They firebombed a mosque in Savannah!
an article by Richard W. Spisak Jr.

Where has the moral leadership gone? Where is the outrage? Where are the ministers and rabbis and the educated among us?

Where are the calls for brotherhood? Where are the moral leaders, is this now the norm? Have we come so far, that this is acceptable collateral damage?

Where is the president who sought to bring us a higher form of moral leadership? Where are the candidates? Where are the civic leaders who will stand arm in arm with our muslim and our jewish and our christian and our hindu and our bahai sisters and brothers?

Where is the call for an end to stupid vicous hate? Where is the federal task force?

It must stop - remember Birmingham, in the name of Dr. King, in the name of the four little girls who died, this must stop! Fire bombing houses of worship must stop! Remember Savannah!

According to a report by Associated Press, after the fire [which fire investigators confirm to have been arson], members pitched a white tent in the yard behind the house so they could continue praying. "In this tent, we are seeing more people than we used to see in this air-conditioned house," said Saad Hammid, one of the center's board members. "We already see our community is stronger." "It's just a building," said Michael Daye, a mosque member and local handyman. "You don't cry over stones. You cry over human issues. The actual loss is to the person who did this."

Hammid, a pediatrician, said several neighbors offered help after the fire. One gave the Muslims a hose connected to a spigot in his yard so they could wash before prayers. "Some people were walking the street yesterday and they stopped and said, 'We're really sorry to see something like this happen,'" said Mohammad Sammor, a mosque board member. "We hope good things will come out of this, things that will bring people together."

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Where is our moral leadership? Where is the outrage?
Where are the calls for brotherhood? Can good things come out of this?

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MARCHES AND PROTESTS

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We can hope that a response will develop in Savannah similar to the one described in The Letter from Maine in which the community grows stronger by coming together to resolve conflict.

This report was posted on August 31, 2003. The moderator is Robin.

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