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In the Name of God, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful AMC Update December 23, 1999 AMC urges media, government to refrain from linking terrorism threats with Islam (Washington, DC, December 23) - The American Muslim Council urges the U.S. government and media to report recent terrorism alerts without linking threats to Islam or the Muslim community. AMC is concerned that as anxiety increases about potential threats around the New Year, American Muslims may face harassment, as has happened in earlier scares of the 1990s. AMC is pleased that the most recent State Department worldwide caution issued yesterday referred to threats to Americans without associating them with any religion or religious observance. Following a December 11 advisory that mentioned the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, AMC wrote the State Department urging that terrorism be de-linked from the spiritual month of Ramadan. In the December 14 letter, executive director Aly R. Abuzaakouk noted that State Department public announcements "are important to all Americans when a threat to our safety has been identified" but that associating "terrorism with Ramadan only reinforces popular stereotypes without improving the security of Americans." The letter stated: "For American Muslims, as for Muslims the world over, Ramadan is a time of spiritual renewal, the most sacred month of the year. Terrorism has no place in Islam or any religion-and anyone, of any faith, who seeks to justify attacks on civilians in the name of religion should be universally condemned." American Muslims and Arab Americans have reported discrimination and harassment following earlier incidents, such as the April 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Although that incident was found to have been committed by Americans with ties to right-wing militias, many Muslims in the United States were subjected to threatening phone calls, harassment, and hate crimes while the media speculated about Islam and terrorism. "American Muslims walk the same streets and work in the same buildings as any other group of Americans," said AMC executive director Aly R. Abuzaakouk. "The safety of our citizens is our safety, and we share concerns over threats to our society. But unfortunately, based on recent history, we bear the additional burden of worrying that in this climate of anxiety, some of our fellow citizens may victimize us for incidents that we have nothing to do with." **AMC NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT. OUR EFFORTS DEPEND ON YOU. MAKE YOUR DONATION TODAY. **CONTRIBUTE TO AMC EVERY TIME YOU SPEND. APPLY FOR YOUR MEF PLATINUM VISA CARD AT www.amconline.org /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV THE AMERICAN MUSLIM COUNCIL 1212 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW, SUITE 400 WASHINGTON, DC 20005 PHONE : (202) 789-2262 FAX : (202) 789-2550 E-MAIL : [EMAIL PROTECTED] V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V -To subscribe to AMC's Read-Only E-mail network, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "subscribe amc YOUR_EMAIL" in the body of your message. -To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe amc YOUR_EMAIL" in the body of your message.
