More than 25,000 people attended the annual ICNA conference in Baltimore. Community leaders urged participants to respond to a recent shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego by turning sorrow into action. Speakers highlighted the courage of three victims who exchanged fire, rushed to help, and protected others. The conference emphasized protecting both physical and civic space for Muslim communities, including rights to worship, speak, organize, and defend Palestine. Attendees were encouraged to push back against Islamophobia through civic engagement such as voting, organizing, and donating to aligned candidates and community institutions. Speakers also called for holding officials accountable and ending Israel’s atrocities in Palestine.
"We owe them more than condolences. We owe them resolve, said Lena Masri, a lawyer at the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). She explained how the victims a security officer, a caretaker and a neighbour sacrificed their lives to save others. The security officer, Amin Abdullah, exchanged fire with the shooters, while the other two victims, Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad, rushed to help and called for emergency services."
"They protected the physical space of our community: the masjid [mosque], the school, the children, the teachers, the worshippers, Masri explained. Our responsibility is to protect the civic space of our community: the right to worship, the right to speak, the right to organise, the right to defend Palestine, the right to build institutions. That was the recurring theme of the conference: that the Muslim American community cannot afford to be passive and must draw on its strength to push back against bigotry and hate."
"Speakers emphasised voting, organising and donating to community institutions and candidates who align with Muslim Americans. They also underscored the need to hold officials accountable and push for an end to Israel's atrocities in Palestine. We owe Gaza more than grief. We owe Gaza advocacy that cannot be intimidated into silence, Masr"
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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