{"id":7524,"date":"2017-06-09T14:20:50","date_gmt":"2017-06-09T18:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?p=7524"},"modified":"2017-06-21T13:57:59","modified_gmt":"2017-06-21T17:57:59","slug":"how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/","title":{"rendered":"How &#8216;Act for America&#8217; and Anti-Muslim Protesters Could Benefit from a Ramadan Iftaar"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><figure id=\"attachment_7525\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7525\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/27\/2017\/06\/anti-muslim-protestor.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7525\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7525\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/27\/2017\/06\/anti-muslim-protestor.jpg\" alt=\"Anti-Muslim protester in Phoenix Arizona in 2015. Photo from Flickr Creative Commons, \" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7525\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anti-Muslim protester in Phoenix Arizona in 2015. Photo from Flickr Creative Commons,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Anti-Muslim group\u00a0<i>ACT for America<\/i>\u00a0is planning to hold a rally in Seattle on the weekend. A similar protest was planed for Portland until Mayor Ted Wheeler canceled this event in the aftermath of two men having been murdered and a third wounded in their attempt to stop harassment against two Muslim women. As has been reported, people from Portland are traveling to join Seattleites for the protest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On their\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.actforamerica.org\/rally\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/www.actforamerica.org\/rally&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1497117540072000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHD49IAAca6-ll9Ar02Ed2rgHs2Nw\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">website<\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">,\u00a0<i>ACT for America<\/i>\u00a0writes that \u201cour nation is built on freedom of religion \u2013 a pillar of our democracy \u2013 which we must always respect, protect, and honor.\u201d However, ACT founder Brigitte Tudor has been\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattleweekly.com\/news\/portland-anti-muslim-rally-moved-to-seattle\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=https:\/\/www.seattleweekly.com\/news\/portland-anti-muslim-rally-moved-to-seattle\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1497117540072000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGcULQHOd7pEkmwJHFzW51jJKKlXQ\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span style=\"color: #0563c1;\">quoted as saying<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0that a \u201cpracticing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Really? In her view, it appears that the more than three million Muslims living in the U.S. are un-American and must be thrown out.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><i>ACT for America<\/i>\u00a0has been able to mobilize people in more than 20 cities for a protest similar to the one planned for Seattle. But how can a group like this gain such momentum as to be able to organize hate demonstrations in the United States? The answer is easy and can be summarized with two words: President Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Stymied by lower court rulings alleging discrimination, President Trump has now\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2017\/06\/02\/trump-administration-asks-supreme-court-revive-travel-ban\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2017\/06\/02\/trump-administration-asks-supreme-court-revive-travel-ban\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1497117540072000&amp;usg=AFQjCNENESBPu_469Kil1_-s540UkyVy_w\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">escalated<\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0his ban on travelers from six Muslim-majority countries to the Supreme Court.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There is a saying in the Iranian language of Farsi: \u201cIf the head of a village steals a chicken, you cannot expect much from the rest of the villagers.\u201d Can it not also be said that if the President of the United States pursues a discriminatory policy against Muslims that the citizens in alignment with him would not act in kind through anti-Muslim protests?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Holding an anti-Muslim protest in Seattle (or anywhere) is similar to holding an anti-Bahai\u2019 rally in Tehran, or an anti-Jewish rally on the West Bank. Respected municipal officials certainly wouldn\u2019t object to such protests for political reasons. But what if the focus of these rallies was reversed?\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><br>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The anti-Muslim rally cannot be viewed as an altogether evil act. Abraham Lincoln once said, \u201cI am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Perhaps\u00a0<i>Act for America<\/i>\u00a0thinks they are meeting a national crisis through this demonstration. But if they were open to discovering the real facts, what better time to determine these than during the holy month of Ramadan, a time the Koran orders believers to act peacefully. Were they to partake with Muslims in Iftar, the meal eaten after sunset during Ramadan, they might learn the real facts. Provided, of course, they don\u2019t bring beer!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Sara Jamshidi is an Iranian-American journalist, and founder of Goltune, a digital magazine focusing on Muslim women news, fashion and lifestyle.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perhaps Act for America thinks they are meeting a national crisis through this demonstration. But if they were open to discovering the real facts, what better time to determine these than during the holy month of Ramadan, a time the Koran orders believers to act peacefully. Were they to partake with Muslims in Iftar, the meal eaten after sunset during Ramadan, they might learn the real facts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":590,"featured_media":7525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2080,1146,2081,273,109,52,1177,1504],"class_list":["post-7524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","tag-act-for-america","tag-anti-muslim","tag-anti-muslim-rally","tag-fasting","tag-islamophobia","tag-muslims","tag-protest","tag-ramadan"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How &#039;Act for America&#039; &amp; Anti-Muslim Protesters Could Benefit from an Iftaar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&#039;Act for America&#039; and Anti-Muslim Protesters certainly have the right to protest. But their facts are all wrong, and they could Benefit from an Iftaar.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How &#039;Act for America&#039; &amp; Anti-Muslim Protesters Could Benefit from an Iftaar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#039;Act for America&#039; and Anti-Muslim Protesters certainly have the right to protest. But their facts are all wrong, and they could Benefit from an Iftaar.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-09T18:20:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-21T17:57:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/27\/2017\/06\/anti-muslim-protestor.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/\",\"name\":\"How 'Act for America' & Anti-Muslim Protesters Could Benefit from an Iftaar\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-09T18:20:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-21T17:57:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2d865aff786b53f8ec13c56a6f5518ec\"},\"description\":\"'Act for America' and Anti-Muslim Protesters certainly have the right to protest. But their facts are all wrong, and they could Benefit from an Iftaar.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How &#8216;Act for America&#8217; and Anti-Muslim Protesters Could Benefit from a Ramadan Iftaar\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics &amp; culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2d865aff786b53f8ec13c56a6f5518ec\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7378f6254ac5bdf4936a66cb60d0dd4a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7378f6254ac5bdf4936a66cb60d0dd4a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/altmuslimguest\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How 'Act for America' & Anti-Muslim Protesters Could Benefit from an Iftaar","description":"'Act for America' and Anti-Muslim Protesters certainly have the right to protest. But their facts are all wrong, and they could Benefit from an Iftaar.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How 'Act for America' & Anti-Muslim Protesters Could Benefit from an Iftaar","og_description":"'Act for America' and Anti-Muslim Protesters certainly have the right to protest. But their facts are all wrong, and they could Benefit from an Iftaar.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/","og_site_name":"altmuslim","article_published_time":"2017-06-09T18:20:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-21T17:57:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/27\/2017\/06\/anti-muslim-protestor.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/","name":"How 'Act for America' & Anti-Muslim Protesters Could Benefit from an Iftaar","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-06-09T18:20:50+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-21T17:57:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2d865aff786b53f8ec13c56a6f5518ec"},"description":"'Act for America' and Anti-Muslim Protesters certainly have the right to protest. But their facts are all wrong, and they could Benefit from an Iftaar.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2017\/06\/how-act-for-america-and-anti-muslim-protesters-could-benefit-from-a-ramadan-iftaar\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How &#8216;Act for America&#8217; and Anti-Muslim Protesters Could Benefit from a Ramadan Iftaar"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/","name":"altmuslim","description":"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics &amp; culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2d865aff786b53f8ec13c56a6f5518ec","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7378f6254ac5bdf4936a66cb60d0dd4a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7378f6254ac5bdf4936a66cb60d0dd4a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/altmuslimguest\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/590"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}