Long Island Muslim leader calls for open borders
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/letters/
[i] Open minds need open borders
Sadness. Anger. A profound sense of loss. That's how I felt upon hearing of the London bombings.
As a New Yorker for 34 years, I had that ominous "here we go again" feeling. As a reservist in the Air Force for seven years, I wondered if the war on terrorism could ever be won. As a physician for 14 years, I reflected on how precious life truly is. As a Muslim-American, I also know that I would have to double my efforts to explain to the uninformed that 99.99 percent of Muslims abhor violence and that Islam stands for peace.
You can imagine my dismay in reading James P. Pinkerton's xenophobic column "Can we learn from Britain's mistake?" [Opinion, July 12], in which he paints with an extremely broad brush the dangers of immigration.
Few nations would argue against keeping "openly hostile foreigners" away from their borders, but to say that we should not let New York become a "New Yorkistan" is not only a slight against Muslim-Americans living in New York but a disservice to the millions of Americans - aren't we all immigrants, after all? - who have come to this land yearning to breathe free, to escape oppression, to seek better lives and to speak their mind. Pinkerton has spoken his mind. I hope few listen.
Humayun J. Chaudhry
Editor's note: The writer is a board member of the Multifaith Forum of Long Island, an organization sponsored by the Long Island Council of Churches.[i/]
Another traitor in our land. One moment they condem terrorism and then the next they turn around and stab us in the back.