CAIR launches ads in response to anti-Muslim attacks

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is launching as series of ads in response to the anti-Muslim hatred and misinformation that’s being spread around the “mosque” controversy. The Upshot highlights a number of other initiatives by other Muslim-American groups in efforts to counter the xenophobia and racism that’s resulted because of the right-wing hoopla around the Islamic community center. Here’s their first.

CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:

“The stepped-up rhetorical and physical attacks on the American Muslim community and Islam require a positive, proactive response that will help counter the almost hysterical campaign of misinformation by a vocal minority of bigots. . . These public service announcements have the potential to reach millions of Americans with a message of religious inclusion and mutual understanding.”

Transcript after the jump.

Everybody was inching closer and closer instead of moving farther away. It just didn’t sink in — it didn’t — guys were just crawling under beams, crawling under cars, climbing on top of things…I had a very good friend of mine, Sean Powell, and he worked in my firehouse for a while. When my friend came up to me and told me that Sean Powell was on the list, I was like, “No, he’s not.” And I took out my phone and I called him. That’s when it really hit me, I was like, okay…this is real. That’s when it hit me. I’m a New York City firefighter, and I responded to 9/11. And I am a Muslim.