AMP stands in solidarity with SC community

(WASHINGTON DC 06/19/2015) – It is with deepest sorrow that the American Muslims for Palestine sends our prayers and condolences to the family and friends of the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and to Black communities throughout the country, who everyday struggle against oppression, racism and police brutality.

We especially pray for the families of Clementa Pinckney, Cynthia Hurd, Tywanza Sanders, Sharonda Singleton, Myra Thompson, Ethel Lance, Susie Jackson, Daniel Simmons, Sr., and Depayne Doctor, who were gunned down in what is supposed to be a sacrosanct refuge for all human beings – a place of worship. We are including the names of the deceased because Black Lives Matter. They are more than statistics in a long line of those who have been murdered because of their race. They were a state senator, a librarian, clergy members, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers. Until we begin to interrupt the racism so deeply embedded in our society, this horrendous violence will continue.

 As Americans we must stand with our brothers and sisters, who struggle against institutionalized and systematic racism on a daily basis. As Muslims we must also fight injustice. The Quran tells us: “Oh, you who believe! Be most upright in upholding justice, bearing true witness for the sake of God alone – even if it is against your own selves or your parents, or your nearest relatives – regardless of whether one party is rich and the other is poor, for God is most regardful of what is good for them both. For if you distort the testimony or turn away from the truth, then, indeed, God is all-aware of what you do.” (Quran 4:135).

We also call upon the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to take the issue of domestic terrorism seriously. The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented an unprecedented rise in white supremacist, militias and sovereign citizen groups over the past few years. The civil rights organization counts at least 1,700 such radical right groups with hundreds of thousands of members. Until we weed out groups founded on hate and white supremacy, the very values of justice and equal rights we hold so dear in this country will never be safe.

That we live in a country where a five-year-old child has to pretend to play dead in order to stay alive is unconscionable and unacceptable. Let us work together to change the systems of racism that produce these conditions and stand together as brothers and sisters, where the only basis upon which we are all judged is the content of our character.