Wasi Mohamed is with Tarek El-Messidi.
I just wanted to say, thank you. Thank you to the over 5,500 donors who helped us raise over $225,000 for the victims and their families, so far. Thank you to the thousands who showed up to vigils, reached out to friends, donated blood, and made sure the Jewish community was embraced during this difficult time.
I quoted Quran 41:34 when I asked us all to respond to evil with good. I don’t think I fully understood the wisdom behind that until now. You do good deeds because the community needs it. Because the families need it. Because you need it. The money wasn’t just about covering the immediate costs, it was about spreading hope. Hope that our light will drive out the darkness.
The stories of Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, Irving Younger, Officer Timothy Matson, Officer Michael Smidga, Officer Daniel Mead, Officer Anthony Burke, Officer John Persin, Officer Tyler Pashel, Andrea Wedner, and Daniel Leger, as well as the story of love shown between the Muslim and Jewish communities, are lights we should look to in the darkness of this tragedy.
Building solidarity was important, now we have to sustain it. We have set up meetings between faith leaders and lay leaders, political leaders and educators, and anybody who needs to be in the room to ensure that we continue to build on this moment of unity.
My good friend Ernest suggested that when you feel like all is lost, read Dr. King's Letter from Birmingham Jail. “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” We must read this, and we must internalize it. Pittsburgh has not achieved solidarity, to claim as much would simply not be truthful for many marginalized communities. What can be said is that we cannot waste this opportunity to move towards it.
If we take Dr. King's words to heart, we realize that the shooting in the Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood is not just a shooting in Lincoln-Lemington, but a shooting in our Pittsburgh community. The loss of a father in East Liberty is our loss. We feel the pain of his wife and 7 children. We mourn the two killed in Kentucky as we would mourn our own brothers and sisters.
To support the victims from the shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue, visit: https://www.launchgood.com/…/muslims_unite_for_pittsburgh_s…
To support the family of AbdulGaniyu Sanusi, the father killed in East Liberty, visit: https://www.launchgood.com/…/funeral_costs_and_family_suppo…
To support the families of Vickie Jones and Maurice Stallard, the victims of the hate crime in Kentucky, visit: https://www.launchgood.com/…/muslims_united_for_kentucky_vi…
Though we mourn in this time of loss, let us look to the future with hope. May we honor those we have lost by moving forward together to build a bridge to a better Pittsburgh, a better nation, and a better world.
17 comments:
Ms.Shaw, are you excited about Pres.Trumps approval rating going up?
Mr. Anonymous, your president hasn't been able to break 50% since he was elected. Even during the "honeymoon" period, when all presidents have had high approval number, Trump was only at 50%, no higher. His predecessor was at 65% during his honeymoon period,
Trump has been languishing in the low 40s and even in the 30s since he was inaugurated. As of 10/29 he's at a pallid 43.9% according to Real Clear Politics, which is the average from 11 polling organizations.
At 43.9% Trump does NOT have the approval of a majority of Americans. A majority of Americans detest him, and who can blame them.
Have fun in your fantasy world. The rest of us live in reality.
Trump is a minority preznit.
Even if the Mother Ship read about the generosity and compassion of the Muslim's toward the Jewish community, they'd claim the "Moslem vermin" are not sincere and only are being kind to fool their neighbors.
The Trumpanzees love only their own kind.
Interesting numbers Shaw...Trumps approval rating among republicans is over 90%
Anon... those types claim all "Moslems" lie because they have to in order to be "good Moslems."
What's more striking is the latest trend among the extremists and now some government officials to deny religious freedoms to Muslims, claiming Islam is not a religion, rather a political organization. What's new is that just this week, a politician running for office, GOP of course, claimed that Judaism also is not a real religion. And we've heard no pushback from the extremists.
It's not just the Mother Ship.
Anon, of course Trump's approval among the 30 percenters is high. He's all they've got. This country will move on and leave him in the muck and mud where he belongs.
Dave Trump has emboldened every bigot and racist in the country. I'm not surprised to hear about the anti-Semitism. If Trump were a leader, he would have been very strong in his condemnation of the rise of anti-Semitism in this country and said the hatred toward Jews and Muslims is unAmerican and has no place in this country.
But that would have upset a lot of his base, so he said very little about this disturbing trend.
