Hero of the Week: CAIR

This week's hero is CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations. They deserve praise for their recent series of PSAs "9/11 happened to us all" and other efforts to fight the recent wave of anti-Muslim bigotry that's been sweeping the United States. These public service announcements highlight the stories of Muslim first responders to the September 11th terrorist attacks and draw attention to the fact that it was a crime committed against Muslims as much as it was by Muslims. The idea, and I hope it's successful, is to remind people that Muslims are fellow citizens and not some alien force; if you pick us do we not bleed and all that.




The civil rights of US citizens is a moral issue; protecting the right for Muslims to build a Mosque anywhere (or in this case a community center) is the only way I can make sure that Christians can build Churches anywhere they want and Jews can build Synagogues where they choose. And the controversy over the planned community center in Manhattan is just one outgrowth of intolerance; there's been stabbing, arson , and the reprehensible Burn a Koran day. Disgusting.




This is also a foreign policy issue and the image of so many Americans protesting their fellows civil rights is not one that will play well around the world, it confirms many people's worst fears about America's relationship with Islam. For both these reasons and many more it is vitally important that the US comes to terms with it's fastest growing religion and this latest campaign by CAIR is helping do just that. By dispelling the otherness of Islam and reminding us that it's adherents are our friends and neighbors these PSAs are striking a blow against xenophobia and intolerance.




The battle for hearts and minds is far from over, both at home and abroad. I hope CAIR keeps these PSAs up.