RawStory reports on an incident of Islamophobia that is both chilling and disgusting. As threats to Muslims around this country increase, it’s vital to share these stories and to speak out loudly against the perpetrators.
Like other U.S. military veterans, Masjid Al Sahaabah wanted to find a peaceful community to settle into once his fighting days were over.
Five years ago he converted to Islam and joined a small mosque in the Texas town of Watauga, not far from Fort Worth. The city has a population of about 24,000 people. Only about 300 of those are Muslims, from diverse backgrounds.
Al Sahaabah recently checked the voicemail at his place of worship. He was shocked to hear a message that threatened horrific violence to the members of the mosque.
US military veteran threatens to behead Muslims at Texas mosque & promises to launch a Christian crusade https://t.co/opvSzcX6XL
— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) August 19, 2016
The U.S. military veteran serves on the security committee for the small mosque. He says that threats against its Muslim worshipers are common, and are on the rise. This one, though, was particularly horrifying. It addressed the congregation this way:
“If you think you are going to establish Sharia law [Islamic jurisprudence] in my neighborhood and this country – in Texas – you are very wrong.
“Islam is a violent religion, and we won’t stand for it. And there are me – and just like plenty of other veterans here in Watauga – that will stand up to your bulls**t.”
The threat became more graphic as the anonymous voice went on to say:
“We will cut all of your heads off. Do you understand me? All of you.”
Worse yet, the coward on the tape identified himself as a veteran, and claimed that there were dozens of other veterans in town, all “armed to the teeth,” and ready to go to war against their Islamic neighbors.
One local Muslim leader responded to the increasing threats of murder in a conversation with Al Jazeera. She said:
“All hell’s breaking loose.”
Muslims under threat in Texas say that local police and law enforcement have been reluctant to take them seriously, in spite of recent attacks against Muslims around the country. The entire Islamic community is afraid.
This past May, a report was released by the Bridge Project at Georgetown University. It said that American Muslims were six to nine times more likely to suffer a violent attack in 2015 than in the period following the September 11 attacks. The rise in anti-Muslim violence correlated to the hateful rhetoric of the Republican presidential candidates.
Of course it did.
So what can we do?
Veterans of the United States military are threatening to murder and behead innocent men, women and children because they worship the almighty by a different name.
As a citizen of this country, whose tax dollars were used to train those soldiers to kill, I find these threats to be a blatant form of terrorism. People like me have a deep moral obligation to speak out against these home grown terrorists.
Please help me to get the word out. We have to speak out about threats to massacre innocents. We have to speak out against the politicians who are scoring points off these threats.
We either oppose terrorism or we condone it.
The following documentary is a bit long, but it is incredibly informative and well worth your time.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab.
