Sept 22, 2011 – Islamic Circle of North America’s Southern California chapter praises a council member’s criticism of Councilman Derek Reeve’s comment that he had named his dog Muhammad, after the Muslim prophet. The group says it won’t rule out a protest in San Juan Capistrano against the remark.
By JOSH FRANCIS / SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER
The Islamic Circle of North America’s Southern California chapter issued a statement praising San Juan Capistrano Councilman Larry Kramer for criticizing fellow Councilman Derek Reeve’s comment about naming his dog Muhammad, the name of the Muslim prophet. The group also said it wants Reeve to apologize.
Kramer said during Tuesday night’s council meeting that Reeve’s statement during a Sept. 6 meeting was offensive to Muslims – many of whom consider dogs to be unclean – and that “as leaders we should be setting a higher standard of behavior.” Kramer suggested in a memo on the council’s meeting agenda that it take action to ensure “decorum” by its members. Councilman Derek Reeve says he named his dog Muhammad to make a statement against oppression in other societies. The council took no action after Reeve and several people in the audience took offense to the criticism.
But ICNA backed Kramer in a statement Wednesday afternoon from its deputy secretary general, Waqas Syed: “ICNA-SC commends Mayor Pro Tem Larry Kramer for his letter distancing himself from such comments and for calling them what they are: ‘offensive.’ As all Americans, ICNA has always firmly supported the fundamental American value of freedom of speech for all, including elected officials. While it reminds that elected officials, due to the nature of their office, also have the responsibility of representing all their constituents and of observing a higher standard of morality than private citizens.”
Kramer and Mayor Sam Allevato received harsh criticism from audience members after the two called on Reeve to apologize for his comment that he had named one of his dogs Muhammad. Reeve said Tuesday that he had done so to make a political statement against oppression in other societies regarding issues like this one. He offered no apology.
“Mr. Kramer is criticizing me on how I raise my children,” Reeve said. “I will teach them and educate them on these principles (free speech) until the day I die.”
Syed called on other members of the City Council to “clearly state their positions” regarding Reeve’s comments. With the exceptions of Kramer and Allevato, the other members took no formal stance on the issue Tuesday night.
Council members John Taylor and Laura Freese said they acknowledge Reeve’s right to free speech and that they didn’t think the matter belonged on the agenda. Neither was targeted for criticism from residents at the meeting.
Syed called on the council to “impress upon Mr. Reeve to offer a public apology.”
Some members of the audience labeled ICNA, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other Muslim organizations as terrorist fronts.
CAIR had responded to Reeve’s comment about his dog with a statement that called on Reeve to apologize for “showing disrespect toward Islam’s revered prophet Muhammad by making a derisive public comment.”
Syed cited “growing cases of bigotry and Islamophobia” in Orange County and said his organization would not rule out a protest in San Juan Capistrano similar to one it organized in March against comments by Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly that the group considered “anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim.”
“But for now we have no plans,” Syed added.
Article Courtesy: Orange County Register
ICNA wants apology for disrespectful gesture
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I hope and pray to God that his enemy of Allah and enemy of muslims gets attacked by his two dogs any may they maul him to death………I am disappointed in ISNA and all of these so called muslim organizations always trying to be politically correct and all ways wanting to appease the Kuffar, when are these muslim organizations going to wake up and relize that this is a war on Islam and start telling them how it is
Right now there is a very growing rise of anti Islam/Muslim sentiment in the west for example from the right wing Christian extremist Anders Breivik who bombed and killed his fellow country men in Norway because he did not want Islam to take over his country and we have growing right wing anti Muslim extremist organizations in Europe and politicans coming out with laws on banning’s of veils, minerats,mosques and Sharia and we have U.S politicans who are running to become the president of united states saying that muslims dont have any constitutional rights and should be put through litmus test and also the petrail of msilims in the media and part of the reason why this is happening is because we have islomophope propaganda being spread by anti Muslim bigots who have an agenda to go to war with Islam and Muslims
The war on Islam isn’t just a military war it is also a psychological warfare, When the Nazis were exterminating the jews in Nazi Germany they first made propaganda to demonize them before they can start throwing them into gas chambers and when the American government or any country goes to war they make propaganda against another country to demonize the enemy and now there are Islamophobe propagandist such as Robert Spencer a, prejudice, bigot islamophobe, propagandist who has a axe to grind with Islam and who gladly takes millions of dollars of donations from jewish extremist organizations who are really front, proxy organizations for Mosad, and there agenda is to make a American population census anti Islam and pro Israel, and with the help of right wing Christian Zionist
who are against muslims and are currently at war with Muslim country’s and support the state of isreal also have a hand in the islamophobe propaganda
the Islamophobe propagandist deceive lie and will take islamic sources distort & mistranslates them or take them out of context or even go as far as to make things up
All of the hate that is mounting needs to stop. Muslims are not the only people that don’t ‘assimilate’. I refer to the Amish, Mennonite, FLDS, Mormons, Hindu’s…why must people point their angry fingers at Muslims? I am a reverted Muslim, born and raised from generations of ‘born’ americans. Why do people point at hijabi’s? Nuns cover their hair, as do orthodox jewish women, and the christians depiction of the Mother of Jesus, Mary always has her with her head covered. This is just getting ridiculous that average americans don’t know (or don’t care) about history or their own religion to see the similarities. Women took the streets at the turn of the century (1900’s) to get the right to vote, and again in the 1970’s for equal pay, the african-american’s took to the street for equality in the 1960’s…maybe its time for us to take to the streets and demand an end to Islamaphobia and fair treatment….we should be able to gather together in peace to help our communities without being harrased, we should be able to walk through our neighborhoods with a hijab on without anti-Islamic hate comments being hurled at us. America is supposed to be the great melting pot…why as a whole are letting these people stand over that pot with a strainer trying to take out what they don’t like. Equality for all, and peace. Knowledge is the key. Ignorance breeds intolerance and intolerance breeds hate. We must stop the ignorance, our children should know peace and acceptance.