I’m just taking it in for a second it
was 5:30 in the morning Pacific time in
Los Angeles California in the United
States where I live and I was sleeping
as you should be at 5:30 in the morning
the phone rang and it was my boss and I
was confused as to why he was calling me
so early because I wasn’t going to be on
the radio until 7 o’clock that evening
and he said nothing else except turn on
your television as I walked down the
hall my stomach felt queasy what was I
about to see when I turned on the
television I saw a plane stuck in a huge
skyscraper in New York City and then I
saw another hit a second tower and I saw
things coming out of the building and
when I looked very very closely
I noticed those weren’t things they were
people they were people jumping from
these towers the Twin Towers the date
was 9/11 the first thing I thought was
despite the shock and horror which was
before my eyes on a Thursday morning
was I felt terrible for those people who
had been in so much pain they ended
their lives and then in the hours to
come the phone calls that the families
and friends would receive that would
forever change their lives but then I
said something I said please God don’t
have it be a Muslim who did this now
those of you looking at me and those of
you don’t know me you’re probably
wondering why a 5 foot 2 white chick
from Los Angeles California
who has a Jewish father and a Christian
mother would ever say such a thing
whatever things such a thing why would I
care right well for that I need to take
you back I’m from Boston Massachusetts
originally I did my bachelor’s degree
undergraduate at Northeastern University
and I attended the master’s program at
Emerson College and I very much wanted
to work in radio and television and when
I got out of college Boston has so many
colleges and universities they’re just
not we’re not enough jobs to go around
for the number of people graduating
including me
so I was lucky enough because I found a
man who believed in me and said if you
move to Miami Florida I’ve got a job for
you so I packed up my car and I moved
1836 miles away from my family and my
friends and what I had known in his home
to Miami I was in the elevator in Miami
because I’m gonna date myself just a bit
but at the pool they were filming
television show that was very famous in
the United States many years ago called
Miami Vice did anybody ever heard of
that show here anybody at all all the
Americans and Canadians and Europeans so
there were going to be two movie stars
at the pool and my roommate and I are
like let’s go downstairs to the pool and
see movie stars so I got on the elevator
on the fifth floor where I live and the
elevator went to do to do down to pee
quickly to the pool level I was hoping
and then it stopped on to and I’m
thinking who dares to interrupt my
voyage to Hollywood and at 2:00 the
doors opened and there I saw a dare I
say a man with the most beautiful eyes I
had ever seen in my life that man and I
became friends I saw him around the
apartment building we became friends and
I assumed because I was living in Miami
Florida that he was Hispanic and he was
Cuban but he told me that he was Muslim
Muslim hmm Muslim that means that he
believes in Islam the religion of Islam
he practices
Flom I know some Muslims yeah well there
was a bee who I went to college with in
Jordan and Muhammad who was from the
Emirates in college and that girl who
lived down the hall and wear that thing
on her head it was from Iran yeah I know
some was looms 3uc because at that time
of my life like most Americans I not
only didn’t know many Muslims I knew
nothing about Islam oh let me correct
that I am ashamed to say I was extremely
ignorant about the religion of Islam see
I apologize in advance but at that time
like most Americans I believed about
Islam that it was a religion that was
for countries really far away from mine
and where I lived it was a religion of
very primitive people who lived in the
desert road camels every man had four
wives women were extremely oppressed
honor killings were a weekly practice as
well as child marriages there was
nothing positive about this religion and
therefore about the people as a feminist
this bothered me I was certain that
every woman who’s Muslim and every woman
who covered herself whether was cheval
Khamis with a burqa hijab was a Preston
was being forced to do so and as a
feminist this bothered me so Americans
had a mindset about Islam and I as an
American I shared in that prejudice
there’s negative stereotypes those false
stereotypes and the ignorance let me
tell you why I think and I’m not making
excuses for but why I think many
Americans feel that way at least felt
that way for decades the United States
has been an extremely close and strong
ally to Israel giving billions of
dollars and weapons they are allies and
then Americans learn that Israelis good
Israelis Jewish Israeli allies allies
and Jewish good Palestinians not our
allies Muslims Islam bad
you follow me and although it’s not true
and and I not a nice way of thinking it
is the way and was the way of much of
American thinking but that was all about
to change for me because that friend I
