Good morning, Salam ale kum, Salam means peace in Arabic. Whenever we meet each other, we exchange this greeting. So Salam ale kum.

I was asked to speak today about the First Amendment, my religion and my views of the press since 9/11.

As a first-generation American Muslim, as a mother of an Eagle Scout (and one in the wings), as a woman and as a child of immigrants, I revel in the words ``One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”.

   These words brought my parents from India looking for the American dream. A dream of opportunity in a country where if one worked hard, one could be successful. A dream of practicing faith without persecution. A dream of justice without regard to appearance, religion or origin.

   But from our history books, we know that minorities in America have often experienced injustice, bias, bigotry and racism.  The terrorist attacks on 9/11 sickened and shocked me as they did other Americans. Muslims around the world grieved with others for the lives that were loss.  For many of us, one of the most disturbing images after 9/11 was that of the celebration of a few Palestinian youths after the tragedy. This image was played over and over again on CNN and other television stations, thus reinforcing the myth that somehow the whole of the Arab and Muslim world rejoices at our pain.

Closer examination has revealed that that celebration was in fact a very limited phenomenon, limited to a few Palestinian villages. Almost every single head of state in the Muslim world has expressed grief and outrage over this tragedy, fully expressing sympathy with the Americans who have lost loved ones in this tragedy. By the way, did you know there were 358 Muslims who died from the 9/11 attacks? (Note: Show the 8 page letter from Cair regarding condemnation of the attacks from Muslims all over the world)

Before 9/11, I was living my life like any other person—-raising my 4 sons, living in Southern Johnson County, and being a health care executive. 

After 9/11/2001, American Muslims, along with everyone else, were hanging the American Flag on their cars and homes and wearing it on their clothing as a sign of support for this country. We were also hoping to ward off those who were seeking revenge by targeting Muslims.

The day after the 9/11 attack, my then 14-year-old, happy-go-lucky child was accused by two of his classmates of being a terrorist and was actually blamed for the attacks on the World Trade Center.  Why did two boys from middle-class homes in Kansas say these hateful things? Because they knew my son was a Muslim. I felt horror and pain when I heard that my son was verbally attacked and it brought me back to my own sixth grade experience in New Jersey.

My cousins had just emigrated from India. Before that, I was the only non-white, non-black, non-Christian, non-Jewish student in school. One of my cousins was in the same grade.  Finally, someone like me.  It was the month of Ramadan- the Islamic fasting month.  My cousin’s teacher wanted to know why he wasn’t eating.  He tried to explain the Islamic fasting month to his teacher.  However, his teacher was unsatisfied and came to my classroom. He bent over me and demanded to know, “Why isn’t your cousin eating?”  I tried to explain Ramadan as best as a 12 year old could at the same time wishing my cousin didn’t go to my school anymore. 

 I told my parents what had happened and my dad met with the principal and the teachers.  Logically, I said, “My dad took care of them!”  However, years later I realized that incident cost me my silence and my identity.  Over the years, I did whatever I could to blend in.  However, my name and my skin color would always give me away.  I never denied I was Muslim. If someone asked me about my religion, I would answer. However, I never volunteered information about my religion.  I remember someone telling me they didn’t see me as being different. I felt I had succeeded.

I later realized the cost of blending in and have found myself leading interfaith prayer services, giving over 40 talks to schools, churches and hospitals.  I have been the emcee for the annual Ramadan Eid dinners where Muslims and non-Muslims celebrate the ending of the Muslim holy days. I’ve written articles for both the Kansas City Star and the Jewish Chronicle and a national Jewish magazine, The New Light. The print, radio and television media has also interviewed me. This past June, I launched two websites 1)communitypeace.com and 2)AmericanMuslimWoman.com.

What do I tell my audiences? I tell them that as a Muslim know that I am your neighbor, your co-worker, your physician, your nurse, your business leader, your professor, your schoolmate, and your friend. Accept me as your equal. Understand my religion. Don’t believe everything you read in the newspaper and watch on television. My religion has been misrepresented for hundreds of years in the western world. Know that Allah is the Arabic word for God. Like Dios is in Spanish. Know that I believe in the Old Testament, the Torah and the last revelation, our Holy book, The Qu’ran. Know that Jews, Christians and Muslims are referred to as people of the Book.  These books.

