A Muslim-American group, along with the support of Phoenix’s Muslim community, is fighting back against ISIS with a billboard that calls out the terrorist organization.
Sound Vision, which “aims to produce content that helps build bridges of understanding among neighbors,” helped fund the electronic sign, which reads, “Hey ISIS, you suck!!!”
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“They don’t represent us, they don’t represent Islam,” Dr. Aneesah Nadir, a retired university professor, told KPHO. “This billboard is one way to get the message out there.”
The group felt pressured to respond to the anti-Islamic sentiment that spiked among Americans following violent attacks in the U.S., France, Britain, Germany, Turkey, Bangladesh and Iraq, claimed or inspired by ISIS.
READ MORE: New York imam shooting suspect arrested on murder charges
“We want our neighbours to know we’re colleagues and classmates and neighbours, and we want our neighbours to know that we don’t approve of this at all,” said Nadir. “In fact, Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him taught the exact opposite of what ISIS is portraying and we want everybody to know that.”
Nadir says public discussions blaming Islam for the actions of ISIS has had a negative impact on relations between non-Muslim and Muslim communities.
“The sad thing is that our neighbour’s view of Muslims has gone down, because the message on ISIS has gone up,” said Nadir.
Earlier this month, a gunman killed an imam and his associate in a brazen daylight shooting in Queens, NY.
Some in that community described harassment by people who shouted anti-Muslim epithets in the months leading up to the shooting.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has polarized Americans on whether the country should accept Muslim immigrants.
Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims being allowed into the U.S. until the government can “properly and perfectly” screen immigrants.
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