I’ve got a big backlog of stories that I hope to get to this long New Year’s weekend. Some, like this, are a bit out of date. But better late than never.
Does anybody remember the terrorist siege of Mumbai? Definitely yesterday’s news. But there’s a local angle that’s worth bringing to your attention. By way of preface, we often read criticisms of American Muslims for sitting quietly on the sidelines when radical Islamists commit terrorist acts. Well, I think it’s worth noting that a league of Virginia Muslims — many of whom are South Asians — has spoken out in the strongest possible terms.
From Dr. Imad Damaj, president of the Muslim Coalition for Public Affairs:
It is with an utmost sadness and shock that we received the news of the terrorists’ attacks in India in the eve of Thanksgiving.
The Virginia Muslim Coalition for Public Affairs strongly condemns and denounces these criminal acts and expresses its sincere words of comfort and feelings of sympathy and sadness for the loss of all innocent lives in India.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to all the families of the victims and in particular to the family of our fellow Virginian, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife.
Regardless of who was involved, the people who carried these attacks out are people with no sense of humanity or morality. They can claim the Religion of Islam as their creed, but their actions go against the fundamental spirit of Islam, which promotes a culture of life and humanity, not bloodshed and violence.
Bravo.