had made with the beautiful eyes
he asked me if I’d like to meet his
family and I said sure I could add a few
more Muslims to the list of those I knew
and I had my very silly ideas would they
throw a burka over me a minute I got in
the door did they have a scarf handy to
wrap around my head with their furniture
did I have to sit on the floor was I
gonna have to pray five times with the
food be good what I liked it would it be
spicy what I have to eat it with my
hands how shallow I Leslie Marshall was
at that time but that is truly what went
through my mind quite the contrary
these were not primitive people this
friend’s parents are both physicians
highly educated his father the general
surgeon his mother at ob/gyn his family
was warm gracious and kind they didn’t
force me to dress anyway they sat me on
a chair gave me delicious food and a
fork to eat it with they were not trying
to impress their religion on me they
were warm and gracious as hosts should
be when somebody comes into your home I
changed my mind
about Muslims that day maybe I needed to
rethink my mind on Islam but before I
tell you about my education on Islam I’d
like to point out that that friend has
been my husband for 21 years
and that woman is my mother-in-law and
she is not oppressed I’m got a fury left
on that one in order to educate myself
more on Aslam I couldn’t take people’s
word for what it really was about see
being half Jewish and half Christian and
brought up that way religiously I had
read cover to cover twice the Bible both
old and new Testament but I had never
read the Quran so I got a copy from my
husband and I read it cover-to-cover
to see what it was in it for myself and
I learned quite a few things I don’t
even have time to list all of them here
today one thing I learned is that honor
killings are not only not a part of
Islam they’re not lawful according to
Islam that in Islam they respect all
religions that Islam considers Jesus to
be a prophet it holds him in high regard
higher regard than the Jews the Israelis
and I also learned that like any other
religion without question never an
excuse for murder is wrong and not
permissible in Islam according to the
Quran by education on Islam and on
Muslims
stretched out and branched out into
various countries so I became even more
educated in this regard personally in
1996 I went to Israel being half Jewish
my father being Jewish I was curious and
I must say much like when I read the
Quran and saw it with my own eyes for
myself I saw with my own eyes
oppressed people Palestinian people who
were truly oppressed and I was shocked
to see a wall that was similar in
fashion to a ghetto during the Holocaust
that my polish ancestors were forced to
stand behind and I was
named ashamed of my Jewish side for that
while I was there I traveled to Egypt it
was the year after the Luxor Massacre
and there were people that said to me
don’t tell them you’re American tell
them you’re Canadian and I said why they
hate Americans don’t you know put the
Luxor Massacre I’m like yeah that was a
true bus of people from various
countries don’t tell them you’re
American I get in the car at Cairo
nighttime nice cool breeze to break up
the heat of the day driving the taxi
driver goes where are you from I’m like
the you Canada and he said oh I thought
you’re American too bad I was going to
ask you about Bill Clinton and Monica
Lewinsky they didn’t hate Americans when
I was sightseeing a group of women
wearing burkas I could only see their
eyes were giggling and you can tell a
lot by the eyes and they motioned for me
to come over and I was afraid like what
are they gonna do to me right and I
walked over they offered me to join them
for lunch and wanted to know if my jeans
were Levi’s and wanted to touch them we
became friends we swapped necklaces
sunglasses pictures addresses the people
were warm the people were welcoming a
Muslim country Muslim people again Islam
I also went to Jordan and my married
name is Hussein and the king was Hussein
so I was a queen for a day and they were
wonderful to me and Queen Noor from the
United States of America was married to
King Hussein of Jordan and everyone
asked me if I knew Queen Noor forgetting
how large the United States is but again
they treated me with kindness they
treated me with respect including bed
wins under tents near Petra who shared
their lunch with me also and then in
2007 the most wonderful thing occurred
my husband and I adopted our first child
our son in Pakistan and I had to live
there for months and this was after 9/11
oh and there were bad things said about
Muslims and about Islam and about Muslim
countries but most certainly about Iraq
Afghanistan and Pakistan didn’t you know
that everybody there was part of the
Taliban and they all hated Americans and
I was nervous but I was included with
the people that we visited and stayed
with in Pakistan as a member of their
family to this day to this day we talk
almost every day on Facebook and a
Pakistan people opened up their homes
and their hearts and I saw I saw with my
own eyes some terrorist organizations
and I said to the driver bringing me to
