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Valley Muslims to report suspicious activity
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Muslims and Arab-Americans in the Mahoning Valley agree with President Barack Obama’s characterization of ISIS as criminals and thugs and pledge to report any unusual activity to authorities.
“What we believe as the Muslim community here is even though we have the local and state police and the FBI, we need also to play a huge role in this,” said Ned Seder of Canfield.
On Sunday night, Obama called on the American Muslim community to be a partner in the fight against radical Islam. He said Muslims can send credible, effective countermessages and undermine jihadist propaganda.
“Eighty percent of people who come to this country come because they know somebody,” Seder said. “We know if someone new comes to our community, we know who it is. We interact with the new people. If we see something out of the ordinary, we would be the first people to tell.”
He came to the United States from his native Jordan 29 years ago and said he views such reporting as an obligation.
“As I told the mayor and the police chief, we came to this country as immigrants and chose to be Americans – and that is a very honorable thing,” said Seder, who owns a Boardman business. “By your own action to become a citizen, you have to act upon that.”
Seder and a couple of others from the Muslim community met recently with Mayor John A. McNally and Police Chief Robin Lees.
McNally said the community members called the meeting to thank police and the city for the work in the investigation of the murder of a South Side store owner and Muslim community member in a robbery attempt last year.
The conversation expanded to other topics.
“They said that they and other members of the community came to America to be a part of this country,” McNally said. “They said they would actually keep their eyes and ears open and advise – and we thank them for that.”
Dawud W. Abdullah of Youngstown, also a Muslim, said the majority of Muslims are law-abiding citizens, and, as such, if they see something they believe could cause harm, they would report it.
“That’s one of the teachings of our religion,” he said.
Abdullah said most people in the Valley he encounters are understanding and realize that terrorists and extremists don’t represent the vast majority of Muslims.
Islam is about peace, justice, devotion to God and living for those things, he said.
“President Obama hit the nail on the head when he said that [ISIS] are criminals and thugs,” Abdullah said. “I could not agree with that statement more.”
Ray Nakley isn’t a Muslim, but he is a member of the Arab-American Community Center.
“We are sickened by this tragedy and all of the other tragedies,” he said. “We’re hoping and praying for people involved in these tragedies.”
Like Obama said, “Islam is not the enemy,” Nakley said. “Muslims are our neighbors and friends. They’re our doctors and fill so many roles in our society that are positive.”
Most of those victimized by these extremists are Muslims, he pointed out.