I believe in the same prophets from Adam to Prophet Mohammed. If some of my fellow Muslim sisters cover their head with a hijab, do not discriminate against them.  I too wear a hijab when I pray. These women wear it in public where the chance of bigotry and hatred escalates because of their public identification as being Muslims.  Know that hate crimes towards Muslims nationally went from 28 in 2000 to 481 in 2001. I don’t have the figures for 2002, but I’m sure the numbers have increased.

Know that my religion is a religion of peace. Know that my religion states that all men and women are equal in the eyes of God. The only thing that puts one above another is on how pious one is. Know, understand and accept my religion before you make judgments. My religion deserves the same rights as yours.

There are Muslims who misrepresent my religion, just like there are people who call themselves Christian and are arrested for killing a young boy in our city. This week’s Jewish Chronicle’s front-page story is about a Muslim from the Islamic Center who spoke to a local college in October about Islam. During this talk, he spoke about the 9/11 attack and said that Jews were told to stay home from WTC that day. It is unfortunate that this man said this. It is unfortunate that this newspaper decided to report on it 4 months after the incident. As your fellow citizen, don’t judge me based on other unfortunate examples. Judge me on what I say, on what I contribute, on what I do. There are 9,999 other Muslims in our city. We are not a homogenous group. I can’t control what they all say or do. I can’t even control my own teenage sons.

Since, September 11^th, I’ve been working hard to dispel the misconceptions of Muslims and of my religion Islam. It isn’t easy to do when there are people in my community saying hateful messages, when the federal government singles out people from my religious community, when the media wants to sensationalize a story before it gets all the facts or even communicates all the facts. 

Let me now touch on a few points regarding the First Amendment that includes freedom of religion, speech and free press.

As far as religion goes, Muslims are the targeted group at the airports. Just about every Muslim I know who has flown have experienced additional security compared to their non-Muslim passengers. In fact, when traveling they have found more difficulty at the KCI airport than other airports.

A few months ago, the Patriot Act gave federal agents sweeping new powers of search and seizure. Which group of people are targeted? The Muslim community.

Last month, our government began the implementation of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) primarily directed to Muslim countries. Senators  Kennedy, Feingold and Congressman Conyers have sent a letter to John Ashcroft on December 23, 2002 questioning whether there is a proper balance between “securing our borders on the one hand and respecting the civil liberties of foreign students, businesspeople, and visitors who have come to our nation legally”. 

The letter states, “These reports are all the more troubling because this new program comes one year after the Department launched its first roundup and detention of mostly Arab and Muslim men, the vast majority of whom were detained for immigration violations and ultimately cleared of any involvement in terrorist activity. You have so far failed to identify most of the hundreds of individuals arrested and detained in the wake of September 11 or their counsel. This pattern of targeting persons for arrest based on race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin rather than on specific evidence of criminal activity or connections with terrorist organizations only serves to undermine the trust of the American people, especially the Arab and Muslim American communities whose cooperation we need more than ever to protect our nation.” They conclude their letter with, “Times of crisis are the true test of a democracy. Our nation still bears the scars of an earlier crisis when our government went too far by detaining Japanese, German, and Italian Americans based on their race, ethnicity, or national origin. We should not repeat these painful mistakes”

Is this how we treat other religious and ethnic minorities? After Michal Bray attacked abortion clinics, did we round up all evangelical Christians who follow the Army of God movement? When Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City, did we round up all members of the Christian Identity movement? Or is it somehow more acceptable to do this to Muslims because they are not “really Americans”?

Some say, “These are desperate times and they call for desperate measures”.  I’ve never heard anyone say, “ These are desperate times, so please take away my civil rights. Please come and search my home. Please hold me for month after month without charging me with a crime. Please single me out in airport security”. Of course not. They mean that it is okay to take away Muslim civil rights. Where is the American Community? Are they concerned about losing their civil rights? Today, the target is the Muslim community. Which community is next? I’ve also noticed that recently, freedom of speech isn’t as welcomed when some of our government’s current actions are criticized. Twice, individuals have suggested that if I didn’t like it to go back to my country. My country? Excuse me, this is my country!