the airport what do you think of that
and he said well what do you think I
think of it I lived down the street from
them you live over there I’m more afraid
of them than you are he wasn’t signing
his kid up for some terrorist summer
camp as many Americans would think and
he said to me as I got out of the car
I’ll never forget miss Leslie please
tell your George Bush president don’t
bomb us like they did Iraq we’re nice
people never forget that how can you
forget that after 9/11 I won’t lie I was
concerned I was concerned for many
reasons one of which was selfish my
husband’s an orthopedic surgeon with a
Muslim Arabic last name I frantically
called his office on September 12 and I
said to his assistant be honest with me
how many patients out of approximately
40 have canceled their appointments for
today I braced myself for the answer
zero not one person had rescheduled
their appointment not one person was
afraid to go see for the first time or a
repeat visitor after their surgery their
Muslim doctor with an Arabic last name
now I’m not gonna lie after 9/11 the
United States had its ideas much divided
in two areas about Islam
America’s view of Islam has changed I’ll
tell you about that briefly
but after 9/11 it was very apparent
where people stood there were Americans
who threw things at mosques or put pork
on the door handles who even killed a
Coptic Christian man they thought was a
Muslim just two towns from where I live
in Los Angeles
there were slurs in writing and
certainly verbally women taunted on the
streets while there’s wondering if their
daughters should wear their had jobs to
school more women putting on he jobs to
show that their Muslim and they’re proud
and they’re American as well but I also
saw the education of some Americans and
I say that because I think out of every
tragedy there has to be some good
doesn’t there and I think there was some
good after 9/11 people got to know their
neighbors I remember my in-laws were
visiting us on September 14th one of my
brothers birthdays and they were flying
from Florida to California and I was
terrified for them my mother-in-law
wears a hijab they have a Muslim Arabic
last name they’re older and when they
came and I said to my mother-in-law and
father-in-law how was your journey she
said the people were wonderful they went
out of their way to be nice to us as if
to say to us without saying the words we
don’t blame you we don’t blame your
religion of Islam for what happened on
9/11 no unfortunately the world has been
the victims of many terrorism acts since
9/11 while I was flying here there was
an act of terrorism on the shop to the
SE in Paris and of course we all know
just last week in Egypt at a Coptic
Christian Church in the United States
I’m a member of the media as you know
and in the United States a lot of people
rely on the media for their information
and unfortunately I’m sure you’ve heard
the phrase fake news there’s a lot of
information that may not be accurate or
that may be very one-sided and people
are watching this and people are reading
this
people are listening to this and that
can be extremely dangerous and I’ll tell
you why because there are some realities
that not only America but a lot of the
Western world don’t know and I’m gonna
share some with you because I’m in the
media so you can believe everything I
say right just anything one the
overwhelming majority of victims of Isis
al Qaeda or any other terrorist
organization worldwide hands down
numbers don’t don’t even match up our
Muslims not Americans for Christian
Muslims mostly non-american Muslims and
then there are heroes would you like to
hear about some heroes in the Muslim
community who practiced and believed in
Islam and show a religion of peace a lot
of people don’t hear about stories when
there were the attacks in Paris in a
Jewish deli a Muslim man led 14 people
down a backed stairwell and saved their
lives
all of them Jewish he Muslim and I think
one French paper and one French
television outlet covered that in
Orlando California Orlando Florida
excuse me after the shooting the
terrorist attack there there was a
Muslim Marine who ran into the nightclub
while the shooter was still inside to
pull bodies out so they would not get
shot in San Bernardino California where
there was a terrorist attack
by a man and his wife a physician who
had actually been trained and had been
in the military an Iranian Muslim drove
told the authorities put on his riot
gear with his medical bag
walked into the building while the
terrorists were shooting people and was
treating people you don’t hear about
that
and last week in Egypt there were
numerous Muslims who helped the Coptic
Christians in their community to safety
gave them CPR first aid transported them
to get them medical attention you know
in November it was a tough day for me as
the Liberal Democrat but we got a new
president in the United States of
America he might have heard about it his
name is Donald J Trump and at the time
of his campaigning he had a lot of
things to say about Islam a lot of
things to say about Muslims and a lot of
rhetoric that was extremely divisive
hurtful and I feel quite on American he
