Hate Crimes Against Muslims

The actions of Muslim terrorists are no more representative of the majority of Muslim people than the actions of Timothy McVeigh were representative of the majority of patriotic Americans. Targeting all Muslims and Arabs for blame is about as smart and effective as it would have been to “hunt down and punish” all white American males after the Oklahoma City bombing.

Too many of us keep referring to the Palestinians who were dancing in the streets. Have we already forgotten the Gulf War and how many of us were celebrating those bombings? Innocent people were killed there as well. This is a very complex issue. It’s not something we can resolve by racial profiling.

Daniel Appleby

Los Angeles

*

Why do the media insist on calling Osama bin Laden an Islamic fundamentalist? His actions are not in alignment with the teachings of Islam, though he claims they are. If we do not make the distinction between his cult of insanity and true Islam, we allow Bin Laden to define the West’s perception of Islam. Because of the misrepresentation, many people have already been hurt and some have even died as a result of hate crimes resulting from the Sept. 11 attacks. I think it’s time that we adjust our language and recognize that the teachings of Bin Laden are not the teachings of the Koran.

Arifa Khursheed

Pasadena

*

I hope that we will refrain from showing collective ignorance by committing acts of vandalism and violence against people of the Islamic faith and their places of worship. To blame them for what a few extremists have done would be the same as blaming all Christians for the acts of terror performed for years by the Ku Klux Klan.

Dan Witt

Studio City