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"We ask members of the media to refrain from calling them Muslims," said Bedier (L).
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CAIRO — The Council on American-Islamic
Relations, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has urged
the media not to associate the seven suspects arrested on charges of
plotting terrorist attacks in the US with the country's Muslim
minority, insisting they were not Muslims.
"Given that the reported beliefs of this
bizarre group have nothing to do with Islam, we ask members of the
media to refrain from calling them Muslims," Ahmed Bedier,
Director of CAIR Florida chapter, said in a statement e-mailed to
IslamOnline.net.
Seven men — five US citizens, a legal resident
and a Haitian — appeared in court on Friday, June 23, a day after
they were arrested in Miami.
US Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales said the seven
were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to Al-Qaeda
and terrorists.
They face four terrorism charges, including a plot
to blow up the 110-floor Sears Tower, the world's third tallest
building, in Chicago and the FBI regional headquarters.
The charges sheet said the group's leader, Narseal
Batiste, recruited individuals for an operation "which included a
plot to destroy by explosives the Sears Tower."
However, law enforcement officials said that no
weapons or explosives had been seized in the raid.
Though acknowledging that the plot was "more
aspirational than operational", FBI deputy director John Pistole
said the arrests were an "important step forward in the war on
terrorism here in the US."
But relatives of the detained men denounced the
arrests as an attempt to frighten Americans.
"It's all a show, they're scaring people,
there's nothing to be scared at all," said Marlene Phanor, the
sister of Stanley Grant Phanor, 31, one of the suspects.
Cult
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A combo photo of the seven suspects. (Reuters)
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Bedier criticized the media for referring to the
arrestees as Muslims.
He regretted "a lot of talk on conservative
radio and television stations and opinion that this is militant
Islamism, radical Islamism."
The Muslim activist asserted that the suspects seem
to belong to "some sort of cult group."
Media reports said the seven detainees were part of
the "Seas of David" religious group.
A man identified himself as a member of the
"Seas of David" told CNN on Thursday, June 22, that they had
no connection to terrorists.
"We are not terrorists. We are members of
David, Seas of David," said the man, identifying himself as
Brother Corey.
He said the group blends the teachings of
Christianity and Islam.
"We study Allah and the worship of the regular
Bible."
He went on: "We study and we train through the
bible, not only physical -- not only physical, but mentally."
Terminology
The American Muslim activist hailed US Attorney
Alex Acosta for noting that the indictment "is not against a
particular group or a particular faith."
He urged on other law enforcement authorities and
officials to avoid using Arabic terminology in referring to the case.
Gonzales said the group of "home-grown
terrorists" were inspired by what he said "a violent
jihadist message."
Austria, the current holder of the EU's rotating
presidency, has drafted a document of common vocabulary on Islam as
part of efforts to avoid stigmatizing terminology in dealing with
Muslims.
Rather than dictionary-style definitions, the EU
lexicon tries to place words in their cultural, historical and
political context to inform users and give them a better idea of how
their use could be misunderstood.
The lexicon explains that the term
"jihad," which is commonly used in the media to mean
"holy war," refers to an intellectual, social or other kind
of personal exercise -- "great jihad" -- or to a war in
defense of Muslims; "little jihad."
"The latter is either regarded as a collective
duty or as an individual obligation incumbent on any capable
Muslim," says the document, adding that the word's misuse can
also cause offence.
CAIR has called on the authorities to protect
mosques and other Muslim institutions from any possible backlash
prompted by the mistaken linkage of the case to the Muslim minority.
While there is no scientific count of Muslims in
the US, six to seven million is the most commonly cited figure.
A May 2004 report released by the US Senate Office
Of Research concluded that the Arab Americans and the Muslim community
have taken the brunt of the Patriot Act and other federal powers
applied in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