talked about registries he talked about
bans banning banning a religion they
wanted to do that in the Netherlands
thank God that guy didn’t get elected
but in the United States of America this
rhetoric just boiled up and fanned those
flames of hatred much like after 9/11 do
you know that Donald Trump proposed a
travel ban that I many others call a
Muslim ban unfortunately good prevailed
when half a dozen federal judges in the
United States said that is
unconstitutional mr. president you can’t
do it but our president in my country
who knows I don’t fancy him because he
sees my negative tweets about him his
quite the narcissist as you’ve heard and
president Trump was not going to give up
so they gave a second revised newer and
improved version of the Muslim ban and
guess what another set of federal judges
knocked it down and said that’s
unconstitutional mr. Trump I’m sorry no
can do you do not pass go
51% just over half of Americans do not
approve of the Muslim ban the travel ban
and if you look at those polls and break
down the numbers
it’s even a higher number depending on
how the questions are posed America is
divided there’s good and there’s bad and
it’s divided I wouldn’t say nearly in
half there is still some who have bad
what is America’s view Islam still have
some have bad ideas of Islam some still
view some of the uglier sides that
Americans and those in the Western world
are very uncomfortable with that is not
part of the religion and I don’t find in
the Quran such as child marriages or
honor killings and certainly murder and
terrorism because there is still some
Americans that think that anyone who is
a Muslim you are a terrorist or you’re a
terrorist in the training and certainly
your training your kids to be but I want
to tell you about some of the good – in
that division I want to show you some of
the change that’s occurred since 9/11 we
have two elected congressman currently
in the United States Congress in the
United States that are Muslim – and
that’s in a post-911 world President
Barack Hussein Obama was elected a man
who had lived in a Muslim country
obviously is not our president now there
was a woman’s March that was organized
by a Muslim woman who wears a hijab and
over five million men and women
worldwide listened and responded to her
rallying cry in Times Square there were
thousands of people that showed up for
today I am a Muslim and the head of the
ADL the anti-defamation league who was
Jewish said when President Donald Trump
talked about imposing and and having a
Muslim registry which would mean anybody
who was Muslim would have to register
talk about prejudice and
unconstitutional in the United States do
you know when he said a Jewish man head
of the ADL if you have a Muslim registry
I will register as a Muslim this is the
head of the ADL a Jewish man
and then on Twitter and then on Facebook
and then all over and then my Jewish
cousin at dinner if they ever register
and their just ring as a Muslim I just
want you to know tell your husband this
became a movement and I’m seeing that in
my country but let’s go beyond the
people and let’s go to the polls shall
we
there was a poll recently just a couple
of months ago as to how warm people felt
in America about Islam
48% I know you think that’s not very
good but three years ago it was 10
percent lower in three years
it is increased to forty eight percent
and that’s warm feeling warm and fuzzy
about Islam and then there are realities
there not only Americans and their views
about Islam are going to have to change
but the reality is that Islam is the
fastest growing religion in the world
the reality is that over 1.6 billion
people in this world are Muslims and if
you do the math and I’m not good at it
but I did look it up that’s almost 25
almost a quarter of our population was
25% of the population approximately 24%
of the world’s population Lesly with 25
minutes please conclude huh conclusion
please well 25 minutes yes thank you and
the the reality also is that there are
power in numbers somebody asked me once
well what can anybody do to change this
Muslims can change this not only in the
United States but throughout the world
one get to know non-muslims and tell
them and teach them about Islam and let
them meet you and find out like I did
firsthand were two wonderful people you
are and that Islam is a religion of
peace to get involved with your schools
run for office have a carnival in your
mosque parking lot invite people into
the mosque so they can see while that
person may worship differently or
believe in something different than I
but we’re pretty much the same and by
the way that’s something I noticed in
traveling the world people are pretty
much the same
we all have lousy traffic we all
complain about the weather we all want
to save her life
for our future and we all want a better
future for our children last thing I
want to say is America is waking up to
Islam what it is and what it isn’t I did
and there’s a woman married into a
Muslim family
I am hopeful and even optimistic about
Americans view of Islam going forward in
the future
thank you Matt sees ship run this leave
us home
