(ATLANTA, GA – 6/19/17) The Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations today reacted to anti-Muslim hate crimes in Virginia and the United Kingdom by calling on Georgia Muslims to improve safety and security of their mosques, families and communities.
CAIR-GA Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell released the following statement:
By now, you must have heard about what happened over the weekend.
In Virginia, an anti-Muslim bigot attacked a group of American Muslim teenagers after taraweh prayers, kidnapped a 17 year-old girl, and beat her to death.Then, in England, an anti-Muslim bigot crashed a van into a crowd of British Muslims outside a mosque after taraweh prayers.
If these hate crimes make you sad, angry, or afraid, you’re not alone. But we must not allow sorrow, anger or fear to paralyze us.
Nor should we allow hate crimes to scare us out of being proudly and public Muslim. Indeed, if like to visit the masjid for prayer, do so as often as you want. If you like to sport a beard or wear an thobe, continue to do so. If you want to wear a hijab or a flowing abaya, more power to you.
We have every right to be proudly and publicly Muslim anywhere and everywhere, especially our own country. But we must also be safely Muslim. To that end, every Georgia masjid, every Georgia Muslim family, and every Georgia Muslim community should take basic to improve safety and security.
You can watch this video footage of CAIR Georgia’s first self-defense seminar, which we hosted last December. The first segment covers self-defense tips for women.
Also, CAIR Georgia hosted three new, updated “Staying Safe During Ramadan” self-defense seminars last month. During the seminar, we discussed how to maintain situational awareness (i.e. vigilance), how to respond to an active shooter situation, and how to use personal security items such as pepper spray and tasers, among many other topics. Email us to arrange for this self-defense seminar at your masjid.
You can also watch the following videos to learn how to respond to an active shooter situation, as well as how to use pepper spray.
Active Shooter Training Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VcSwejU2D0
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Surviving an active shooter event. English version. Video Copyright © 2012 City of Houston.
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Pepper Spray Training Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhOwRfIMW_Q
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Kristin & David Demonstrate — Single Take! David Nance is a personal safety expert with over 14 years experience in the personal and professional safety fie…
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Please email [email protected] if you have any questions. May Allah SWT (God, Glorified and Exalted) grant instant Paradise to those who were killed, swift healing to those who were injured, and justice to those responsible for these crimes. And may God protect people of good faith, of all faiths, from the threat of violence.