Of course Muslims might not be any more familiar with the concept of "Freedom of Speech" than they are with the "Separation of church and State".
Bruce http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-13/111041352050410.x ml&storylist=jersey Muslim leaders seek bias crimes prosecution in anti-Islam comments By WAYNE PARRY The Associated Press 3/9/2005, 7:14 p.m. ET NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Leaders of the Muslim community in northern New Jersey want the state attorney general to determine whether anti-Islam comments made by some Coptic Christians implicating Muslims in the killings of a Jersey City family should be prosecuted as bias crimes. Sohail Mohammed, the lawyer for the American Muslim Union, wrote to Attorney General Peter Harvey Wednesday seeking an investigation of comments made by some in the Coptic community in the days following the slaying of the Armanious family in January. Mohammed said those comments might have been designed to dissuade Muslims from attending the funeral, and could have been intended to stir up anti-Muslim sentiment. He noted that many Muslim leaders stayed away from the funeral. The handful who did attend were greeted with abuse and several had to be escorted by police officers from the church hall where the funeral was being held for their own safety, he said. "We are concerned that those comments were deliberately intended to incite the public," Mohammed said. "If it was intentional, we want Mr. Harvey to do an investigation and determine if it was a bias crime. If there was bias related to it, it becomes a bias crime." Lee Moore, a spokesman for the attorney general, said Wednesday his office had received Mohammeds letter, but added Harvey had not had a chance to review it. Moore declined further comment. Authorities said Armanious, 47; his wife, Amal Garas, 37; and their children, Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8, were slain three days before their bodies were found Jan. 14. Immediately after the bodies were discovered, friends of the family speculated that they might have been killed by Muslims angered over postings Hossam Armanious made in an Internet chat room under the user name "I Love Jesus." The chat room is frequented by both Muslims and Christians. While authorities were never able to substantiate those claims, they gained wide credence among the Coptic community in Jersey City and northern New Jersey. Even after the arrests last week of two non-Muslim suspects in the killings, some Christians said they still believe religious hatred was the true motive behind the slayings. Robert Miller, a spokesman for Monir Dawoud, acting president of the American Coptic Association, said Dawoud's comments shortly after the killings, when Dawoud and several other Coptic leaders said they feared the killings had been carried out by Islamic fanatics, do not rise to the level of hate speech. "That was said within a couple of days of a terrible murder in the heat of the moment with inaccurate and erroneous information," Miller said. "They clearly are not reflective of his true feelings." Edward McDonald, 25, who rented a second-floor apartment above the Armanious family, and an acquaintance, Hamilton Sanchez, 30, are charged with the murders, and are being held in protective custody on $10 million bail each. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