Dave
This is interesting:
HOUSTON — J. Mark Metts, a 60-year-old partner at one of this city’s prestigious law firms, had never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate until 2016. Now he and some of his neighbors in the moneyed River Oaks enclave of Houston are about to oppose a Republican once again, to register their disapproval of President Trump.
“With Congress not really standing up to Trump, this election is becoming a referendum,” Mr. Metts said, explaining why he would no longer support the re-election of Representative John Culberson, an eight-term Republican. -- NYTimes
Don't be so sure about that Shaw after all you coastal elites got your comeuppance in 2016
Anon, what would you call a billionaire who owns a golden tower filled with golden furniture and toilets in New York City and who has his own prive 747 jet plane, owns mansions including one in Mar-a-Lago, plus several golf courses all over the world? A billionaire who married 2 immigrants and one American, bedded several mistresses while married to those women?
How would you describe that person? An average working-class guy?
BTW, Trump was born and brought up and lived his entire life in one of the "elitest" of coastal elite cities.
You TrumpCultists really do enjoy deceiving yourselves.
Shaw... to your header about the "rules of engagement" at the border... I believe the Israelis prefer to use rubber bullets against the Palestinians in the West Bank. But Trump is saying our military can use lethal force if "rocks" are thrown?
Unimaginable in any other administration we've ever had.
Does he know anything about border relations? has he ever spend significant time there? Why would he announce this "policy?"
Does he not understand that this will provoke a conflict, a rock fight for the veery purpose of making some immigrant a martyr?
Or is that what he wants so he can demagogue the issue even more?
Well Shaw, for sure Trump had an advantages start in life, as did many others (Kennedys) and Trump made the most of it by amassing sizable wealth. He did avail himself of carnal opportunities avail to a rich good looking guy in NYC. It seems to me many on the left begrudge Trump the trappings of his wealth. Maybe if he donated all his worldly goods to say...Planned Parenthood he'd by worshiped by the left
And BTW his personal plane was a 757 not a 747
Dave it is my understanding that it is illegal for our military to be used domestically for domestic conflicts. Isn't that what the National Guard is for?
From VOX:
The problem for Trump, though, is that the military won’t actually be able to participate in detaining or deporting any of the migrants the way the president likely wants. That’s because US law forbids them from physically detaining individuals at the border.
So while the troops at the border will be armed, they will only legally be able to assist US border officials by doing things like helping transport border agents and providing emergency medical care to those who need it. The armed forces can also work to reinforce infrastructure around the border, like putting additional razor wire on border fences.
In other words, while it may be intended to look as if the US is preparing for a massive invasion of immigrants at the Southern border, the reality is that it’s mostly just sending backup logistical support to help border agents address the arrival of a few thousand migrants — around half of whom are girls and women — who have been traveling by foot for weeks over.
This is nothing but red meat to throw at his base in order to get them to the polls on Tuesday.
I'm sure certain rabid far right bloggers are foaming at the mouth with glee just thinking about the possibility of blowing the heads off of women and children who are seeking assyylum from murderous gangs in their own countries.
Anonymous, many other presidents who came from wealth, the Kennedys abd the Roosevelts, for example, worked FOR the average American, not the average billionaire.
Name one charitable organization (not the Trump Foundations that's being investigated for fraud) that the Trump family has set up for charities or for the arts or for helping the less fortunate. They haven't because the Trumps are about acquiring fortunes, not helping the less fortunate.
Trump's many infidelities during his many marriages are just one example of the so-called Evangelical Christians' ability to look the other way when one of their own breaks their precious Ten Commandments. It is THEY who are doing the worshipping. Worshipping someone who they otherwise would reject if he had a "D" instead of an "R" after his name.
Trump's own closest aides -- his own former SoS, pegged him for what he truly is: "A fking moron."
Anon, Trump amassed his "sizable wealth" through tax fraud, lying to investors, screwing sub contractors (the forgotten man), and money laundering. Much of this is documented and Mr. Mueller has the stone cold truth. When we finally see those tax returns, I suspect you'll see he is not nearly as wealthy as you think and up to his eyeballs in debt to Russian oligarchs.
The passengers on the Mothership are so heartened that the professionals at the Pittsburgh hospital were respectful to the Trumps and Donald is such a "good guy". Geeesus, warm and charming are the con mans stock in trade. Fools.
Pretty good stuff? Yes Rusty, it is.
Now get your man to at least Act Like A President and the Leader of the Free World.
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