“I want my first thought to be about the innocent victims, but it’s like right after that is the, ‘Oh no! How many innocent Muslims are going to be attacked over this?”
Source/Credit: koin.com
By Tim Becker and KOIN 6 News Staff
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The terror attack in Brussels may have happened 5000 miles from Portland, but it directly affected people here — a member of a mosque, the Belgian consulate in Portland, a woman with family there and a UO student studying in Brussels.
Harris Zafar wants to remind the world that almost the entire Muslim community condemns what happened in Brussels.
“As Muslims our hearts are broken as well about what happened today,” said Zafar, who is with the Rizwan Mosque in Southwest Portland. “What happened in San Bernardino, what happened in Paris, when innocent people are killed our hearts bleed.”
He added, “Anytime we see any act of violence, of course the immediate reaction is just shock.”
Blaming Muslims as a whole, Zafar said, is misguided.
“To blame Muslims and to blame the religion of Islam, you’re entitled to do it but your anger is misdirected.”
“I don’t know a single Muslim personally that would want this. They’re horrified just as much as we are,” she said.
She said her Facebook page was filled with messages from friends and family. She pleaded for people not to blame and retaliate against Muslims.
“I want my first thought to be about the innocent victims, but it’s like right after that is the, ‘Oh no! How many innocent Muslims are going to be attacked over this?” she said.
She said her husband “called his family and luckily, right now, as far as we know, all of our friends and family are OK.”
But they will continue to closely watch what happens in Belgium.
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Read original post here: USA: Brussels attacks affect many Portlanders
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