Countering Islamophobia: One boy's message
In the small town of Pflugerville, Texas, on Monday an unsettling scene greeted congregants at an Islamic Center: torn pages from the Quran were smeared with feces and left outside the mosque.
It was a 鈥�,鈥� according to police. But so far, officials have not been able to track down the perpetrators.
For 7-year-old Jack Swanson, the assault was an opportunity to share religious tolerance with the small suburban town outside Austin: Jack emptied his piggy bank鈥檚 grand savings of $20 to donate to the Islamic Center. The mosque estimates it will cost .
鈥淛ack鈥檚 $20 are worth $20 million to us ,鈥� Faisal Naeem, one of the mosque鈥檚 board members, told ABC news on Wednesday. 鈥淚f we have more kind-hearted kids like them in the world, I have hope for our future.鈥�
鈥�,鈥� Laura Swanson, Jack鈥檚 mother, told KXAN News. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter what you believe, what I believe, what he believes or anybody believes, all faith is important.鈥�
Anti-Muslim backlash in the United States and other Western countries has been strong in the days following the Nov. 13 Paris terror attacks, perpetrated by Islamic State radicals. On Thursday, two Muslim women in Toronto wearing hijabs were pushed on a train .鈥� Another Canadian in Quebec was arrested after publishing a Youtube video in which he wore a every week. Police and the FBI are investigating a claim that multiple gunshots were fired at the . Another man threatened to firebomb an Islamic Center in Florida on Monday, leaving a voicemail where he claimed he would 鈥�.鈥�
鈥�,鈥� said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been an accumulation of anti-Islamic rhetoric in our lives and that I think has triggered these overt acts of violence and vandalism.鈥�
Many, like Jack however, have taken symbolic steps to show support for America鈥檚 Muslim community.
鈥淚t鈥檚 become so commonplace where something goes wrong somewhere and ,鈥� said Mr. Naeem, 鈥淚f anything, it鈥檚 a pointing indictment of the logical fallacy in our society鈥檚 way of thinking.鈥�
Other Muslim leaders have called for more stringent security measures to protect Muslims from potential backlash as the world continues to reel from the Paris attacks. Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, requested that US law enforcement officials implant additional patrols around mosques and other Islamic institutions.
鈥淲e urge public officials and presidential candidates ,鈥� Mr. Awad said in a statement. 鈥淎nd not allow Islam to be demonized by Islamophobes or by the anti-Islamic actions or terrorists.鈥�
