As 2012 Interfaith Harmony Week passes, I am inspired to look around my city and listen for the sound of voices coming together. Sadly, at this particular moment in time, New York City is in a tense moment of discord. This week, the city’s Muslim community and its allies are calling for the NYPD Police Commissioner and his Public Affairs Officer to resign following the news that Commissioner Kelly was involved in the making of a hateful, propogandic anti-Muslim film called “The Third Jihad.” Recently released documents reveal that the Islamophobic film was shown to 1500 officers during their training.
This news came to light in what was already a tense climate between law enforcement and the New York Muslim community. In January, 14 Muslim leaders respectfully boycotted Mayor Bloomberg’s annual interfaith breakfast in order to protest ongoing police harassment. In a letter they sent explaining their absence, they stated:
We believe with heartfelt conviction that during times when a community’s rights are being flagrantly violated its leaders cannot in good conscience appear at a public gathering with the government official who is ultimately responsible and smile for the cameras as if all is well, when we know full well that it is not…This past August, the Associated Press released a series of investigative
reports that detailed how, over the past decade since 9/11, the NYPD has been monitoring and profiling virtually every layer of NYC Muslim public life, often with no suspicion of wrongdoing. These reports were based in large part on leaked NYPD documents and interviews with unidentified former and current NYPD officials. According to the investigation, the police department monitored and collected information on New Yorkers at about 250 mosques, schools, and businesses throughout the city, simply because of their religion and not because they exhibited suspicious behavior.
…Muslims comprise no less than 10% of the city’s population. As New Yorkers we call on you to safeguard our freedoms through robust and independent oversight of police activities. ….As we await your response regarding these issues, we pray that the New Year will usher in a more just and healthy chapter in our relationship with both you and the New York City Police Department. (full letter here: http://interfaithletter.wordpress.com/).
It is not only unjust but deeply saddening that in this year, 2012, the very force that is meant to protect and defend its citizens is turning against a large segment of them solely because of their holy religion.
This is not just a problem for the Muslim community, but for all of us. We cannot stand idly by as our fellow New Yorkers are bullied and criminalized because of the language in which they worship. Working with a Sikh organization has given me new insight into the ways that ignorance of one another’s cultures and religious practices breeds hate and fear, leaving misunderstood minority populations vulnerable. One community being targeted and mistreated calls attention to the ways in which the city climate affects all communities. If we allow hate and discrimination to flourish, all will suffer. As MLK taught, “we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
As we live out the message of Interfaith Harmony Week, “Love of the Good, and Love of the Neighbor,” let us stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters and call for the NYPD to respect all New Yorkers. Let us too overcome our fears and take the time to turn to our neighbors and get to know them.
Contributed by Nomi Teutsch, The Tony Blair Faith Foundation Faiths Act Fellow at United Sikhs in New York
Tags: bloomberg, breakfast, muslims, nomi teutsch, NYPD, police
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