was 5:30 in the morning Pacific time in
Los Angeles California in the United
States where I live and I was sleeping
as you should be at 5:30 in the morning
the phone rang and it was my boss and I
was confused as to why he was calling me
so early because I wasn’t going to be on
the radio until 7 o’clock that evening
and he said nothing else except turn on
your television as I walked down the
hall my stomach felt queasy what was I
about to see when I turned on the
television I saw a plane stuck in a huge
skyscraper in New York City and then I
saw another hit a second tower and I saw
things coming out of the building and
when I looked very very closely
I noticed those weren’t things they were
people they were people jumping from
these towers the Twin Towers the date
was 9/11 the first thing I thought was
despite the shock and horror which was
before my eyes on a Thursday morning
was I felt terrible for those people who
had been in so much pain they ended
their lives and then in the hours to
come the phone calls that the families
and friends would receive that would
forever change their lives but then I
said something I said please God don’t
have it be a Muslim who did this now
those of you looking at me and those of
you don’t know me you’re probably
wondering why a 5 foot 2 white chick
from Los Angeles California
who has a Jewish father and a Christian
mother would ever say such a thing
whatever things such a thing why would I
care right well for that I need to take
you back I’m from Boston Massachusetts
originally I did my bachelor’s degree
undergraduate at Northeastern University
and I attended the master’s program at
Emerson College and I very much wanted
to work in radio and television and when
I got out of college Boston has so many
colleges and universities they’re just
not we’re not enough jobs to go around
for the number of people graduating
including me
so I was lucky enough because I found a
man who believed in me and said if you
move to Miami Florida I’ve got a job for
you so I packed up my car and I moved
1836 miles away from my family and my
friends and what I had known in his home
to Miami I was in the elevator in Miami
because I’m gonna date myself just a bit
but at the pool they were filming
television show that was very famous in
the United States many years ago called
Miami Vice did anybody ever heard of
that show here anybody at all all the
Americans and Canadians and Europeans so
there were going to be two movie stars
at the pool and my roommate and I are
like let’s go downstairs to the pool and
see movie stars so I got on the elevator
on the fifth floor where I live and the
elevator went to do to do down to pee
quickly to the pool level I was hoping
and then it stopped on to and I’m
thinking who dares to interrupt my
voyage to Hollywood and at 2:00 the
doors opened and there I saw a dare I
say a man with the most beautiful eyes I
had ever seen in my life that man and I
became friends I saw him around the
apartment building we became friends and
I assumed because I was living in Miami
Florida that he was Hispanic and he was
Cuban but he told me that he was Muslim
Muslim hmm Muslim that means that he
believes in Islam the religion of Islam
he practices
Flom I know some Muslims yeah well there
was a bee who I went to college with in
Jordan and Muhammad who was from the
Emirates in college and that girl who
lived down the hall and wear that thing
on her head it was from Iran yeah I know
some was looms 3uc because at that time
of my life like most Americans I not
only didn’t know many Muslims I knew
nothing about Islam oh let me correct
that I am ashamed to say I was extremely
ignorant about the religion of Islam see
I apologize in advance but at that time
like most Americans I believed about
Islam that it was a religion that was
for countries really far away from mine
and where I lived it was a religion of
very primitive people who lived in the
desert road camels every man had four
wives women were extremely oppressed
honor killings were a weekly practice as
well as child marriages there was
nothing positive about this religion and
therefore about the people as a feminist
this bothered me I was certain that
every woman who’s Muslim and every woman
who covered herself whether was cheval
Khamis with a burqa hijab was a Preston
was being forced to do so and as a
feminist this bothered me so Americans
had a mindset about Islam and I as an
American I shared in that prejudice
there’s negative stereotypes those false
stereotypes and the ignorance let me
tell you why I think and I’m not making
excuses for but why I think many
Americans feel that way at least felt
that way for decades the United States
has been an extremely close and strong
ally to Israel giving billions of
dollars and weapons they are allies and
then Americans learn that Israelis good
Israelis Jewish Israeli allies allies
and Jewish good Palestinians not our
allies Muslims Islam bad
you follow me and although it’s not true
and and I not a nice way of thinking it
is the way and was the way of much of
American thinking but that was all about
to change for me because that friend I
had made with the beautiful eyes
