A Muslim political action committee is planning a Million Muslim March on Washington on Sept. 11 to protest being "villainized and victimized" following the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on American soil.
The American Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC), which is organizing the March, claims the goal of the demonstration is to show Americans that Muslims denounce terrorism.
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"On 9.11.01 our country was forever changed by the horrific events in New York. The entire country was victimized by the acts done on that day," the group said in a statement. "Muslim and non-Muslim alike were traumatized but we as Muslims continue 12 years later to be victimized by being made the villains. To this day every media outlet and anti-Islamic organizations have committed slanderous and libel statements against us as Muslims and our religion of Islam."
The group is now under attack from critics who argue that the Million Muslim March's date is insensitive to 9/11 victims, survivors, and their families.
"What it does is it alienates the Muslim community, it makes them look insensitive, it makes them look bad,"
Steve Malzberg, host of the daily program "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV, said Thursday. "Big mistake. [They have] a lot of nerve. It's not going to win any friends.
"Hold it any of the 365 days of the year except don't hold it on 9/11," he said. "That's not an accident. This group knows exactly what it's doing by holding this march on 9/11. They know exactly what they're doing."
Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the Islamic Forum for Democracy, denounced the protesters as "a bunch of truthers who think that America's to blame for everything."
"These guys are problematic and they're
trying to exploit 9/11," he told Fox News. "If they were truly patriotic Americans and moderates, they'd be marching on the courthouse steps of the Fort Hood trial that's happening this week to tell Americans that we want the death penalty for Nidal Hissan rather than this circus that they're doing in exploiting the murders and horrific acts of 9/11."
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