ADC Denounces Al-Qaeda vile and racist attacks against President-Elect Obama

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ADC Denounces Al-Qaeda vile and racist attacks against President-Elect Obama

Washington, DC

November 20, 2008

www.adc.org

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) today denounced the racist comments made by Al-Qaeda second in command, Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahri, about President-Elect Barack Obama. Al-Zawahri, among other things, called the President-Elect a "house slave" and attacked him for denying his father's Muslim heritage. The Muslim and Arab communities here and abroad reacted with shame to such vile language. Al-Zawahiri’s message perpetuates division between civilizations by attacking a man who has pledged to bring people together. While proporting to speak as a “Muslim scholar,” Al-Zawaihiri does a great disservice to Islam, a religion which has welcomed members of all races and ethnicities since its inception.

ADC National Executive Director Kareem Shora said, "As we've always stated, these people do not speak for Islam, they do not speak on behalf of Arabs, and they are not representative of our community. Al-Qaeda remains a fringe element in the Arab and Muslim world and we hope that President-Elect Obama will work with all communities to address legitimate grievances, vanquish extremist elements like Al-Qaeda, and bring people together. As His Majesty King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said in a recent speech at the United Nations ‘We say today with a single voice that religions through which Almighty God sought to bring happiness to mankind should not be turned into instruments to cause misery....Human beings are created equals and partners on this planet. It is these voices of tolerance and unity which we must adhere to from the Arab and Muslim world and not the banter of malicious extremists.”