he asked me if I’d like to meet his
family and I said sure I could add a few
more Muslims to the list of those I knew
and I had my very silly ideas would they
throw a burka over me a minute I got in
the door did they have a scarf handy to
wrap around my head with their furniture
did I have to sit on the floor was I
gonna have to pray five times with the
food be good what I liked it would it be
spicy what I have to eat it with my
hands how shallow I Leslie Marshall was
at that time but that is truly what went
through my mind quite the contrary
these were not primitive people this
friend’s parents are both physicians
highly educated his father the general
surgeon his mother at ob/gyn his family
was warm gracious and kind they didn’t
force me to dress anyway they sat me on
a chair gave me delicious food and a
fork to eat it with they were not trying
to impress their religion on me they
were warm and gracious as hosts should
be when somebody comes into your home I
changed my mind
about Muslims that day maybe I needed to
rethink my mind on Islam but before I
tell you about my education on Islam I’d
like to point out that that friend has
been my husband for 21 years
and that woman is my mother-in-law and
she is not oppressed I’m got a fury left
on that one in order to educate myself
more on Aslam I couldn’t take people’s
word for what it really was about see
being half Jewish and half Christian and
brought up that way religiously I had
read cover to cover twice the Bible both
old and new Testament but I had never
read the Quran so I got a copy from my
husband and I read it cover-to-cover
to see what it was in it for myself and
I learned quite a few things I don’t
even have time to list all of them here
today one thing I learned is that honor
killings are not only not a part of
Islam they’re not lawful according to
Islam that in Islam they respect all
religions that Islam considers Jesus to
be a prophet it holds him in high regard
higher regard than the Jews the Israelis
and I also learned that like any other
religion without question never an
excuse for murder is wrong and not
permissible in Islam according to the
Quran by education on Islam and on
Muslims
stretched out and branched out into
various countries so I became even more
educated in this regard personally in
1996 I went to Israel being half Jewish
my father being Jewish I was curious and
I must say much like when I read the
Quran and saw it with my own eyes for
myself I saw with my own eyes
oppressed people Palestinian people who
were truly oppressed and I was shocked
to see a wall that was similar in
fashion to a ghetto during the Holocaust
that my polish ancestors were forced to
stand behind and I was
named ashamed of my Jewish side for that
while I was there I traveled to Egypt it
was the year after the Luxor Massacre
and there were people that said to me
don’t tell them you’re American tell
them you’re Canadian and I said why they
hate Americans don’t you know put the
Luxor Massacre I’m like yeah that was a
true bus of people from various
countries don’t tell them you’re
American I get in the car at Cairo
nighttime nice cool breeze to break up
the heat of the day driving the taxi
driver goes where are you from I’m like
the you Canada and he said oh I thought
you’re American too bad I was going to
ask you about Bill Clinton and Monica
Lewinsky they didn’t hate Americans when
I was sightseeing a group of women
wearing burkas I could only see their
eyes were giggling and you can tell a
lot by the eyes and they motioned for me
to come over and I was afraid like what
are they gonna do to me right and I
walked over they offered me to join them
for lunch and wanted to know if my jeans
were Levi’s and wanted to touch them we
became friends we swapped necklaces
sunglasses pictures addresses the people
were warm the people were welcoming a
Muslim country Muslim people again Islam
I also went to Jordan and my married
name is Hussein and the king was Hussein
so I was a queen for a day and they were
wonderful to me and Queen Noor from the
United States of America was married to
King Hussein of Jordan and everyone
asked me if I knew Queen Noor forgetting
how large the United States is but again
they treated me with kindness they
treated me with respect including bed
wins under tents near Petra who shared
their lunch with me also and then in
2007 the most wonderful thing occurred
my husband and I adopted our first child
our son in Pakistan and I had to live
there for months and this was after 9/11
oh and there were bad things said about
Muslims and about Islam and about Muslim
countries but most certainly about Iraq
Afghanistan and Pakistan didn’t you know
that everybody there was part of the
Taliban and they all hated Americans and
I was nervous but I was included with
the people that we visited and stayed
with in Pakistan as a member of their
family to this day to this day we talk
almost every day on Facebook and a
Pakistan people opened up their homes
and their hearts and I saw I saw with my
own eyes some terrorist organizations
and I said to the driver bringing me to
the airport what do you think of that
