In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
ACTION ALERT
CALIF. PROF SUGGESTS GENOCIDE AGAINST MUSLIMS
CAIR-LA calls college’s report on incident a ‘whitewash’
(ANAHEIM, CA, 10/21/2004) - The Southern California office of the Council
on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today called the results of an
investigation into anti-Muslim remarks by a college professor who suggested
genocide against Muslims a "whitewash."
Imperial Valley College (IVC) in Imperial, Calif., failed to reprimand a
business management professor who suggested that "the only way to end
Islamic terrorism is to eliminate the Islamic religion."
Despite the offensive nature of the remarks, the college’s report
recommends little more than the professor "take more care in the future in
linking current events to course material."
Earlier this month, a student in the professor's class initially reported
to CAIR-LA that the professor said, "The only way to end the war on
terrorism is to kill all Muslims." When confronted by the student in class,
the professor allegedly disagreed with the student's statement that most
Muslims are good people and instead said the majority of Muslims are
terrorists.
The student, an attorney of the Hindu faith, says that after he challenged
the professor's bigoted statements, he was told to leave the class for
being "disrespectful."
CAIR requested in an October 8 letter to the college's president that an
investigation of the incident be launched and that appropriate actions be
taken.
Though IVC promised to organize sensitivity training, reinstated the
student in the class and the professor apologized for his "out of context"
remarks, CAIR-LA says the college did not adequately address the
seriousness of the incident. IVC’s report even seemed to equate the
student’s challenge to the offensive remarks with the comments themselves.
"We thank this courageous student for standing up for Islam and Muslims,"
said CAIR-LA Communications Director Sabiha Khan. “Unfortunately, Imperial
Valley College's decision to whitewash this incident sends the message that
suggesting genocide is acceptable on an American college campus.”
Khan called on the college to publicly repudiate the professor's remarks
and, at a minimum, issue a formal reprimand.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered in
Washington, D.C., and has 29 offices nationwide and in Canada.
CONTACT: CAIR-LA: Sabiha Khan, 714-776-1847 or 714-390-0334
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
Contact Imperial Valley College and ask that they publicly repudiate the
professor's remark and issue a formal reprimand to the professor.
CONTACT:
Dr. Paul Pai, Ed.D.
Superintendent/President
Imperial Valley College
380 E. Aten Road, Building 10
Imperial, CA 92251
Tel: 760.355.6219
Fax: 760.355.6461
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