Million Muslim March Stoking Tension? Critics Claim Planned March is Insensitive
There is a growing controversy over a proposed march that will be held on the 12th anniversary of 9-11, which being called the "Million Muslim March." It is being organized by The American Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC).
AMPAC, which is based in Kansas City, Missouri, states that the group wants to march on the national mall that somber day in protest for what the group feels is perpetual discrimination against Muslims by Americans and the U.S. government in the years since.
"On 9.11.01 our country was forever changed by the horrific events in New York. The entire country was victimized by the acts done on that day," the group said in a statement. "Muslim and Non-Muslim alike were traumatized but we as Muslims continue 12 years later to be victimized by being made the villains. To this day every media outlet and anti-Islamic organization has committed slanderous and libel statements against us as Muslims and our religion of Islam."
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AMPAC claims Muslims living in America have been sought out and routinely victims of anti-Islamic bigotry and aims to bring awareness to the struggles that are facing Muslims in America.
"Yet our Government either sits idly by and does nothing to protect our freedoms or it exacerbates the problem with its constant war on terrorism in Islamic countries, congressional hearings on Islam in America, and its changes to the NDAA law," the statement adds.
But not everyone is backing the group or the march. The Council on American-Islamic Relations - the largest Muslim group in the country - said it will 'definitely' not being joining AMPAC and others have criticized the organizers motives.
"They're basically a bunch of 'truthers' who think that America's to blame for everything," Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the Islamic Forum for Democracy, told Fox News on Friday. The Anti-Defamation League, Jasser said, has identified some of the leaders of the march as "being virulent, anti-Semites who think 9/11 was a conspiracy theory."
"These guys are problematic and they're trying to exploit 9/11," Jasser said. "If they were truly patriotic Americans and moderates, they'd be marching on the courthouse steps of the Fort Hood trial that's happening this week to tell Americans that we want the death penalty for Nidal Hissan rather than this circus that they're doing in exploiting the murders and horrific acts of 9/11."
