its growing level of Islamophobia.
The government's persecution
of Mr. Salah began by declaring this U.S citizen a terrorist,
through an executive order, without any court of law determining whether
this was true. The jury in the case soundly rejected this false and
dangerous accusation yesterday. Despite the use of Israeli torture,
secret evidence and former Attorney General, John Ashcroft’s incitement
in the press that Mr. Salah was running a “U.S.-based terrorist-recruiting
and financing cell” Mr. Salah has been proven innocent of any connection
to terrorism in the United States or abroad.
President Bush who signed the executive order declaring Mr. Salah a
terrorist without any trial, owes the defendant and his family an apology
for making their lives miserable. Great injustice has already been done.
Now, following the spirit of this verdict, the government needs to withdraw
Mr. Salah’s designation as a terrorist, and allow him and his family
to put the pieces of their lives back together, instead of sending him
to prison for, potentially, ten years on lesser charges.
History has shown that such heavy-handed government persecution of minorities,
such as Jim Crow laws and the internment of Japanese-Americans during
World War II are ultimately counter-productive, unjust and eventually
overturned. The Council reminds all Americans that in the war on terror,
sacrificing innocent lives for the sake of appearances does not support
democratic values. Truth and justice comprise the American way and we
must all ensure that it remains so in our great nation.
Printed from the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago website (www.ciogc.org).
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