PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS TO WEAR HIJAB OR KUFI ON SEPTEMBER 11TH
IN DEFIANCE OF “BURN A QURAN DAY”
Local Peace Activist's Campaign Growing with Thousands
Around the Nation and the World Pledging to Join
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=144913692209438 and
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109407399115470
Wear Hijab on 9/11, Defy "Burn a Quran Day"
“ There was never a good war or a bad peace.”
WHITTIER, CA (Sept. 9, 2010) -- As a protest against persecution of Muslims, a local peace activist has launched a campaign asking people to show that not all Americans are bigots by adorning themselves with symbols of the Islamic faith (Hijab head scarf for women or Kufi skull cap for men) on September 11th.
"We are calling on people of all faiths, or no faith, to join us ad to show that Muslims are people of peace and NOT our enemies," wrote creator Charell W. Charlie, a member of the Whittier Area Peace and Justice Coalition on the Facebook pages she posted just two weeks ago dedicated to the campaign inspiring thousands around the nation and the world to pledge their participation.
Los Angeles Event:
WHEN: 1:30 PM, Saturday, September 11, 2010
WHERE: The Grove at the Farmers Market, 3rd Street 1 block east of Fairfax. Meet beside the clock between the Farmer's Market and The Grove, next to the train tracks.
WHO and WHAT: Charell W. Charlie will join members of Women in Black-LA and other local peace activists will walk together around the open air mall wearing hijab as a silent protest against those who promote Islamophobia and support burning the Koran.
From Charell W. Charlie's "Wear Hijab on 9/11, Defy "Burn a Quran Day" Facebook Page:
"We invite people who are horrified by the recent outrageous fear mongering of the right-wing against American Muslims. We will perform this symbolic act to counter the fomenting of hate in the media and elsewhere. We are non-Muslims who plan to wear the hijab or kufi on 9/11 as a gesture to American Muslims that they are full citizens of this country and deserve the same rights as the rest of us. We intend to prove to Muslims around the world that people of peace outnumber those who hate."
"Yes, it will take some courage to make this gesture. However, I remembered how the people in Billings, Montana put menorahs in their windows to protest the anti-Semitic activities of the KKK in their town. See http://www.facinghistory.org/explore/exhibit/stories/niot/read. Another wave of anti-Semitism is sweeping our nation, this time against Muslims. Let's stand up and stand out to demonstrate that not all Americans are bigots.
I hope you'll join me in making this gesture. I feel that it demonstrates true American values as written in our Constitution."
Thousands from all over the nation and world are pledging their participation on the internet joining the Facebook Group:
Wear Hijab on 9/11, Defy "Burn a Quran Day"
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=144913692209438
Event page:
People of all faiths to wear Hijab or Kufi on September 11th
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109407399115470
Q and A with Charell W. Charlie, the creator of this campaign:
Why are you launching this Campaign?
I’m very disturbed by the recent ramp up of hate mongering by the Right-Wing media, such as the manufactured controversy over the so called “Ground Zero Mosque.” I think it is very dangerous and some unstable people are already starting to act out their hate. When that foolish preacher announced “Burn a Quran Day,” I remembered the saying, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." I felt I had to do something. The idea came to me and I acted on it.
Are you a Muslim group?
No, we are peace activists.
What do you intend to do on the 9-11?
First, my friends and I will go to an Eid party given by our friend, Naz. She said she would show us how to wear the Hijab. In the afternoon we’ll be with the anti-war group, “Women in Black” at the Grove at the Farmers Market.
How are you mobilizing your supporters?
First I started the Facebook group then I sent out emails to everyone that I thought might be interested. It was very auspicious that the first person to join the group immediately after I posted it was my dear friend, Robin. She has been an enormous help in this effort and is the most sympathetic to the cause. Robin has lived in the Middle East, speaks some Arabic and knows Muslim culture much better than I do.
There is also a Facebook event page that people in the group suggested I make.
People of all faiths to wear Hijab or Kufi on September 11th
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109407399115470
As a protest against persecution of Muslims we pledge to show that not all Americans are bigots. We will adorn ourselves with symbols of the Islamic faith on an infamous date that is falsely blamed on Muslims. We are calling on people of all faiths, or no faith, to join us and to prove that Muslims are people of peace and NOT our enemies.
I’m amazed at how fast this idea has spread. Most of the people who joined the Facebook group are Muslims from all over the world. I don’t know how to express how touched I am by all the expressions of gratitude and blessings they have posted.
Hussam Ayloush, the Southern California Director of CAIR, joined and so did two female Christian ministers.
I was hoping for more non-Muslims to join, but there are a lot of those too and more are finding our group every day. I think it’s good that so many Muslims have found the group. I can only imagine the hurt they must be feeling by the horrendous actions of that awful preacher, Terry Jones. I am glad to let them know that not all Americans are filled with hate.
There are, of course, a small minority who go out of their way to post hateful things. Thankfully, there have been less of those than I expected.
The idea for this came to me when I was driving to a Ramadan dinner that my friends Naz and Mario invited me to. Having Muslim friends, I’m sure, helped motivate me to do something. I met Naz at an interfaith meeting. She was born in Pakistan, lived in London most of her life and now lives here in the Los Angeles area.
The following story was an inspiration for my idea. I wondered how I could start something similar.
Not In Our Town: Read the Story
http://www.facinghistory.org/explore/exhibit/stories/niot/read
Excerpt:
By the end of 1992, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and a band of skin-heads had become visible presences in Billings. Klan newspapers were tossed onto driveways, and flyers surfaced attacking mainly Jews and homosexuals. One day a bumper sticker that read "Nuke Israel" was placed on a stop sign near the temple. Not long after, Tammie saw a flyer that named Brian, who'd recently become president of the Montana Association of Jewish Communities. "I felt sick" she recalls. "It really hit home."...
Reverend Torney had read the paper that morning too. "Yes," he said. "And yes again." He spent the rest of the day on the phone, enlisting other churches. That week hundreds of menorahs appeared in the windows of Christian homes in Billings. "It wasn't an easy decision," says Margaret. "With two young children, I had to think hard about it myself. We put our menorah in a living room window, and made sure nobody sat in front of it."
One of the first to put up a menorah was Becky Thomas, a Catholic mother of two who lives near the Schnitzers. "It's easy to go around saying you support some good cause, but this was different. It was putting ourselves in danger," she says. "I told my husband, ‘Now we know how the Schnitzers feel."'
Some, nervous about jeopardizing their families, checked first with Wayne Inman, the chief of police at the time. "Yes, there's a risk," he told callers. "But there's a greater risk in not doing it."
On December 7, The Billings Gazette published a full-page picture of a menorah to cut out and tape up. Local businesses also distributed photocopies of menorahs, and one put a message on a billboard, proclaiming. "Not in Our Town! No Hate, No Violence. Peace on Earth."
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