Public service announcements designed to challenge bigotry, Florida Quran burning and physical attacks against mosques nationwide
Muslim first responders and area mosque leadership to address Islamophobia
(CLEVELAND, OHIO – 9/9/2010) — On Thursday, September 9, the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland), in conjunction with area mosque and interfaith leaders, held a news conference in Cleveland to continue a national public service announcement (PSA) campaign featuring Muslim 9/11 first responders and designed to challenge the growing anti-Muslim bigotry sparked by opposition to the planned Park51 project in Manhattan.
CAIR’s campaign also includes a PSA that features interfaith leaders offering an implicit challenge to the Florida church that plans to burn copies of the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, on September 11. The Public service announcements are designed to challenge the rise in bigotry, Islamophobia, and the physical attacks taking place against several mosques in the US.
“The hate and incitement perpetuated by an orchestrated group of vocal bigots against the American Muslim community in recent weeks has begun to cause physical attacks against Muslims and their houses of worship,” said CAIR-Cleveland President Isam Zaiem. “CAIR is challenging this hate through public service announcements that seek to promote pluralism and peace.”
SEE: Fire at Tennessee Mosque Site: Part of a ‘Perfect Storm’?
Two of the three PSAs, which will be distributed to television stations nationwide and online through social media sites, feature Muslim first responders to the 9/11 terror attacks, with the theme “9/11 happened to us all.”
The third PSA features Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders describing the “golden rule” as expressed by their respective faiths –- and ends with the phrase, “We have more in common than we think.”
This PSA is designed to show the commonalities between faiths and to challenge those who –- like the members of a Florida church who plan to burn Qurans on September 11 –- would divide American along religious lines.
Dozens of mosque and interfaith leaders attended the press conference to promote religious freedom, challenge growing anti-Muslim bigotry in American society and to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. Noted clergy leaders provided messages of pluralism, mutual respect, and inter-communal harmony.
Local Muslim American first responders and public servants spoke about their reaction to 9/11 and their service in the community.
SEE: Muslim Leaders Seek to Unify Community in Wake of Hostility, Mosque Controversy (Washington Post)
Earlier this month, CAIR released an online toolkit designed to help Muslim communities organize proactive local educational and outreach initiatives tied to events such as a “National Day of Unity and Healing” on the upcoming anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The toolkit, called a “Teachable Moment Community Response Guide,” offers guidance, tools and resources to help Muslim communities respond to specific current events such as the end of Ramadan Eid al-Fitr holiday occurring near September 11, the upcoming “Burn a Koran Day” by a church in Florida, the anti-Muslim bigotry generated by the smear campaign against a planned Islamic community center in Manhattan, and the ongoing tension and misunderstanding surrounding the building or expansion of mosques nationwide.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
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CONTACT: CAIR-Cleveland Executive Director Julia A. Shearson, 216.830.2247 or 216.440.2247, E-Mail: jshearson@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202.744.7726, or 202.488.8787, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202.488.8787, 202.341.4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com