“An attack on a mosque is an attack on a synagogue … is an attack on
all faith communities,”
And as an Agnostic, I too feel under attack.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/11/17, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://themilitant.com/2017/8131/813152.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 81/No. 31 August 21, 2017
Workers, religious figures hit bomb attack on
Minn. mosque
BY KEVIN DWIRE
MINNEAPOLIS — An explosion rocked the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center just
after 5 a.m. Aug. 5. What authorities now say was an “improvised
explosive device” was hurled through the mosque’s window into the imam’s
office, blowing up and spreading smoke throughout the building. The
explosion ripped large holes in the walls, ceiling and the imam’s work
desk.
More than a dozen people were gathered in a room nearby for morning
prayers. Luckily, none were harmed. Mohamed Omar, the center’s executive
director, said one person in the mosque saw a pickup truck speed away
after the bomb went off.
The mosque primarily serves people from the Minneapolis area’s large
Somali community. “We came to this country for the same reason everyone
else came here: freedom to worship,” Yasir Abdalrahman, a worshipper at
the mosque, told the press. “And that freedom is under threat. Every
other American should be insulted by this.”
Many people in the neighborhood and across the region came to the mosque
to express their opposition to the attack and show solidarity.
In the past some anti-Muslim forces, like John Guandolo, a former FBI
agent who founded a group called Understanding the Threat, have charged
the mosque with inculcating worshippers with Islamist terrorist views.
“I think the bombing is shameful!” That response by one retired worker
was the common attitude of most workers Socialist Workers Party
campaigners talked to when they went door to door in the neighborhood
around the center the day after the bombing.
SWP candidate for mayor of Minneapolis David Rosenfeld and three
supporters visited the center Aug. 6 to show their solidarity. Rosenfeld
spoke with Asad Zaman, director of the Muslim American Society of
Minnesota.
The bombing is part of “efforts to keep us divided. If the rulers can
convince one group that other workers are their problem, it will prevent
us from seeing our common interest,” Rosenfeld said. “We have to take
action, and not think it is OK to just say it’s terrible.”
Zaman said the center is planning a community meeting Aug. 8. “We want
to change the narrative that Muslims are terrorists,” he said. “We want
people to know that this was an act of terrorism.”
“We will be talking to workers throughout the Twin Cities and showing
them our campaign statement that says an injury to one is an injury to
all. And we will encourage them to participate,” Rosenfeld said.
The SWP candidate was given a tour of the imam’s office. Light fixtures
dangled from the ceiling and burn marks were visible on the carpet.
Mohamed Omar said the center, which opened in 2011, has received
threatening phone calls in the past, but has good relations with most
people in the area. That was reflected in the number of neighbors who
came to visit.
“An attack on a mosque is an attack on a synagogue … is an attack on all
faith communities,” Rev. Curtiss De-Young, CEO of the Minnesota Council
of Churches, said at an interfaith news conference at the mosque. “So we
stand with you.”
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas
extended “solidarity with the local Muslim community,” Steve Hunegs, the
council’s executive director, told the press.
Among those who visited the center to show support were Minnesota Gov.
Mark Dayton, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Related articles:
SWP: ‘Attack on mosque is attack on all workers!’
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