Muslim New Yorkers Feel Pressure to Apologize

posted on: Jan 31, 2015

Qinza Najm doesn’t want to behead anyone. After all, she’s an artist, not a jihadist.

But she’s also a Muslim — and in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, she and other New York Muslims are feeling pressure from non-Muslims to condemn evildoers.

“I believe 100% that people should not be killed, but when a white guy commits a crime, not every white person is asked to defend himself,” said Najm, a Lower East Side artist of Pakistani descent.

She’s hardly the only person of Islamic faith to deal with this demand to apologize for the actions of people who live on other continents and whom she has never met.

“Every time a tragedy happens, we pray, ‘Please don’t let it be a Muslim, please don’t let it be a Muslim,’” says Wajahat Ali, the co-host of Al Jazeera America’s talk show “The Stream.” “As soon as we find out it is a Muslim, everyone says, ‘F— my life.’ You realize the criminal actions of a few who are completely unrelated to you will be used (against) your entire community.”

Source: www.nydailynews.com