In Kansas, an anti-immigrant terrorist killed one man and shot two others this week. In Florida and in Texas, arsonists burned mosques in January and February. Dozens of Jewish Community Centers have received bomb threats over the past two months, and two Jewish cemeteries have been vandalized in the past week. In each case, people have responded, fighting back against terrorism and hate. We need to acknowledge the hatred and bigotry that exists in our country. We need to name these actions as terrorism. We also need to recognize the responses of Americans rejecting that terrorism. We need to insist that we are the majority, not the haters, not the bigots, not the terrorists. This is our country, and we will not let them take it away. Continue reading
Tag Archives: terrorism
Fact check: Trump, terror and refugees

Photo by Fibonacci Blue. 2017-01-20 This is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
Trump justified today’s anti-refugee, anti-immigrant executive order by saying that he’s protecting and defending U.S. citizens from terrorism. His order targets refugees from anywhere in the world and all immigrants and non-immigrant visitors from the predominantly Muslim countries of Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Does he know that the last time a refugee killed someone in the United States in an act of terrorism was in the 1970s? That terrorist was a Cuban refugee. A Christian Cuban refugee. Continue reading
Filed under immigration, Tracking Trump
Fourth of July: Reflections on fireworks and choices
Fireworks go off randomly throughout the night. Facebook fills up with photos and with complaints from people whose dogs cower under the bed, whining. Once in a while, a mild reminder that not only dogs suffer from sudden, loud noises — veterans, too, may brace themselves for the 10 p.m. barrage or wake in terror at the 2 a.m. explosions.
Post traumatic stress: a reaction to trauma, to being shot at, to being hit by shrapnel, to witnessing a bombing, to seeing people killed in front of you. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
#Orlando — What can we say?
After the hatred, after the massacre, what can we say? No words can make anything better. And yet we speak, because we are human, because we use words to connect with one another and to express our grief, our outrage, our solidarity. So — some words gleaned from my Facebook and morning news: Continue reading
Filed under gender, human rights, race, religion
Christmas week: Terrorism — fighting fear with facts

©Fotolia File: #78917611 | Author: Mark Carrel
Right after the shootings in San Bernardino, the terrorism talk started. Media and politicians said:
- The two shooters are connected to ISIS.
- They were influenced by foreign terrorist groups.
- Syed Rizwan Farook was “self-radicalized” as an “Islamic terrorist.”
- Tashfeen Malik posted public statements on social media about violent jihad.
The politicians and the headlines, it turns out, were wrong. And that matters. In a season that proclaims hope for peace and good will, we can begin by countering fear-mongering with facts. Continue reading