So, how do I feel about the media’s role in covering the Muslim community? First of all, you need to become better educated on who we are.  Today, there are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world with the largest populations in Indonesia and the Indian subcontinent. The Arab Muslim population is about twenty per cent of the total. There are approximately 7 million American Muslims of which about 40 percent are African American. The Muslim population of Kansas City is approximately 10,000. Do a better job of investigation. Check out your sources. Know that many “noted sources” have a bias against Muslims. Individuals such as Steve Emerson and Daniel Pipes just want to continue to spread the negative messages about Muslims. Check out what you are writing/airing with Muslim leaders in the community. Get the other side. Show the other side. This past summer the KC Star wrote a story about the same 14 year old who received his Islamic Religious Award as part of the Boys Scouts of America recognition. Channel 41 aired him and his Troop working on his Eagle Scout project for Heart to Heart International.

On the flip side, the Star was following the story of the University out east that was having the incoming freshman class read a book about the Qur’ran  our holy book. Each time a story ran, it was listed under the heading, of “War on Terrorism”. Why did they do that? Was someone ignorant? Was someone hateful? Was it a subliminal message?

Cover the anti-war movement. Cover the march in Washington today as we speak. Tens of thousands traveled to Washington to protest against the invasion of Iraq. Three busloads left from the Kansas City area. Did any of you cover that story? Cover the injustice that is being done to our residents from our government actions such as the Patriot Act, holding people without legal representation, without a charge for months.

Include us, show us, and highlight our accomplishments like any other person in the Greater Kansas City area. Educate yourself, Read. Talk to us. We are more than ready, willing and able to help you in this area.

What are my concerns about the press and the First Amendment? Well history has shown that the first Amendment goes right out the door with war. Critics say the Patriot Act is not the only example of intolerance to First Amendment freedoms. The news media has been restricted in accessing the war effort in Afghanistan.  How many civilians have been killed? We don’t know because no one is reporting it.

Univ. of Texas law professor, Sanford Levinson writes: “It is difficult to read our constitutional history…without believing that the Constitution is often reduced at best to a whisper during times of war”.  Attorney Michael Linfield, author of Freedom Under Fire: US Civil Liberties in Times of War, writes: “Rather than being an exception, war-era violations of civil liberties in the US are the accepted norm for our government”. 

In his opinion regarding the infamous Pentagon Papers, Justice Hugo Black wrote: “Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell”. He wrote that in 1971.

Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law professor at University of Southern California said,” History shows us that in times of crises, the suppression of dissension occurs. I am worried that there will be more efforts to suppress speech if the war on terrorism drags on”.

Nat Hentoff wrote in the Progressive, “ This will be one of our severest tests yet to rescue the Constitution from our government”

On Monday, we will observe the birthday of one of America’s greatest leader of the First Amendment, Martin Luther King. He taught us to stand up for our rights. He taught us to question our government. If we think they are wrong, change the government leaders.

 Our President has said, “ You are either with us or you are against us”. What would Dr. King say? What do you as an American say? Did we hear his message?  I think he would say wake up America, speak out against injustice, question our government’s actions and get in action.

I organized the “Community Praying for Peace” last spring. The event was to mark the six-month anniversary of 9/11. I was compelled to do this after Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street reporter was killed.  People from various faiths came together and prayed for peace. We prayed in silence in our own faith for peace. We put aside our opinions, assessments, and conclusions and ask ourselves, “What can we do for our Community? What can we create that is EXTRAORDINARY?” We knew the place to begin was with prayer. We prayed again on June 9^th, the nine month anniversary of 9/11, for all who suffer from injustice and oppression, so that revenge will give way to compassion, that fear and hatred will be replaced by friendship and peace.

 I have spoken that the year 2003 will be the year for peace. It’s important that we have this kind of conversation vs. the military build up that is occurring every day to go to war in Iraq.

The next Community Praying for Peace will be held on Sunday, March 2nd. This time, I’m speaking that this event will be held in other communities around the greater Kansas City, communities elsewhere in the country and around the world. If you are interested in covering this story, check out the website www.communitypeace.com and contact me.

  As a global Community, this Community wants people to demand the extraordinary of themselves and of others. That this Community wants to participate fully with each other so that the conversation shifts in this world from one of punishment, revenge and hatred to one of inventive thinking, bold leadership and a world transformed through Peace.

Am I worried about my freedom and our government’s actions? My answer is yes, but I do have hope for the future for my four boys when I put my hand over my heart and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, “…One nation under God, Indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for All”.