and he said well what do you think I
think of it I lived down the street from
them you live over there I’m more afraid
of them than you are he wasn’t signing
his kid up for some terrorist summer
camp as many Americans would think and
he said to me as I got out of the car
I’ll never forget miss Leslie please
tell your George Bush president don’t
bomb us like they did Iraq we’re nice
people never forget that how can you
forget that after 9/11 I won’t lie I was
concerned I was concerned for many
reasons one of which was selfish my
husband’s an orthopedic surgeon with a
Muslim Arabic last name I frantically
called his office on September 12 and I
said to his assistant be honest with me
how many patients out of approximately
40 have canceled their appointments for
today I braced myself for the answer
zero not one person had rescheduled
their appointment not one person was
afraid to go see for the first time or a
repeat visitor after their surgery their
Muslim doctor with an Arabic last name
now I’m not gonna lie after 9/11 the
United States had its ideas much divided
in two areas about Islam
America’s view of Islam has changed I’ll
tell you about that briefly
but after 9/11 it was very apparent
where people stood there were Americans
who threw things at mosques or put pork
on the door handles who even killed a
Coptic Christian man they thought was a
Muslim just two towns from where I live
in Los Angeles
there were slurs in writing and
certainly verbally women taunted on the
streets while there’s wondering if their
daughters should wear their had jobs to
school more women putting on he jobs to
show that their Muslim and they’re proud
and they’re American as well but I also
saw the education of some Americans and
I say that because I think out of every
tragedy there has to be some good
doesn’t there and I think there was some
good after 9/11 people got to know their
neighbors I remember my in-laws were
visiting us on September 14th one of my
brothers birthdays and they were flying
from Florida to California and I was
terrified for them my mother-in-law
wears a hijab they have a Muslim Arabic
last name they’re older and when they
came and I said to my mother-in-law and
father-in-law how was your journey she
said the people were wonderful they went
out of their way to be nice to us as if
to say to us without saying the words we
don’t blame you we don’t blame your
religion of Islam for what happened on
9/11 no unfortunately the world has been
the victims of many terrorism acts since
9/11 while I was flying here there was
an act of terrorism on the shop to the
SE in Paris and of course we all know
just last week in Egypt at a Coptic
Christian Church in the United States
I’m a member of the media as you know
and in the United States a lot of people
rely on the media for their information
and unfortunately I’m sure you’ve heard
the phrase fake news there’s a lot of
information that may not be accurate or
that may be very one-sided and people
are watching this and people are reading
this
people are listening to this and that
can be extremely dangerous and I’ll tell
you why because there are some realities
that not only America but a lot of the
Western world don’t know and I’m gonna
share some with you because I’m in the
media so you can believe everything I
say right just anything one the
overwhelming majority of victims of Isis
al Qaeda or any other terrorist
organization worldwide hands down
numbers don’t don’t even match up our
Muslims not Americans for Christian
Muslims mostly non-american Muslims and
then there are heroes would you like to
hear about some heroes in the Muslim
community who practiced and believed in
Islam and show a religion of peace a lot
of people don’t hear about stories when
there were the attacks in Paris in a
Jewish deli a Muslim man led 14 people
down a backed stairwell and saved their
lives
all of them Jewish he Muslim and I think
one French paper and one French
television outlet covered that in
Orlando California Orlando Florida
excuse me after the shooting the
terrorist attack there there was a
Muslim Marine who ran into the nightclub
while the shooter was still inside to
pull bodies out so they would not get
shot in San Bernardino California where
there was a terrorist attack
by a man and his wife a physician who
had actually been trained and had been
in the military an Iranian Muslim drove
told the authorities put on his riot
gear with his medical bag
walked into the building while the
terrorists were shooting people and was
treating people you don’t hear about
that
and last week in Egypt there were
numerous Muslims who helped the Coptic
Christians in their community to safety
gave them CPR first aid transported them
to get them medical attention you know
in November it was a tough day for me as
the Liberal Democrat but we got a new
president in the United States of
America he might have heard about it his
name is Donald J Trump and at the time
of his campaigning he had a lot of
things to say about Islam a lot of
things to say about Muslims and a lot of
rhetoric that was extremely divisive
hurtful and I feel quite on American he
talked about registries he talked about
