‘This type of psychological terror is morally wrong and all people of conscience must speak out against it’

DETROIT/DEARBORN – Prominent civil rights activist and
Rainbow PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) Coalition Founder Reverend Jesse
Jackson joined interfaith and community leaders in Dearborn at the Islamic
Center of America on Wednesday, April 20 
in a show of support and solidarity against the planned protest of
Qur’an-burning Pastor Terry Jones.

“We have Arab American and Muslim allies under attack
by the type of psychological terror of Terry Jones who does not represent the
Christian faith,” he said.

“We’ve seen terror before in America with synagogues
defaced, churches burned, now it’s mosques, so we must stand with the community
in this hour of challenge, not just in Dearborn but around the country,”
he said.

Jackson visited Dearborn to serve as the keynote speaker for
the Council on American-Islamic Relations at their annual banquet in 2010 and
said he has a history of meeting with leaders in the Arab American and Muslim
communities in places such as Dearborn, Milwaukee, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

“Right now the Muslims have a civil rights movement
like we saw in the South where they burned churches as an act of
terrorism,” he said. “They’ve done the same to mosques…they
demeaned Dr. Martin Luther King as a communist in the past, as a communist as opposed
to a Christian religious leader, and now they demean President Barack Obama by
calling him a “Muslim” and using it as a charged term…We must all
stand with the imams in this time of challenge.”

Jackson also came to Detroit to gather support for mounting
a legal challenge to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s “Emergency Financial
Manager” appointments and the highly controversial stripping of elected
officials’ power in Benton Harbor.

Jackson also slammed U.S. Congressman Peter King’s recent
“radicalization” hearings, saying they fed into Islamophobia in
America. He also said that Jones’ actions represent a serious issue that
threatens American society and values.

“This type of psychological terror is morally wrong and
all people of conscience must speak out against it…we must act out against
him but also not overreact…Jones is a threat to the entire moral fabric of
this country so all of us must come together and speak out.”