Stopping US Muslim backlash

Source: Click here

Religious leaders - Muslim, Jewish, and Christian - met in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to denounce anti-Muslim bigotry. I took the Al Jazeera cameras to the National Press Club here in Washington to see more than 30 religious leaders in one room - with one aim: how to stop a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment that has already had violent consequences.

There was the attack on a Muslim taxi driver in New York city; an arson attack on a mosque under construction in Tennessee; Florida Pastor Terry Jones' plans to burn copies of the Quran this weekend, which prompted a wave of angry protests in Afghanistan and Indonesia and, of course, protests against the building of an Islamic cultural centre - including a mosque - near Ground Zero in New York.

The city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said on Tuesday that the hate is connected to upcoming national congressional elections.

"A lot of people are using this as a political gambit. I find it disgraceful, but it is their right to do it."

Election wedge issue

In Washington, the interfaith delegates also talked about the anti-Muslim backlash being a wedge issue in the forthcoming elections - particularly fears about the weak economy and high unemployment whipped up by extremists.

Dr Sayyid M Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America said: "Together we have said that we have a stake in this country. We have worked together and built trust, confidence understanding and goodwill. We will not let these fringe groups go ahead and destroy that." || Read more