bans banning banning a religion they
wanted to do that in the Netherlands
thank God that guy didn’t get elected
but in the United States of America this
rhetoric just boiled up and fanned those
flames of hatred much like after 9/11 do
you know that Donald Trump proposed a
travel ban that I many others call a
Muslim ban unfortunately good prevailed
when half a dozen federal judges in the
United States said that is
unconstitutional mr. president you can’t
do it but our president in my country
who knows I don’t fancy him because he
sees my negative tweets about him his
quite the narcissist as you’ve heard and
president Trump was not going to give up
so they gave a second revised newer and
improved version of the Muslim ban and
guess what another set of federal judges
knocked it down and said that’s
unconstitutional mr. Trump I’m sorry no
can do you do not pass go
51% just over half of Americans do not
approve of the Muslim ban the travel ban
and if you look at those polls and break
down the numbers
it’s even a higher number depending on
how the questions are posed America is
divided there’s good and there’s bad and
it’s divided I wouldn’t say nearly in
half there is still some who have bad
what is America’s view Islam still have
some have bad ideas of Islam some still
view some of the uglier sides that
Americans and those in the Western world
are very uncomfortable with that is not
part of the religion and I don’t find in
the Quran such as child marriages or
honor killings and certainly murder and
terrorism because there is still some
Americans that think that anyone who is
a Muslim you are a terrorist or you’re a
terrorist in the training and certainly
your training your kids to be but I want
to tell you about some of the good – in
that division I want to show you some of
the change that’s occurred since 9/11 we
have two elected congressman currently
in the United States Congress in the
United States that are Muslim – and
that’s in a post-911 world President
Barack Hussein Obama was elected a man
who had lived in a Muslim country
obviously is not our president now there
was a woman’s March that was organized
by a Muslim woman who wears a hijab and
over five million men and women
worldwide listened and responded to her
rallying cry in Times Square there were
thousands of people that showed up for
today I am a Muslim and the head of the
ADL the anti-defamation league who was
Jewish said when President Donald Trump
talked about imposing and and having a
Muslim registry which would mean anybody
who was Muslim would have to register
talk about prejudice and
unconstitutional in the United States do
you know when he said a Jewish man head
of the ADL if you have a Muslim registry
I will register as a Muslim this is the
head of the ADL a Jewish man
and then on Twitter and then on Facebook
and then all over and then my Jewish
cousin at dinner if they ever register
and their just ring as a Muslim I just
want you to know tell your husband this
became a movement and I’m seeing that in
my country but let’s go beyond the
people and let’s go to the polls shall
we
there was a poll recently just a couple
of months ago as to how warm people felt
in America about Islam
48% I know you think that’s not very
good but three years ago it was 10
percent lower in three years
it is increased to forty eight percent
and that’s warm feeling warm and fuzzy
about Islam and then there are realities
there not only Americans and their views
about Islam are going to have to change
but the reality is that Islam is the
fastest growing religion in the world
the reality is that over 1.6 billion
people in this world are Muslims and if
you do the math and I’m not good at it
but I did look it up that’s almost 25
almost a quarter of our population was
25% of the population approximately 24%
of the world’s population Lesly with 25
minutes please conclude huh conclusion
please well 25 minutes yes thank you and
the the reality also is that there are
power in numbers somebody asked me once
well what can anybody do to change this
Muslims can change this not only in the
United States but throughout the world
one get to know non-muslims and tell
them and teach them about Islam and let
them meet you and find out like I did
firsthand were two wonderful people you
are and that Islam is a religion of
peace to get involved with your schools
run for office have a carnival in your
mosque parking lot invite people into
the mosque so they can see while that
person may worship differently or
believe in something different than I
but we’re pretty much the same and by
the way that’s something I noticed in
traveling the world people are pretty
much the same
we all have lousy traffic we all
complain about the weather we all want
to save her life
for our future and we all want a better
future for our children last thing I
want to say is America is waking up to
Islam what it is and what it isn’t I did
and there’s a woman married into a
Muslim family
I am hopeful and even optimistic about
Americans view of Islam going forward in
the future
thank you Matt sees ship run this leave
us home
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