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| Muslim border protest at the Peace Arch |
| 2011-07-18 |
| Jeff Siddiqui says he is tired of being profiled because he is Muslim. He took his message Sunday to the U.S.-Canadian border, where he and a small group of protesters delivered their message, near the Peace Arch. Siddiqui, with his group American Muslims of Puget Sound, organized a peaceful demonstration to send a message to passers-by. "We don't want a country where - to use Martin Luther King's words - where we are judged by the color of our skin or our faith," said Siddiqui. He says he felt that he was targeted by a border official about a year ago when he tried to leave Canada and go through the checkpoint. Siddiqui describes what happened: "After haranguing me for a while, and I told him to mind his manners, he said, 'Well, do you have anything in your van you don't want us to find?' And I said, 'What do mean?' He said 'Oh, like terrorists, guns, grenades under the seat.'" Between 25 and 80 demonstrators were supposed to turn up for Sunday's border protest - including some fellow Muslims. But only about six actually did show up. Siddiqui claims to know why they didn't come. "Muslims are terrified," he says. "They don't want to be targeted. They don't want to be identified, they don't want to be listed as trouble makers for future treatment, and they're just terrified even though they're citizens." Many people saw the signs posted by Siddiqui's group, which had such slogans as "Muslims Are Americans" and "U.S. Muslims: Doctors, Lawyers, Soldiers, Cabbies, Scientists, Politicians." Shamim, a woman who was driving through the border and saw the demonstration said, "I am Muslim myself, and we are not scary people. We are just human beings like others." Masoud Amin, another motorist at the crossing, said: "If their right has been violated, let them have their rights. But I think there are Muslim groups that have to be stopped." |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #5 Apparently smarting off to customs and immigration and getting the same in return is "oppression". |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2011-07-18 12:31 |
| #4 Saw the guy's picture. Noticed he didn't have "MUSLIM" tattooed on his forehead, so how would the border patrol know he was a Muslim unless he brought it up so he could play his little profiling game? And SIX people showed up for his pity party? Must be a really slow day at KOMO news... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2011-07-18 12:18 |
| #3 "We don't want a country where - to use Martin Luther King's words - where we are judged by the color of our skin or our faith," said Siddiqui. It's not at all about the race card. It is about your faith to the extent that it is subversive and tries to instill Sharia Law in America. It's about you not believing in our culture and way of life. It is about your notion of supremacy over others. It's about terrorism of your brethren (and maybe you) trying to kill us and blow up sh!t. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-07-18 12:05 |
| #2 "After haranguing me for a while, and I told him to mind his manners, he said Oh yeah...Jeff, border guards really love that. Maybe next time you can tell them about how much you "know your rights". |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2011-07-18 09:22 |
| #1 Perhaps you're being judged by the content of the character of your co-religionists, Jeff. |
| Posted by: Spot 2011-07-18 07:59 |