This year's conference dealt with fighting intolerance, against Jews, Muslims,
Christians and others. Below is the speech that Kamal Nawash gave on behalf of the
United States in the session that focused on intolerance toward Muslims:
Statement by Kamal Nawash
Session 4: Fighting Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims:
Facilitating Integration and Respecting Cultural Diversity Conference held on June 8-9
in Cordoba, Spain
Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
My name is Kamal Nawash and as the president of the Free Muslim Coalition Against
Terrorism, I am here representing the United States of America and more than six million
American Muslims who are proud to call the United States home. I also represent three
million Arab Americans, many of whom are Christian. The reason I mention Arab Christians
is that they often are perceived as Muslims and often experience the same biases that
Muslims face. Thus, the following comments about Muslims generally also apply to
Christian Arabs as well.
Like many Muslims around the world, American Muslims watched in horror as criminals
attacked our beloved country on September 11, 2001. American Muslims were disgusted to
learn that one of the worst crimes in the history of the United States was committed by
criminals who claimed that their actions were somehow justified by the Muslim faith.
On 9-11, American Muslims felt enormous grief and sadness for having to witness a symbol
of our nation's freedom and strength being destroyed by a fire that was set by criminals
who claimed to be Muslims. Most American Muslims vowed never to forget that day and the
sight of innocent people jumping from two of the tallest buildings in the world hoping
that they might survive certain death by fire.
In addition to the enormous sadness we felt on 9-11, American Muslims also felt anxiety
and apprehension at the thought that non-Muslim Americans might blame us for that
horrible crime. Our sadness quickly turned into fear of possible 'retaliation' against
innocent Muslims -- who, in fact, condemned the actions of the terrorists.
However, American Muslims quickly learned that our fear and apprehension were
exaggerated. Immediately after 9-11, President George Bush took time from managing the
worst crisis that any president can experience and visited a mosque to remind American
Muslims and non-Muslims alike that we are all Americans. This demonstrated that even a
tragedy like 9-11 will not shake the foundation on which America was founded. That
foundation was built on religious freedom, tolerance, justice and a sense of fairness
that is found in far too few places of the world. For those American Muslims who still
felt fear and anxiety, our government reached out to them again by inviting an Imam to
speak at a memorial for the victims of 9-11. Since then, President Bush has not passed
up an opportunity to remind all Americans that Islam is both a great religion and a
religion of peace.
The proactive leadership of our government in reminding all Americans that Muslims are
neither to be targeted nor blamed for the crimes of a few deranged criminals was very
successful and influenced a nation during a time of grief. Immediately after 9-11,
Americans of all backgrounds began reaching out to their Muslim neighbors by inviting
them to churches and town hall meetings. Many non-Muslim women even went so far as to
wear head scarves to show solidarity with American Muslim women and to remind all
Americans to not cast blame on the innocent.
The type of leadership exercised by the U.S. government immediately after 9-11 is a good
example of how government action can foster tolerance and respect for all people, even
under the most difficult of circumstances. Unfortunately, some American Muslims did
suffer attacks and discrimination as a result of 9-11. Even our government made some
mistakes, but most of those were later corrected. The point here is that the
discrimination and other difficulties faced by American Muslims were minimized by
President Bush's and the U.S. government's swift and intelligent actions to pre-empt and
combat a potential backlash against the American Muslim community.
As a consequence of our Government's outreach to the American Muslim community after
9-11, many American Muslims today feel more American than they ever felt before.
American Muslims showed their appreciation and devotion to the United States by joining
our military, joining various law enforcement agencies, establishing non-governmental
organizations and doing all they could to make certain that the 9-11 terrorist acts
would never be repeated again on U.S. soil. In fact, the founding of the Free Muslim
Coalition Against Terrorism was a direct consequence of the 9-11 attacks. Our goal is to
defeat and discredit the ideology that leads to extremism and support for terrorism.
U.S. government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of
Homeland Security and the Department of Justice have continuously reached out to
American Muslim and Arab organizations in order to build mutual understanding, and fight
intolerance against Arabs and Muslims. American Muslim and Arab organizations have also
initiated programs to assist our government. For example, the American Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Arab American Institute have organized numerous
town hall meetings with law enforcement officials; the American Islamic Forum for
Democracy and the Muslim Public Affairs Committee have initiated projects to reach out
to American mosques and work with them to discredit intolerant and extremist rhetoric
from within our community. These initiatives have substantially reduced intolerance
against American Muslims and assisted the U.S. Government in developing a mutually
beneficial working relationship with American Muslims and American Arabs.
Unfortunately, the 9-11 attacks and the subsequent war on terror did not end the use of
terror and mass murder in the name of Islam. Following 9-11, the world again witnessed
mass murder of hundreds of train passengers here in Spain and other, smaller terrorist
attacks. I am certain these evil acts caused many in Spain and throughout Europe and the
OSCE region to be suspicious of their Muslim compatriots. While it may be human nature
to react to crimes or tragic events by punishing those who are perceived to be members
of the group who committed terrorist acts, it is always wrong to blame an entire group
for the actions of individual criminals. It is also counter productive. The OSCE and
participating States must continue to combat any retribution or discrimination stemming
from such instances.
The war against terrorism and, in particular, terrorism committed by Muslims is an
ideological battle that cannot be won without the help of Muslims themselves. American
Muslims are playing a crucial role in fighting the ideology that leads to terror. We
urge European and Eurasian Muslims to join in that cause. If European governments are
not proactive in eliminating bias and discrimination against European Muslims, the
European Muslim community will become marginalized. Rather than focus their energies on
helping Europe fight terror and intolerance, European Muslims will instead withdraw from
society and Europe may lose an essential element in the war on terror. Moreover, the
marginalization of European Muslims through bans on religious expression will
substantially slow or even bring to a halt the process of integrating European Muslims
into the fabric of Europe. For these reasons, we ask the OSCE and its participating
States to do all they can to distinguish between the criminals who justify evil in the
name of Islam and Muslims who want nothing more than to provide for their families and
raise their children to be productive citizens. The OSCE and its member states must
continue to play their vital role in promoting tolerance of Muslims and combating
discrimination and abuses of Muslims.
Finally, when it comes to anti-Semitism, it is not the exclusive responsibility of Jews
to combat it. This is a shared responsibility and I urge my fellow Muslims to combat
anti-Semitism wherever it occurs. Similarly, I urge Jews, Christians and all other
persons of faith to be just as outraged at intolerance toward Muslims. When any
intolerance occurs, we all should respond. Only if we work together can we hope to
eliminate intolerance against all people.
Thank you.
