Tag: Persian Gulf War

N.J. BRIDGING RIFT WITH MUSLIMS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Monday, October 7, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A05

A faux pas by state Attorney General Robert J. Del Tufo for which he has since apologized is serving to bridge a perceived chasm between the Department of Law and Public Safety and the state’s Muslim communities.
A further step in the healing process which follows published remarks by Del Tufo warning of possible terrorism by Muslims in New Jersey during the Persian Gulf war was a meeting Sunday afternoon at the Dar-Ul-Islah Mosque in Teaneck.
Assistant Attorney General James F. Mulvihill met with about 200 worshipers at the mosque to explain state standards for investigating bias incidents.
Del Tufo appointed Mulvihill as liaison between his office and Muslims following a meeting in August with a seven-member Muslim delegation to discuss his remarks. Mulvihill was accompanied by Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy, who also addressed the audience, which included Teaneck Mayor Eleanor M. Kieliszek.
Mulvihill told his audience that the laws and procedure for reporting bias crimes are in place, but that a Muslim who is a victim of a bias attack must report the incident to police so it can be “thoroughly and promptly investigated.”
Mulvihill said that of 824 bias crimes reported to the state police in 1990, six including two at the Dar-Ul-Islah Mosque were directed at Muslims.
“What we have to do in government is to send a loud and clear message that hate crime is not going to be tolerated,” Mulvihill said.
He urged his listeners to get involved in countywide community-relations boards so they could educate the public about their lives and culture.
He also urged them to apply to join police forces and to run for seats on boards of education and other public bodies, noting that that is how most immigrant groups in this country managed to have their voices heard.
Waheed Khalid, a member of the executive committee of the Dar-Ul-Islah Mosque, served as moderator during the meeting, which also included a question-and-answer session. Much of the ill will from Del Tufo’s remarks has dissipated because of the meeting in August and steps he has since taken to reach out to Muslims, Khalid said.
Muslims face the challenge of going out and educating the public about their religion and way of life, Khalid said.

Keywords: GOVERNMENT; NEW JERSEY; ATTORNEY; TERRORISM; MOSLEM; PERSIAN GULF WAR; TEANECK

ID: 17357406 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

RAIN FAILS TO STOP PEACE RALLY

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, March 24, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03

Rain forced a peace activists rally into a Broad Street church Saturday, where they issued a call for American troops to be withdrawn from the Middle East. They urged that the money being used to maintain the troops be spent on domestic problems.
After the rally at Military Park in Newark was cut short, the crowd of about 250 went to the Presbyterian Church two blocks away for an interfaith service to memorialize all who died in the war.
Christians, Jews, and Muslims participated in the ecumenical service.
Lawrence Lamm, chairman of the New Jersey Rainbow Coalition, urged the audience to continue fighting for racial and economic justice.
“Many of you, I know, in recent weeks have been somewhat distraught, wondering how a country such as ours, where the people have such a high level of education and literacy, could blindly follow a foreign policy based on death and destruction. But I say, friends, that we must not despair, that we must in fact take our energy and our emotions and throw it into building a movement for peace and justice.”
The Rev. Robert Moore, director of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament, said he was not in support of the war to begin with and, now that the stated goal of removing Iraq from Kuwait has been achieved, it is time for Americans to come home. He said the tax dollars being spent to keep them there should be brought home, too.
“We should turn it over to the United Nations and the Arab League and other entities like that to try to resolve other problems and conflicts that are left,” he said.
Rep. Donald Payne, D-Newark, scheduled to address the gathering, was said to have a prior commitment and sent an aide instead.
Rick Thigpen, an aide to Payne, said the congressman has remained constant in his opposition to the war. Payne preferred economic sanctions, he said.
Mayor Sharpe James, who was to greet the participants on the steps of City Hall, also did not appear. Michael Immerso, one of the organizers of the rally, was unable to reach the mayor or any of his aides but said James probably assumed the rally was canceled because of the rain.

Keywords: PERSIAN GULF WAR; DEMONSTRATION

Caption: 1 – PHOTO – STEVE AUCHARD / THE RECORD – Bryan Douglas of Franklin Park, left photo, scrubbing U.S. flag to symbolically cleanse it of Iraqi blood. 2 – PHOTO – STEVE AUCHARD / THE RECORD – In top photo, activists listening to Lawrence Lamm, 3 – PHOTO – STEVE AUCHARD / THE RECORD – right photo, state Rainbow Coalition chief.

ID: 17337289 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)