By Wayne Parry, February 13, 2005
Associated Press Writer
http://www.newsday.com/
HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N.J. --

ADC-NJ Aref Assaf and Vice-President Salah Mustafa attended the Annual American Muslim Union's Community Brunch.

         Appealing for calm and understanding after the murder of an Egyptian Christian family last month, Muslim and Christian leaders rejected religious hatred and called for unity Sunday, emphasizing common ground over differences. Although the gathering was planned months in advance, the murders of Hossam Armanious, his wife and two young children weighed heavily on the minds of many participants at the American Muslim Union's annual community brunch.

         Prosecutors are investigating whether Armanious, a Coptic Christian, might have angered Muslims with his postings under the name "I Love Jesus" in an Internet chat room, leading to the killings. But they also caution that finances might have been a motive in the killing, noting that no solid evidence tying the crimes to religious hatred has yet been established.

         "Whoever is putting the idea out that it was a Muslim who did this has their own agenda," said Fuad Issa of Piscataway. "I don't believe it for a second. There's nothing right about creating dissension; I don't understand those motives." Likewise, the Rev. Randall Day, pastor of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Teaneck and vice president of the Teaneck Clergy Council, said the killings have damaged goodwill between Muslims and Christians that took generations to build up.

         "Part of the pain being felt on both sides is that in Jersey City, as is the case in much of New Jersey, there is an enormous possibility to live a different type of life where the old tensions and antagonisms are not paramount," he said. "Not only did these murders end those four lives, but they threaten a vision and a dream of a possibility of living together peacefully, which is the strong desire of many people in the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities.

         "To the extent that the Jersey City murders have called that into question, I think people of goodwill are committed to rebuilding the trust and relationships that have been damaged," he said. The bodies of the Armanious family were discovered in their home, bound and gagged, their necks and heads stabbed repeatedly. The murders spread fear throughout the region's Coptic Christian community and spurred tensions that erupted in scuffles and anti-Islam slogans being shouted during the family's funeral. "It reminded me of a mini-9/11," said Aref Assaf, president of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee. "It shows how quick people are to jump to conclusions and categorize entire communities based on faulty assumptions. This does not serve the cause of peace."

         In that atmosphere, organizers of Sunday's event said, it is more important than ever to look for things that unite people instead of divide them. "As children of the prophet Abraham, we all need to make the effort to find out what we have in common and not our differences," said Mohammed Younes, president of the American Muslim Union and an elder in Paterson's Muslim community. "America stands for freedom of faith and worship. It is time for all of us _ Jewish, Christian or Muslim _ to stand up against anyone that tries to separate us by our beliefs."
Copyright © 2005, The Associated Press

Copyright ©, ADCNJ, 2005. Material may be freely utilized provided proper reference is given to ADCNJ.

Muslims, Coptics to Sign Anti-Hate Pledge

By Wayne Parry, April 18, 2005
Associated Press Writer
NEWARK, N.J. --

         After months of acrimony and failed attempts to bring both communities together following the slaying of an Egyptian Christian family, leaders of the Muslim and Christian communities in northern New Jersey plan to sign a pledge renouncing hate and committing themselves to greater interfaith harmony. Wednesday's event at City Hall in Jersey City would be the first small step forward in healing a rift that polarized many Coptic Christians and Muslims following the January slaying of the Armanious family in their Jersey City home.

         "We realize it's a small gesture, but we think the significance and importance is people from various faiths coming together to affirm that this is the basis for agreement," said the Rev. Eugene Squeo of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Jersey City, a member of the Hudson County Brotherhood/Sisterhood Association. The group includes leaders from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Baha'i communities. "It's important to show that we're standing in solidarity with each other," he said. Hossam Armanious, 47; his wife, Amal Garas, 37; and their children, Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8, were stabbed to death on Jan. 11. Immediately after the bodies were discovered, friends of the family speculated that they might have been killed by Muslims angered over postings Hossam Armanious made in an Internet chat room under the user name "I Love Jesus." The chat room is frequented by both Muslims and Christians.

         Even after two non-Muslims were charged with the killings, with robbery listed as the likely motive, many in the Coptic community continued to assert religious antagonism was behind the slayings. The statement the leaders plan to sign reads in part, "We oppose hate and expressions of hate in all forms. ... We will continue to work together to educate the community about our various faith traditions and we will support, encourage and affirm all efforts to build bridges rather than walls." Since the killings, various efforts to bring the two sides together have failed. Muslim leaders held an interfaith event shortly afterward that was designed to have Muslim and Coptic Christian leaders appear together, renouncing hatred. But the Copts did not attend, saying the meeting was called on too short notice and coincided with a major Coptic religious holiday. And both sides skipped a meeting that had been planned with a bias crimes task force of the state Attorney General's Office earlier this month, doubting its potential usefulness.

         "If we as religious leaders can work together and discuss our most difficult issues, then the community has to do likewise and follow our lead," said Ahmed Shedeed, director of The Islamic Center of Jersey City. "We're not going there to convert each other; we want to promote love instead of hate." Maged Riad, the U.S. spokesman for the Coptic Church and its leader, Pope Shenouda, said the meeting needs to be followed by more concrete actions to bring the communities closer. "We should have social activities like a soccer league where all our children _ Muslim, Christian, Jewish _ can play together and talk to each other and get to know each other as human beings," he said.